NANJING, CHINA: China Sunergy Co. Ltd, a specialized solar cell manufacturer based in Nanjing, China, has entered into the renegotiation with the counterparty regarding to a June, 2008 supply agreement signed with REC SiTech AS.
On June 25, 2008, China Sunergy entered into a Standard Agreement for the Supply of Monocrystalline Silicon Ingots and/or Wafers with the European wafer provider REC SiTech As for the high quality supply of monocrystalline 156-millimeter wafers for seven years from 2009 through 2015. It has been revealed that REC SiTech As now is dissolved as a result of a merger early this year.
As the polysilicon supply market has changed dramatically since the fourth quarter of 2008, key raw material suppliers such as REC have indicated the renegotiation of supply agreements with their respective customers and against this background, China Sunergy has entered into the renegotiation with its counterparty in respect to the overall arrangement of the supply agreement, with the good faith to reach a mutually beneficial agreement between both parties.
Showing posts with label REC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label REC. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Previously committed capacity expansions cause solar cell manufacturing oversupply!
AUSTIN, USA: According to DisplaySearch's Q3’09 Quarterly PV Cell Capacity Database & Trends Report, solar cell manufacturing capacity is likely to grow 56 percent in 2009 to 17GW. Ramped capacity, which was only 2.3GW in 2005, is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 49 percent to more than 42GW in 2013.
"Despite PV module demand shrinking 17 percent in 2009, so much cell manufacturing equipment was ordered and installed over the past year that capacity is still expected to grow 56 percent this year," said Charles Annis, DisplaySearch Vice President of Manufacturing Research and author of the report.
"With demand and capacity moving in different directions, the PV industry is currently experiencing an enormous over-supply that is causing rapid price erosion and potentially setting the stage for the failure of multiple cell manufacturers, particularly companies pursuing a-Si thin film solar cells.
"The PV industry will begin working through this excess capacity as demand recovers next year and takes off in 2011 and beyond.”
Here are just some of the many highlights from the Q3’09 Quarterly PV Cell Capacity Database & Trends Report:
* Through 2006, Japan had the largest solar cell production capacity in the world. However, Chinese companies started to ramp up a host of new facilities in 2005 and by 2007 had more solar cell capacity on line than any other country.
China has continued to invest heavily in production facilities, about a third of the worldwide cell capacity in 2009 and is forecast to be the main region for cell production well into the future.
* Of the 3.58GW of thin film capacity available in 2009, more than 30 percent use 600×1200 mm glass substrates, the standard CdTe glass size used by First Solar.
Gen 5-equivalent substrates, ranging from 1000×1200 to 1100×1400 mm, are the second most common glass size, used for 18 percent of available thin film capacity.
* Between January 2008 and July 2009, approximately 11.4GW of new solar cell capacity was installed in fabs around the world. These previous investment commitments are the reason that capacity is continuing to grow 56 percent in 2009 despite falling demand.
* In 2005, 95 percent of solar cell manufacturing capacity was for crystalline silicon solar cells and 5 percent for thin-film solar cells. In 2009, thin film will account for more than 20 percent of capacity.
By 2013, thin film technologies are forecast to account for as much as 30 percent of solar cell capacity.
* For a-Si factories, in 2009 the four largest turn-key equipment vendors are AMAT, Oerlikon ULVAC and EPV, representing 946MW of ramped capacity or more than 50 percent of a-Si capacity online this year.
* In terms of capacity available for production in 2009, First Solar is the largest solar cell manufacturer with more than 1GW of capacity. Q-Cells and Suntech are not far behind and essentially tied for second place. These and other current leading PV cell manufacturers are forecast to invest at the highest rates over the next four years.
By 2013, these three companies plus JA Solar, Motech, REC, SunPower, Yingli, Showa Shell Solar (assuming it moves forward with a planned 1GW CIGS fab), and Sharp are forecast to be the top 10 makers, with more than 16GW or 38 percent of 2013 capacity.
"Despite PV module demand shrinking 17 percent in 2009, so much cell manufacturing equipment was ordered and installed over the past year that capacity is still expected to grow 56 percent this year," said Charles Annis, DisplaySearch Vice President of Manufacturing Research and author of the report.
