By
Greentech Lead Team:
While the demand in Europe is on the rise, European manufacturers are having
trouble remaining cost competitive by producing in Europe, according to Lux
Research’s latest Solar Supply Tracker.

List of
global top 10 solar cell manufacturers is available at the end of the article.

Cell
manufacturer Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) has reduced production at two
of its facilities in Norway by about 400 MW in the past two months while it
continues its production at full capacity in Singapore. Module prices are at a
record low with major manufacturers selling around ~$1/W to burn through their
inventories. While this price is unsustainable, it makes cost competition
cut-throat.

The Asian
share in cell manufacturing will continue to rise and go >50 percent, even
though risks of trade disputes and tariffs loom in the western hemisphere.
Moreover, polysilicon production has shifted to Asia during the last quarter
while module production had already shifted to Asia in late 2010.

The top 10
companies, which make up 44 percent of global production, include some of the
Chinese crystalline silicon cell manufacturing giants, such as Suntech, Yingli
and Trina. Neo Solar Power, which is a Taiwanese cell manufacturer, entered the
top 10 for the first time with 3 percent of global production, according to
Fatima Toor, the Lux Research Analyst who led the Solar Supply Tracker.

The Solar
Supply Tracker provides a customizable platform for tracking the capacity and
production of five key value chain segments in photovoltaics: polysilicon,
ingot, wafer, cell and module.

The cell and
module segments track crystalline silicon (x-Si), thin-film silicon (TF-Si),
copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), cadmium telluride (CdTe) and organic
photovoltaic (OPV) companies, while the polysilicon, ingot and wafer value
chain segments are specific to x-Si.

editor@greentechlead.com