solar industry

Wacker Chemie has taken the first steps of its restructuring program with the lay-offs set to particularly affect its German locations. Poor performance by the chemical company’s polysilicon business is the main cause of the crisis.

Trade body the Silver Institute says silver demand in the solar industry will dip slightly this year but remain near to previous record highs. Silver paste consumption for PV has been reduced due to advances in metallization techniques.

The nation’s only two poly manufacturers could both shutter factories in their homeland due to downward price pressure. OCI says it will maintain only 6,500 MT of its 52,000 MT annual production capacity in an operational state and Hanwha Chemical says it is ‘examining the situation’. Poly analyst Johannes Bernreuter has discussed the reasons for the crisis with pv magazine.

The solar giant shipped 14.2 GW of modules last year, up 33% on 2018 for the high-water mark of another year dominated by Chinese manufacturers.

The electronics manufacturer has a 130 MW capacity module production facility.

The government has unveiled a plan to help the PV industry reduce the cost of solar panels from around $0.23/W to $0.10/W by 2030. The plan also aims to reach module efficiencies of around 24% – up to 35% for multi-junction cells – by the end of the next decade.

The module maker has started producing solar modules at its fab in Liebenfels.

With the 600 MW production line the company’s annual module production capacity will approach 2 GW.

Average spot polysilicon price has crossed below the $8/kg threshold for the first time, according to PVInsights. Market analyst Johannes Bernreuter said, however, that the industry should not read too much into $8/kg as a historical threshold and that prices may rise again in September, driven by strong demand in the Chinese market.

The former director of Fraunhofer ISE will be officially elected at a general assembly planned for September. The ESCM wants a strong Europe to be part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and also pay attention to sustainability.