"With demand and capacity moving in different directions, the PV industry is currently experiencing an enormous over-supply that is causing rapid price erosion and potentially setting the stage for the failure of multiple cell manufacturers, particularly companies pursuing a-Si thin film solar cells.
"The PV industry will begin working through this excess capacity as demand recovers next year and takes off in 2011 and beyond.”
Here are just some of the many highlights from the Q3’09 Quarterly PV Cell Capacity Database & Trends Report:
* Through 2006, Japan had the largest solar cell production capacity in the world. However, Chinese companies started to ramp up a host of new facilities in 2005 and by 2007 had more solar cell capacity on line than any other country.
China has continued to invest heavily in production facilities, about a third of the worldwide cell capacity in 2009 and is forecast to be the main region for cell production well into the future.
* Of the 3.58GW of thin film capacity available in 2009, more than 30 percent use 600×1200 mm glass substrates, the standard CdTe glass size used by First Solar.
Gen 5-equivalent substrates, ranging from 1000×1200 to 1100×1400 mm, are the second most common glass size, used for 18 percent of available thin film capacity.
* Between January 2008 and July 2009, approximately 11.4GW of new solar cell capacity was installed in fabs around the world. These previous investment commitments are the reason that capacity is continuing to grow 56 percent in 2009 despite falling demand.
* In 2005, 95 percent of solar cell manufacturing capacity was for crystalline silicon solar cells and 5 percent for thin-film solar cells. In 2009, thin film will account for more than 20 percent of capacity.
By 2013, thin film technologies are forecast to account for as much as 30 percent of solar cell capacity.
* For a-Si factories, in 2009 the four largest turn-key equipment vendors are AMAT, Oerlikon ULVAC and EPV, representing 946MW of ramped capacity or more than 50 percent of a-Si capacity online this year.
* In terms of capacity available for production in 2009, First Solar is the largest solar cell manufacturer with more than 1GW of capacity. Q-Cells and Suntech are not far behind and essentially tied for second place. These and other current leading PV cell manufacturers are forecast to invest at the highest rates over the next four years.
By 2013, these three companies plus JA Solar, Motech, REC, SunPower, Yingli, Showa Shell Solar (assuming it moves forward with a planned 1GW CIGS fab), and Sharp are forecast to be the top 10 makers, with more than 16GW or 38 percent of 2013 capacity.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Solar market suffers inventory glut
EL SEGUNDO, USA: A massive oversupply of solar modules combined with disappointing demand caused average inventories throughout the solar supply chain to soar by 64.3 percent, spurring major oversupply and price erosion, according to iSuppli Corp.
Average days of inventory among solar module and cell makers, polysilicon and wafer suppliers and vertically integrated companies that provide all these items surged to more than 121 in the first quarter of 2009, up from 74.2 during the same period in 2008.
“The worldwide solar industry for the first quarter added the equivalent of one-and-a-half months of excess inventory in just one year,” said Dr. Henning Wicht, principal analyst, Photovoltaics (PV) research, for iSuppli. “With new polysilicon capacity coming online this year, the PV industry will suffer further price erosion, at all nodes of the value chain.”
iSuppli estimates the spot price per kilogram for polysilicon, the key raw material for making solar cells, will drop to $50 by the end of the year, down by 72 percent from $180 per kilogram at the beginning of 2009.
The figure presents average days of inventory for the major segments of the solar supply chain.
Source: iSuppli, July 2009
The perils of poly
On the demand side, the solar market is coping with a demand sinkhole that was left after Spain’s PV demand collapsed. Despite this, solar-cell makers are still compelled to take deliveries from their polysilicon suppliers due to their long-term contractual obligations.
On the supply side, polysilicon providers recently invested billions in new facilities, forcing them to produce in order to cover these new fixed costs.
Integrated firms holding the bag
Some of the hardest-hit entities in the PV industry have been the fully integrated players. These companies, including REC, Yingli, and SolarWorld, have operations in all three nodes of the value chain: polysilicon, wafer and cells.
Inventory levels for this segment jumped to more than 161 days in the first quarter, up from 86 days during the first three months of 2008.
