Quotes for a solar-grade polycrystalline silicon wafer have risen from US$1 in December 2013 to US$1.05 currently, and are expected to rise to US$1.08 in February and further to US$1.10 in March, according to chairman Guo Yan-ting of Eversol.
The continual increase in price is mainly because China-based solar-grade wafer producers have decreased shipments to Taiwan-based solar cell makers due to significantly growing domestic demand since the end of 2013, Guo indicated.
However, PV module prices have not risen accordingly, and therefore makers have increased mainstream power-generating capacity per module from 250W to 255W or even above 260W to hike gross margins by adopting 6-inch solar cells with higher energy conversion rates, Guo said. As such, there will be strong demand for high-efficiency solar-grade wafers to make cells with energy conversion rates of over 17.8% in 2014, Guo said.
Eversol will soon offer E-Wafer, its new-generation solar-grade wafers with efficiency equivalent to an energy conversion rate of over 18% for solar cells or power-generating capacity of over 260W for PV modules, Guo indicated. E-Wafer is planned to take up 10-20% of Eversol's total production capacity, Guo noted. In addition, Eversol has obtained a government R&D grant to develop a new product, Helios, and has attained an equivalent energy conversion rate of 21% in laboratory tests, Guo revealed.
Eversol currently has an annual production capacity of 410MWp for silicon ingots and 410MWp for slicing, Guo said. Utilizing 95% of ingot growing capacity currently, Eversol produces eight million wafers a month, with equivalent energy conversion rates ranging between 17.4% and 17.6%, Guo detailed. Eversol plans to increase wafer output through improving in-house manufacturing processes and outsourcing production at an estimated total of 100MWp in 2014, Guo indicated.
Based on the cost of polysilicon at US$20/kg, Eversol's operations can break even when wafer prices rise to US$1.27, Guo said. Thus, Eversol stands a chance of reaching monthly break-even operations in the second half of 2014, Guo noted.
