Polysilicon prices trending downward

From pv magazine Global | via Chinese PV Industry Brief

PV InfoLink said this week that polysilicon prices are now on a “distinctive downward” trend, following months of high prices. The consulting firm said it expects prices to fall significantly from the end of November into early December. “Unhealthy inventory will persist in the polysilicon sector until the end of the month,” it said, noting that it expects to see the first decline in polysilicon inventory in two years. In October, PV InfoLink predicted that prices would fall from around CNY 300/kg ($41.85), excluding VAT), then to below CNY 150/kg by the end of 2023.

Longi said this week that it has lowered its wafer prices. It said p-type M6 products (166 mm, 223 mm) are now priced at CNY 6.24 each, down 1.4%. Prices for p-type M10 (182 mm, 247 mm) wafers now stand at CNY 7.42 each, down 1.6%.

JA Solar has revealed that it will invest around CNY 7.44 billion in a new 10 GW solar cell factory in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. It said its panel capacity will reach 50 GW by the end of this year and 75 GW by the end of 2023.

JG Solar said this week that it is testing n-type wafers with a thicknesses of 130 micrometers and 120 micrometers for its heterojunction solar cell lines. The module maker is currently building a 4.8 GW factory in Jiuquan, Gansu province. It expects to start trial production in the first quarter of 2023.

Solarspace has inaugurated the first stage of a 16 GW n-type TOPCon solar cell factory in Chuzhou, Anhui province. It currently has an annual production capacity of 8 GW spread across 16 production lines. It will make cells based on 182 mm and 210 mm wafers from the beginning of 2023.

Authors: Vincent Shaw & Beatriz Santos