Featured in Why waste this space? – 07-2012

Is the future thin?

Thin film: Polysilicon prices have fallen dramatically in the past 12 months and IHS iSuppli predicts that they will be lower than US$22 per kilogram by the end of this year. One of the obvious consequences is that crystalline silicon-based (c-Si) module manufacturers are able to reduce costs and prices on an aggressive road map, so much so that much of the competitive advantage of thin film producers has been eroded. Does a market still exist for thin film and which manufacturers will survive this period of intense price competition? pv magazine investigates.

By

Jonathan Gifford

02 Jul 2012

Oscar Wilde famously defined a cynic as one “who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” And as thin film producers face a PV market where falling module prices have eroded their competitive advantage and global demand has softened, they have had to shift their value proposition from being one based on …

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