Featured in The Quality Issue – 04-2019

Out with the old…

PV demand started weakly at the start of this year, but will show an optimistic upward trend in its second half. Corrine Lin, Chief Analyst at PV InfoLink, examines supply and demand for polysilicon, and predicts that huge new capacities coming online in the west of China will shake up the market, spelling bad news for some international players.
Corrine Lin is Chief Analyst at Taiwan-based PV InfoLink. | Image: Dave Tacon/ pv magazine

During the process of polysilicon production, electricity accounts for nearly 40% of the cost, which represents the highest proportion compared to any other segment in the solar PV supply chain. As a result, Chinese manufacturers have expanded to western and northwestern regions, where the electricity rate is around CNY 0.26/kWh ($0.038), to lower its production …

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