LOTS MORE SOLAR MANUFACTURING

About 35 GWp of New Solar Cell Manufacturing Equipment May be Purchased by 2017
March 29, 2012 (Yole Developpement)

"In the years to come, the manufacturing cost reduction in the PV industry will be led by equipment and material innovations. As only a part of the whole existing crystalline silicon manufacturing capacity is suited to the production of very high efficiency solar cells and modules, Yole Développement assumes that a part of the manufacturing capacity will be shut down or used at low utilization rates, and new capacities suited for very high efficiency products will be added. This provides an opportunity for PV equipment manufacturers to find customers despite existing production overcapacities…

"Current technology and market consolidation are revealing an increased interest in high-efficiency cell and module approaches…[H]igh PV efficiency enables product differentiation and cuts on manufacturing and system costs and “Levelized Cost of Electricity” (LCOE)…Different very high cell and module efficiency approaches…[show] the opportunities for crystalline silicon as well as for some thin-film PV manufacturers."

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"In order to reach very high cell and module efficiency (respectively over 19% and 16%), specific technology approaches, new materials and new equipment are required….[New materials]include quasi-mono silicon wafers and new equipment (ion implant tools, amorphous silicon deposition tools)…

"Thanks to incentive policies, in the past the photovoltaic market experienced double digit average annual growth rates and more than 27GWp were installed during the year 2011. This resulted in a massive increase of the manufacturing capacities to cover the increasing demand. However, recently, lowered incentive mechanisms resulted in a market demand lower than expected. In consequence, high manufacturing overcapacities and module inventory result in a strong price pressure on the PV market and finally leads to technology and market consolidation…"