US, Chinese, and Taiwanese solar-cell makers gain ground

USA: Japan's suppliers of solar photovoltaic cells and panels, which dominated the industry for many years, slipped in the supplier rankings in 2008, according to a new 2009 report from IC Insights, Solar Energy: Growth Opportunities for the Semiconductor Industry.

The 2008 top 10 solar ranking contains two suppliers based in Japan, three in China, two in Taiwan, two in Germany, and one in the US (Fig. 1).Source: IC Insights

Sharp Corp. was the No. 1 PV device supplier in 2006 and for several years before that. In 2007, Germany's Q-Cells AG and China's Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. overtook Sharp, according to IC Insights' figures.

In 2008, First Solar Inc., a US-based supplier of thin-film PV panels made with cadmium telluride, blew past both Sharp and Suntech, pushing Sharp down to No. 4 in the 2008 rankings, which are based on the peak-megawatt value of the PV devices produced and sold by each supplier.

The totals include PV cells, and in the thin-film case, PV panels. Cell-based panels are not included to avoid counting cells twice. First Solar's MW TF panel sales increased a stunning 144 percent in 2008, boosting it to the No. 2 position.

For its part, Sharp has stated extremely ambitious plans for expansion of its capacity to manufacture and sell silicon-based TF panels over the near term. If successful, Sharp could quickly make up for lost ground.

Sharp was not the only Japanese supplier whose position declined in the 2008 ranking. Kyocera Corp. slipped from the No. 5 spot in 2007 to No. 6 in 2008. Sanyo, which was No. 7 in the 2007 ranking, did not make IC Insights' top 10 ranking in 2008. Mitsubishi also dropped in the ranking.

Future PV device rankings are expected to show significant changes due to the small increments that separate many of the top players. The top four suppliers all achieved market shares (based on MW sales) between 8 percent and 9.5 percent.

A second tier of suppliers was formed by those ranked No. 5 through No. 10, all having between 4 percent and 5 percent market share, and with several additional suppliers close on their heels.

Changing rank within these tiers is statistically inevitable, and it is entirely possible for a supplier to move quickly from the second tier to the first, as First Solar demonstrated in 2008.

Other than First Solar, the risers in the top 10 list were exclusively suppliers based in China or Taiwan. Although China's Suntech slipped from No. 2 to No. 3 on MW growth below that of the total global industry, JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. rose from No. 10 to No. 7 in the ranking based on 109 percent growth in MW sales in 2008.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. advanced from ninth place to eighth on the strength of 93 percent growth.

In Taiwan, Motech Industries Inc. swapped seats with Kyocera, moving from No. 6 to No. 5 thanks to a 67 percent increase in MW sales. But perhaps more impressive was the performance of Gintech Energy Corp., which equaled First Solar's growth of 144 percent in MW sales in 2008, pulling itself up from No. 12 to No. 8 in the ranking.

Gintech, like JA Solar, makes solar cells only; these two companies follow the business model of top-ranked Q-Cells, which has only recently started to diversify beyond pure-play PV cell manufacturing.

Other suppliers in the top 10 are involved in panel manufacturing, system installations, and other aspects of the solar value chain.

At the bottom of the list is No. 10 Solar World AG, a German company that holds the distinction of being the biggest manufacturer of PV cells in the US, thanks to the recent expansion of its plant in Hillsboro, Oregon.

A US-headquartered cell manufacturer, SunPower Corp., almost made it into the top 10 in 2008, but SunPower manufactures its cells in plants in the Philippines.