Spiralling upstream photo voltaic costs have continued this week, triggering the primary PV module worth rise in months.
Will increase to the price of photo voltaic modules recorded by quite a few analysts this week, whereas marginal, are anticipated to set off widespread undertaking delays – particularly in China – with costs not anticipated to fall for months but.
Polysilicon costs this week jumped by an extra 1.4%, reaching a median worth of RMB291/kg. This worth contains China’s 13% gross sales tax, indicating a cloth worth of RMB257.5/kg, or US$38/kg. Nonetheless some costs this week have been negotiated as excessive as RMB297/kg, or US$38.85/kg with out China’s gross sales tax.
Costs have continued to climb sharply this month – albeit tailing off barely previously week – with manufacturing capability mentioned to be down by round 5% this month owing to a fireplace at an East Hope facility in Xinjiang late final month and upkeep works being performed at different main polysilicon suppliers together with East Hope, GCL and Daqo New Power.
Whereas full manufacturing capability is predicted to be restored in August – together with any capability nonetheless offstream because of the incident at East Hope’s facility – costs are anticipated to stay excessive into subsequent month.
These price spikes – the price of polysilicon has risen 26.5% because the begin of the 12 months and 16% since Might – have ricocheted all through photo voltaic’s worth chain, sending PV wafer, cell and module costs upward.
After practically two months of flat wafer costs, the price of 166mm, 182mm and 210mm wafers jumped sharply final week, indicative of each an acceleration of polysilicon costs and business issues that prices would stay stubbornly excessive for months but.
Costs have, nonetheless, remained flat this week.
However the business’s issues will now fall on photo voltaic module costs after they elevated for the primary time in months, climbing round 1% throughout the board.
Analysts together with PVInfoLink, EnergyTrend and SolarBe all famous the value rise yesterday, with bifacial utility-scale modules utilizing 182mm and 210mm cells rising to round RMB1.97/W (US$0.29c/W). In brief, photo voltaic modules are about RMB20,000 (US$3,000) dearer per megawatt than they have been final week.
Moreover, costs for modules certain for distributed photo voltaic initiatives in China – having additionally rose by round 1% to ~RMB1.95/W this week – are anticipated to climb to as excessive as RMB2/W subsequent month.
EnergyTrend has famous the “super strain” module makers have been beneath of late and final week’s PV Tech Premium Briefing e-mail included experiences that a number of module makers had elected to shutter some amenities on explicit days in response to current escalations in upstream pricing.
SolarBe has additionally reported this week that initiatives in China are being halted in response to the current worth hikes, with home urge for food for modules at their new costs considerably weaker than urge for food in Europe. “When it comes to demand, abroad international locations have stronger worth tolerance and nonetheless assist demand to a sure extent,” SolarBe’s note reads.