One major reason these companies have borne the brunt of the inventory surge is their integrated structure. These firms possess integrated wafer and polysilicon production that help secure raw materials during periods of a supply bottleneck in the industry.
However, the integrated firms found their hands tied to their own capacity at various nodes when demand dropped off a cliff at the end of 2008.
This, in turn, created a lag time relative to other sectors in the industry that is now just reacting to the business environment, causing the severe inventory build-ups that led to margin compression.
Cell and module manufacturers
Cell and module manufacturers are currently experiencing significant increases in inventory, with levels rising to 105 days from the third-quarter level in 2008 of 47 days. This is due, in part, to pressure from wafer and polysilicon suppliers desiring that their customers adhere to shipment schedules negotiated in 2007 and 2008.
Polysilicon and wafer manufacturing have done the best job of maintaining inventories in this dynamic environment. With only a modest increase to 98 days from 74 days a year ago, it would seem that things are not looking so bad at this node compared to that of cell and module manufacturers.
However, as the year rolls on, this node in the chain will be hit with additional capacity coming online from major existing and relatively new polysilicon players. Such a development will lead to severe turmoil at this section of the value chain as the spot market will be flooded with excess capacity, with many looking to only cover variable costs.
iSuppli expects to see inventories at this node in the value chain to rise throughout this year and persist into 2010.
Average days of inventory among solar module and cell makers, polysilicon and wafer suppliers and vertically integrated companies that provide all these items surged to more than 121 in the first quarter of 2009, up from 74.2 during the same period in 2008.
“The worldwide solar industry for the first quarter added the equivalent of one-and-a-half months of excess inventory in just one year,” said Dr. Henning Wicht, principal analyst, Photovoltaics (PV) research, for iSuppli. “With new polysilicon capacity coming online this year, the PV industry will suffer further price erosion, at all nodes of the value chain.”
iSuppli estimates the spot price per kilogram for polysilicon, the key raw material for making solar cells, will drop to $50 by the end of the year, down by 72 percent from $180 per kilogram at the beginning of 2009.
The figure presents average days of inventory for the major segments of the solar supply chain.
Source: iSuppli, July 2009The perils of poly
On the demand side, the solar market is coping with a demand sinkhole that was left after Spain’s PV demand collapsed. Despite this, solar-cell makers are still compelled to take deliveries from their polysilicon suppliers due to their long-term contractual obligations.
On the supply side, polysilicon providers recently invested billions in new facilities, forcing them to produce in order to cover these new fixed costs.
Integrated firms holding the bag
Some of the hardest-hit entities in the PV industry have been the fully integrated players. These companies, including REC, Yingli, and SolarWorld, have operations in all three nodes of the value chain: polysilicon, wafer and cells.
Inventory levels for this segment jumped to more than 161 days in the first quarter, up from 86 days during the first three months of 2008.
One major reason these companies have borne the brunt of the inventory surge is their integrated structure. These firms possess integrated wafer and polysilicon production that help secure raw materials during periods of a supply bottleneck in the industry.
However, the integrated firms found their hands tied to their own capacity at various nodes when demand dropped off a cliff at the end of 2008.
This, in turn, created a lag time relative to other sectors in the industry that is now just reacting to the business environment, causing the severe inventory build-ups that led to margin compression.
Cell and module manufacturers
Cell and module manufacturers are currently experiencing significant increases in inventory, with levels rising to 105 days from the third-quarter level in 2008 of 47 days. This is due, in part, to pressure from wafer and polysilicon suppliers desiring that their customers adhere to shipment schedules negotiated in 2007 and 2008.
Polysilicon and wafer manufacturing have done the best job of maintaining inventories in this dynamic environment. With only a modest increase to 98 days from 74 days a year ago, it would seem that things are not looking so bad at this node compared to that of cell and module manufacturers.
However, as the year rolls on, this node in the chain will be hit with additional capacity coming online from major existing and relatively new polysilicon players. Such a development will lead to severe turmoil at this section of the value chain as the spot market will be flooded with excess capacity, with many looking to only cover variable costs.
iSuppli expects to see inventories at this node in the value chain to rise throughout this year and persist into 2010.
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