pv manufacturing capacity expansion plans in 2016 exceeded ... capacities_… · negated plans...

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A game of two halves As Figure 1 shows total global PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in 2016 were heavily weighted to the first half of the year with a total of nearly 48GW. The strongest quarter in 2016 was the first as May signalled a significant fall-off in announcements.

In stark contrast, the second half of 2016 accounted for only just over 8GW of planned expansions; July was he low point with just one 20MW planned solar cell capacity expansion announced. Only in November did total announcements push past 2GW in the second half of the year.

As shown in Figure 2, thin-film expansion announcements barely topped 1GW and were primarily

(800MW) from CdTe leader, First Solar, which announced upgrades to mothbal le d l ines and a ne w facility to house the expansion but did not provided a geographical location. Later in the year, First Solar announced a major restructuring of its manufacturing operations with a complete migration from Series 4 modules to Series 6 large-area modules. This restructuring effectively negated plans announced in April 2016.

Figure 2 also highlights the complete lack of integrated solar cell and module assembly plant announcements in the second half of the year, compared to 4.5GW announced in the first half of the year.

D e d i c a t e d m o d u l e a s s e m b l y

announcements reached over 26.6GW in 2016, with around 23.5GW coming in the first half of the year. Overall, dedicated module assembly plans have typically tracked at higher figures than dedicated cell expansions, although the difference is relatively small.

High-efficiency solar cells gain momentumThe migration to high-eff iciency solar cells, whether monocrystalline or multicrystalline with passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) and n-type mono heterojunction (HJ), was also a key trend in 2016, having gained strong momentum since 2015.

As shown in Figure 3, overall high-efficiency monocrystalline solar cell capacity expansion announcements in 2016 accounted for around 40% of the global total of c-Si cell expansion plans, up from around 26% of the total in 2015.

In 2016, a total of around 38GW of c-Si solar cell expansion plans were announced globally, which included almost 11GW of dedicated mono c-Si cell capacity, compared with almost 27GW of multi c-Si solar cell plans.

However, many announcements in the multi-gigawatt scale were expected to be phased over several years. A more realistic analysis, with first-phase plans in the 500MW range, indicate around 23GW of total cell expansions, upgrades and new plant plans were announced.

In this analysis , we have only i n c l u d e d s o l a r c e l l e x p a n s i o n announcements that specifically stated that the plans relate to p-type or n-type mono as well as heterojunction and hybrid n-type mono cell architectures.

A key reason for this is that a number of PV cell and integrated manufacturers that can produce both

PV manufacturing capacity expansion plans in 2016 exceeded 55GWMark Osborne, Senior News Editor, Photovoltaics International

ABSTRACTIn this quarterly report on global PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements we will provide a detailed analysis of 2016. Despite a significant slowdown in new announcements in the second half of the year, 2016 surpassed 2015 by around 16% to exceed a total of 55GW of thin-film, dedicated solar cell and module assembly and integrated PV expansion plans.

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Total Capacity Expansion Announcements per Month 2016 (MW)

Figure 1. Total capacity expansion announcements per month 2016 (MW).

Photovoltaics International 27

Fab & Facilities

p-type mono and p-type multi cells have typically not broken out whether the cell capacity expansions include both wafer types. Indeed, another challenge has been examples of later conversion of p-type multi cell lines to allocate some capacity to mono cell production.

With 2014 classified as the year that capacity expansions restarted after several years of chronic overcapacity, it is interesting to note that the ratio of mono to multi c-Si solar cell capacity plans was almost equal, albeit at low levels of 2.9GW and 3GW, respectively.

The significant amount of capacity expansion announcements in the later

part of 2015 shifted the emphasis to multi c-Si cell lines and away from mono. In 2015, dedicated mono expansions totalled nearly 4.5GW, while multi cell expansions almost topped 17GW. Mono cell planned expansions fell to only around 26% of the total.

