Photovoltaic Industry Enters the Era of Ebb Tide

Japan's Asahi Shimbun recently published reports that the photovoltaic industry has entered the era of “big wave Ebb”.

In 2011, the global price of photovoltaic cells fell sharply. The reason is that China's PV companies that are generally optimistic about the market's prospects have been adding factories. However, their sales in Europe have been affected by the European debt crisis. Photovoltaic companies are ready to withstand the "winter" test of survival of the fittest. At the same time, price declines may also bring the dawn of market penetration to the photovoltaic industry.

According to China's photovoltaic industry group, the average price per watt of photovoltaic cells in 2011 fell by about 40%, which was a drop of nearly 70% from 2008. In the third quarter of 2011, all eight giants in China's photovoltaic industry suffered losses. The annual growth rate of China's photovoltaic cell production has remained above 100% for seven consecutive years, with hundreds of large and small manufacturers accounting for nearly half of the world's total production, of which more than 90% is used for export, due to the European debt crisis. Market demand has shrunk to less than half of production capacity.

The survival of the fittest has already taken place in the United States. Solindella’s bankruptcy this summer fired more than 1,100 employees. The company had received loan guarantees and subsidies from the U.S. government before its bankruptcy. In addition, there are two other related companies in the United States that are bankrupt.

However, in the long run, the demand for photovoltaic cells is expected to increase substantially. According to the forecast of the International Energy Agency, global solar power generation in 2030 will increase to more than 20 times in 2009, of which the United States is 40 times, and China and India are more than 80 times.

The article said that Chinese companies want to beach in Japan; Japan's lucrative profits in the PV market are exciting for Chinese manufacturers. Japan's solar power system is 50% more expensive than other regions in Europe. In the eyes of Chinese companies, Japan can be described as a "stable market."

In December 2010, a large-scale solar power station experiment was launched at a racecourse in Obihiro City, Hokkaido, Japan. It is announced that Softbank, which is entering the solar market, will use one year to test the power generation efficiency of more than 500 photovoltaic panels. Ten companies cooperated for this experiment, including seven Japanese companies and one Canadian company, and the remaining two were China Suntech Power and Yingli Green Energy. As the trial will open up the performance of "combatted" corporate products, some companies will be discouraged. The article disclosed that starting from July 2011, the Japanese government will start a new system, and the power companies must purchase all the electricity generated by renewable energy at a fixed price. More and more people are expecting market demand, such as factory electricity, which pays more attention to costs besides household electricity. At the end of November, JA Solar joined forces with Marubeni and other companies to start selling photovoltaic cells for home use. Prices are about 20% lower than Japanese products.

According to data from a US research company, the share of Japanese PV cell market imports increased from 5% at the beginning of 2010 to more than 20% in 2011. The more companies, the more intense the price war.