solf buy wafer and sell module.
"A sheet of wafer, which cost US$3.5 earlier this year, now takes US$3.9.
The price of one watt of solar cell has also edged up from US$1.36 to US$1.4
between August and October. That of a module, however, is standingpat at US
$1.7 per watt. "
Photovoltaic Polysilicon Undersupply Getting Worse
2010/10/28 By Kim Yong-ju
The spot price of solar-cell polysilicon jumped to US$95 per kilogram on
October 26, about a double compared with US$54 in June. In actual
transaction, a kilogram costs over US$100 and some fear that the supply
shortage in 2008, when the price soared over US$400, could repeat itself.
A polysilicon maker said, “For just two months, the spot price has hiked by
US$40 and the demand is about triple the supply these days,” adding, “We
are accepting no new orders as our supply schedule is choke-full until the
year’s end.” A wafer manufacturer echoed “Polysilicon in the spot market,
including that of high purity, is so expensive and hard to come by.”
According to the industry, the skyrocketing price is ascribed mainly to an
undersupply. Especially, the situation is getting exacerbated due to the
scarcity of high-purity polysilicons and the speculative demand rearing its
head to avoid the shock of three years ago.
The price rise is affecting the entire value chain from ingot and wafer to
solar cell. A sheet of wafer, which cost US$3.5 earlier this year, now takes
US$3.9. The price of one watt of solar cell has also edged up from US$1.36
to US$1.4 between August and October. That of a module, however, is
standingpat at US$1.7 per watt.
◇Photovoltaic polysilicon, also called poly-crystalline silicon, is one of
the most basic components of solar cells, having a high-purity, polycrystal
molecular structure. Turning light energy into electricity, it is superior
to ordinary silicon in water repellence, fire resistance, oxidation and low-
temperature stability, gas permeability, etc.
