| Category | |
|---|---|
| Author | InfoLink |
| Updated | March 29, 2018 |
Poly
Like last week, polysilicon demand remained strong this week, with prices continuously increasing slightly. The average trading price of polysilicon reached RMB 125-130/kg for mono-Si and RMB 118-123/kg for multi-Si wafer use. Since polysilicon transaction has mostly been done for April and it will be tomb sweeping festival next week, polysilicon prices should remain flat next week.
Wafer
A leading mono-Si wafer manufacturer released new price quotes this Monday. While polysilicon prices have already increased, Longi’s conventional mono-Si wafer witnessed slight decline in prices, dropping from RMB 4.55/piece and US$ 0.63/piece to RMB 4.5/piece in China and US$ 0.62/piece in the overseas for 180μm/ 0.8-2.6Ω.cm wafers. This shows Longi’s determination in maintaining high cost effectiveness. As for multi-Si wafer prices, not much has changed this week.
Cell
As wafer trend and future demand slowly become clear, cells with tight profits recently have stopped witnessing decline in prices.
For multi-Si cells, module makers recently requested an efficiency of more than 18.6% and some orders even have to reach 18.7%. Because most cell makers that specialize in producing cells haven’t begun to implement the wet-etching black-silicon method, cells with efficiencies below 18.7% still represent the most. It’s difficult for module makers to purchase enough high-efficiency multi-Si cells, allowing the price increase for multi-Si cells to emerge.
Prices of conventional mono and mono-Si PERC cells are not likely to increase much following the slight decline of mono-Si wafer prices. This week, conventional mono and mono-Si PERC cells witnessed flat prices.
Module
Module prices are more stable and didn’t continue to drop further recently. However, prices are not likely to increase before the 0630 installation boom takes place in China.
On the other hand, China requested wattage of 275W for conventional multi-Si modules. Some projects are still unwilling to accept special technologies like retroreflective film and half-cut, forcing module makers to increase the conversion efficiency requirement when purchasing cells. The efficiency for module itself has to be improved too. At the same time it’s more difficult for conventional multi-Si modules to reach the efficiency requested by the market, demand of conventional mono-Si modules have increased.