Bernreuter Research

Bernreuter Research says the volume of polysilicon shipments into China dropped 28.5% year on year in 2023 to the lowest level since 2011. It predicts that imports could fall by another 40% this year.

After an interim high in 2021, polysilicon imports into China fell again in 2022, but the country’s share in global output still came close to 90%, according to a new report by Bernreuter Research.

The German company’s decision to cede market share to Chinese companies producing the material for solar panels, in order to focus on semiconductor-ready, electronic grade product, has seen it slip behind its rivals in terms of production scale.

The 275,000 metric tons of annual polysilicon production facilities pushed out of the industry by the expansion of big Chinese producers is more than double the capacity lost in the last great poly market shake-out, between 2010 and 2013.

Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd has announced plans to build a 228 MW solar PV project in China. The Chinese vertically integrated solar PV manufacturer has also signed a 39,600 metric ton (MT) high purity polysilicon agreement with Daqo New Energy Corp.

Polysilicon and wafer manufacturer ranking: PV demand reached record levels in 2017, with global installations surpassing 100 GW for the first time ever. Few in the industry expected deployments to hit this level, piling the pressure on to the supply chain. Armed with polysilicon and wafer manufacturer ranking data supplied by IHS Markit, pv magazine delves into the past year’s upstream landscape.

The use of diamond wire significantly reduces wafer saw losses. Some photovoltaic manufacturers have begun to switch their production, after technical problems appear to have been resolved.