One of the key reasons for the dominance of p-type multi c-Si cell capacity expansions in 2015 was the signif icant expansions being made by the ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) members (Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, Jinko Solar, JA Solar and Hanwha Q CELLS) with high reliance on multi and the

establishment of meaningful new PERC cell technology capacity.

Another aspect that hindered mono capacity expansion plans was the lack of low-cost p-type mono wafers and limited ‘effective’ capacity expansions in 2015, which at around 3GW were actually less than the mono cell line expansions (4.5GW).

2015 can be seen as a transitional y e a r f o r m o n o w a f e r c o s t competitiveness and availabil ity, while 2016 can be seen as more transformative on both levels.

Not only did 2016 provide more than a doubl ing (10 .96G W ) of mono c-Si cell capacity expansion

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Despite a slowdown in the second half of the year, PV manufacturing expansion plans in 2016 outstripped 2015.


Fab & Facilities

announcement s , a conser v at ive 20GW of mono ingot/wafer capacity expansion plans were also announced that year.

The greater availability of mono wafers at cost-competitive pricing will remain a key adoption driver and could accelerate solar cell production migration away from multi to mono over the next few years. However,

multi c-Si solar cell production is still expanding at higher capacity volume rates than mono and is expected to remain the workhorse of the industry through the next few years.

PERC on the rise As with wafer type, not all multi and mono solar cell capacity expansion

plans cite specific cell technologies being deployed. Indeed, even when a technology such as PERC is cited it is not always apparent as to the percentage of PERC capacity to standard BSF (Back Side Field) cell technology that is included in the total new nameplate capacity being added. There have been incidences in 2015 when PERC was announced but not actually deployed in the initial ramp of new facilities.

Therefore, even when only citing figures for PERC that were specifically stated in planned capacity expansions in 2015 and 2016, these figures could be compromised to some degree.

This also relates to BSF-to-PERC upgrades at existing manufacturing facilities . Not all PERC upgrades at exiting facilities are announced, although tracking cell equipment supplier orders does indicate higher amounts of upgrades via this route than the number of announced upgrades.

In 2015, PERC solar cell upgrades at existing facilities that were officially announced by manufacturers totalled only 460MW (see Figure 4), while tool orders were in the several gigawatt range. However, in 2016, PERC solar cell upgrade announcements reached 2,500MW.

Actual new capacity expansion announcements related to PERC in 2015 reached 7,200MW, while in 2016 the figure was lower at around 6 ,900MW. Ag a in , i t shou ld b e highlighted that any apparent decline is suspect, especially considering the significant increase in overall solar cell capacity expansion plans seen in 2016. The lower figure is more likely due to the lack of detail provided by manufacturers on the process technology or technologies being deployed.

Another interesting development is the momentum being built for HJ technology. In 2015, only 250MW of HJ cell expansion plans were officially announced, while this figure jumped significantly to 2,360MW in 2016.

Some of the announcements lacked timelines and other crucial information but around 1,000MW of HJ solar cell expansion plans in 2016 seem to have a good level of legitimacy, not least due to the end of year plans announced by Panasonic in partnership with Tesla at the SolarCity/Silevo 1GW Buffalo fab in the US.

Although both parties failed to highlight the planned nameplate capacity, we have estimated the plans to be around an initial 400MW.

With nearly 27GW of multi c-Si cell capacity expansion plans announced

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Capacity Expansion Announcements by Product Type per Month 2016 (MW)

Thin Film c-Si Cell c-Si Module cell/module

Figure 3. Monocrystalline silicon solar cell and ingot/wafer expansion announcements (MW).

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Figure 2. Capacity expansion announcements by product type per month 2016 (MW).

Fab & Facilities

in 2016, the vast majority of which occurred in the first half of the year, it will not become clearer as to the amount of effective capacity that comes on stream or process technology deployed until the second half of 2017, notably due to facility construction and equipment lead times.

However, what is apparent from the capacity expansion announcements is growing momentum towards higher efficiency mono c-Si production and high-efficiency solar cells, primarily through PERC migration, a trend expected to continue over the next three to five years.

