Solar photovoltaic manufacturers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Recently, following the announcement of Hemlock Semiconductor, the world’s leading manufacturer of polysilicon materials, that its polysilicon production facility in Michigan, USA, has more than doubled its production capacity, other polysilicon manufacturers have announced to the outside world Relevant devices for expansion and transformation. After this round of energy expansion, the global demand for polysilicon material in short supply will be effectively improved, which will help ease the pain of the silicon photovoltaic materials industry suffered in recent years.
In recent years, the solar energy industry has become an important application market for polysilicon materials. According to analysis by industry experts, in the past 30 years, the polysilicon materials used in the solar photovoltaic industry have been far lower than those in the semiconductor industry. Therefore, most of the silicon materials supplied to the optoelectronics industry are those scrapped or left over from the semiconductor industry supply chain. However, since 2004, there has been a trend of silicon materials being in short supply in both the semiconductor and solar industries worldwide. Especially since 2006, the development of the solar photovoltaic industry has been accelerating, and the polysilicon gap in the market is increasing. The rapid development of the solar energy industry has brought great returns to silicon material producers. According to Holmock Semiconductor, its new polysilicon production capacity this year has long been scheduled by old customers.
"Only the ability to meet the standards of new installations as soon as possible can satisfy the growing demand of customers," said Rick Dumbles, chief operating officer of Romrock. It is said that the new installation capacity of Hao Rooke is approximately 9900 tons/year, and after the end of this year, the company's total polysilicon material production capacity will increase to 21,000 tons/year.
High-purity polysilicon materials, unlike silicon wafers used in the manufacture of computer chips, are multi-layered crystal structures rather than a single crystal structure that can be fabricated as a monolithic circuit and are mainly used as a raw material for semiconductor devices and solar photovoltaic devices. According to Richard Wengana, president of Sage Concepts, a solar consulting firm, the cost of polysilicon materials currently accounts for 20% of the cost of solar cells.
The company is a joint venture established by Dow Corning, Shin-Etsu and Mitsubishi Materials and is the world's largest producer of silicon materials for the solar and semiconductor industries. The company’s earliest polysilicon production facility was built by Dow Corning in 1960. By 2006, the company had implemented 10 energy expansion projects at the polysilicon production base. However, the company is not satisfied with this, and it plans to further increase the production capacity of the polysilicon production base. By the end of 2011, it will increase the production capacity to more than 39,000 tons/year.
According to Sandal, a senior research expert from Frost & Sullivan, a world-renowned consulting company, in addition to the company, there are five other large silicon material manufacturers in the world, including German Wacker, REC Silicon, MEMC Electronic Materials, and Japan. Tokuyama Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation. These companies are currently implementing expansion projects to meet customer needs. In addition, in China, North America and Europe, due to the optimistic market prospects of polysilicon materials, some companies have recently brought huge amounts of money into the industry.
Some experts predict that after this round of expansion, the global polysilicon production capacity will increase from 45,000 tons/year in 2606 to 200,000 tons/year in 2011, and the state of insufficient supply will be improved by then.
Some experts are also skeptical about the current polysilicon manufacturers' expansion. Sandal believes that innovation in production technology may affect the supply and demand of polysilicon materials. For example, the market for thin film solar components may increase rapidly, and the production of such components does not require polysilicon materials. The new technology developed by the veteran solar cell manufacturer Kyocera reduced the silicon content in solar panels, thereby reducing the consumption of polysilicon, an expensive raw material.
In addition, changes in the subsidy policies of solar battery consumers by various governments are also an influencing factor. At present, more than half of solar photovoltaic cells in the world are produced in Germany. The German government has determined that the subsidy for solar battery users will decrease by 16% in the next two years.
Another analyst said that from a long-term point of view, with the changes in supply and demand, the current high price of polysilicon certainly can not be maintained too long, perhaps in another 2-3 years, the contract price of polysilicon from the current average of 80 US dollars / kg Reduced to $50/kg.
In recent years, the solar energy industry has become an important application market for polysilicon materials. According to analysis by industry experts, in the past 30 years, the polysilicon materials used in the solar photovoltaic industry have been far lower than those in the semiconductor industry. Therefore, most of the silicon materials supplied to the optoelectronics industry are those scrapped or left over from the semiconductor industry supply chain. However, since 2004, there has been a trend of silicon materials being in short supply in both the semiconductor and solar industries worldwide. Especially since 2006, the development of the solar photovoltaic industry has been accelerating, and the polysilicon gap in the market is increasing. The rapid development of the solar energy industry has brought great returns to silicon material producers. According to Holmock Semiconductor, its new polysilicon production capacity this year has long been scheduled by old customers.
"Only the ability to meet the standards of new installations as soon as possible can satisfy the growing demand of customers," said Rick Dumbles, chief operating officer of Romrock. It is said that the new installation capacity of Hao Rooke is approximately 9900 tons/year, and after the end of this year, the company's total polysilicon material production capacity will increase to 21,000 tons/year.
High-purity polysilicon materials, unlike silicon wafers used in the manufacture of computer chips, are multi-layered crystal structures rather than a single crystal structure that can be fabricated as a monolithic circuit and are mainly used as a raw material for semiconductor devices and solar photovoltaic devices. According to Richard Wengana, president of Sage Concepts, a solar consulting firm, the cost of polysilicon materials currently accounts for 20% of the cost of solar cells.
The company is a joint venture established by Dow Corning, Shin-Etsu and Mitsubishi Materials and is the world's largest producer of silicon materials for the solar and semiconductor industries. The company’s earliest polysilicon production facility was built by Dow Corning in 1960. By 2006, the company had implemented 10 energy expansion projects at the polysilicon production base. However, the company is not satisfied with this, and it plans to further increase the production capacity of the polysilicon production base. By the end of 2011, it will increase the production capacity to more than 39,000 tons/year.
According to Sandal, a senior research expert from Frost & Sullivan, a world-renowned consulting company, in addition to the company, there are five other large silicon material manufacturers in the world, including German Wacker, REC Silicon, MEMC Electronic Materials, and Japan. Tokuyama Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation. These companies are currently implementing expansion projects to meet customer needs. In addition, in China, North America and Europe, due to the optimistic market prospects of polysilicon materials, some companies have recently brought huge amounts of money into the industry.
Some experts predict that after this round of expansion, the global polysilicon production capacity will increase from 45,000 tons/year in 2606 to 200,000 tons/year in 2011, and the state of insufficient supply will be improved by then.
Some experts are also skeptical about the current polysilicon manufacturers' expansion. Sandal believes that innovation in production technology may affect the supply and demand of polysilicon materials. For example, the market for thin film solar components may increase rapidly, and the production of such components does not require polysilicon materials. The new technology developed by the veteran solar cell manufacturer Kyocera reduced the silicon content in solar panels, thereby reducing the consumption of polysilicon, an expensive raw material.
In addition, changes in the subsidy policies of solar battery consumers by various governments are also an influencing factor. At present, more than half of solar photovoltaic cells in the world are produced in Germany. The German government has determined that the subsidy for solar battery users will decrease by 16% in the next two years.
Another analyst said that from a long-term point of view, with the changes in supply and demand, the current high price of polysilicon certainly can not be maintained too long, perhaps in another 2-3 years, the contract price of polysilicon from the current average of 80 US dollars / kg Reduced to $50/kg.