wafers

China is expected to add 83 – 99GW of PV capacity every year from 2022 to 2025, while Europe is now its largest export market for solar products, according to a China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) report on the outlook for the PV industry over the next few years.

Solar manufacturer LONGi Solar has increased prices for its range of PV wafers, sending them to four-month highs amidst ongoing spikes in the polysilicon price.

LONGi has raised its wafer prices for a second time in just over a month as hopes of falling costs fade and China shuts down for a week for its annual Luna New Year holiday.

Solar wafer prices have experienced a slight increase in price since the middle of last week after an earthquake struck Qinghai earlier this month, disrupting production.

Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor (TZS) has become the latest solar wafer manufacturer to cut prices, while also launching a new 218.2mm-size wafer.

LONGi Solar has dropped its wafer prices by as much as 9.75%, its first such fall in more than a year, as signs continue to mount that industry prices are set to normalise into next year.

Average market prices for 182mm solar wafers fell by nearly 7% this week, falling to levels not seen in almost two months, however other material and component costs have remained high.

Reliance New Energy Solar (RNES) has invested US$29 million in German wafer technology company NexWafe’s Series C financing round as it looks to establish wafer production facilities in India.

The desire to invoke a solar manufacturing renaissance in Europe was one of the key points of discussion at Intersolar Europe 2021, with much talk of heightened demand for ‘Made in Europe’ products. But how far away is Europe from establishing a complete value chain on the continent, and what are the hurdles that remain? Liam Stoker reports.

Establishing solar manufacturing scale at speed will be critical to the continent’s hopes of reviving an upstream solar manufacturing value chain, a panel of experts has concluded.