Key location trends in 2016As Figure 5 shows, Asia has continued t o d o m i n a t e p l a n n e d n e w P V manufacturing capacity expansions in 2016. The top seven countries (India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan) are all in Asia and accounted for around 46.2GW of new production plans from a total of around 49.2GW, globally or almost 94%.

C a p a c i t y e x p a n s i o n s w e r e announced in 21 countries in 2016, compared to 20 countries in 2015. Howe ver, the concentrat ion o f announcements in Asia has increased as Asia accounted for the top five selected destinations in 2015.

India surpassed China for the first time in 2016, accounting for just over 17GW of total announcements. New capacity plans in India increased by around 118%, compared with 2015.

However, the disparity between announcements and ‘effective’ capacity in India remain significantly high with much of the 7.8GW of announcements made in India in 2015, still unrealised into effective manufacturing capacity.

Capacity expansion announcements in China have slowed slightly in the last two years. Having peaked in 2014 at over 19GW, announcements fell to around 17.5GW in 2015 and topped 17GW in 2016.

B a s i c a l l y a l l o f t h e 2 0 1 6 announcements in China were made in the first half of 2016 with less than 50MW announced in the second half of the year. This is in contrast to 2015

when the majority of announcements were made in the second half of the year, providing over 34GW of announcements in a straight 12-month period.

However, China-based companies did not stop making announcements altogether in these periods of non-activity in China . Instead, plans were being announced by Chinese manufacturers for production plants outside China , predominantly in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

Perhaps the surprise location for capacity expansion announcements in 2016 was Vietnam which totalled almost 4GW, driven by some of the leading Chinese PV manufacturers such as JA Solar, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar and GCL System (GCLS).

S t r o n g c o m p e t i t i o n b e t w e e n Malaysia and Thailand as a major destination for PV manufacturing in Asia continued in 2016. Thailand ( 2 . 2 G W ) j u s t to p p e d M a l ay s i a (2.1GW) in 2015, while the positions were reversed in 2016 with Malaysia attracting nearly 2.9GW of new capacity plans and Thailand 2.7GW.

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The two other Asia countr ies accounting for the major share of announcements in 2016 were South Korea and Taiwan, both with over 2.3GW of expansion plans.

Despite the continued decline in the European downstream market, new PV manufacturing capacity plans are still being announced.

In 2016, European Union member countries announced just over 900MW of planned expansions, which included the acquisition and re-start of solar cell production by Trina Solar at the former Solland Solar facility in the Netherlands.

Within the EU, Germany remained the key destination with over 650MW of pr imar i ly re instate d mo dule assembly capacity but significantly

below the near 1,500MW announced in 2015. Overall, European capacity expansions announcements reached around 1,200MW in 2016, down from over 1,700MW in 2015.

Although Latin America is becoming a key emerging downstream market, manufacturing announcements remain limited in both number and scale, compared to emerging markets such as India.

In 2016, only Brazil announced new manufacturing capacity plans, but only 360MW compared to nearly 1,200MW in 2015. However, very few plans from 2015 materialised into effective capacity in 2016, yet indications are that some of the plans previously announced could materialise in 2017.

Other emerging markets such as

those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are also starting from scratch. In 2015, around 150MW of initial module assembly plans were announced in Egypt only. However, 2016 indicated over 2,300MW of manufacturing plans were being considered in the MENA region. The bulk of this comes from two 1,000MW planned facilities in Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, less ambitious plans exist in Morocco (220MW) and Algeria (120MW).

The vast major ity of capacity expansion announcements in 2016 that have either been converted to effective capacity or are expected to become effective capacity in 2016 are located in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan.

Although expansion announcements in India have been significant in both 2015 and 2016, many remain highly speculative at this time. However, with plans previously announced by the likes of Adani now becoming effective capacity, 2017 should see further conversions as the downstream market matures in India.

Outside of the seven key Asia countries, both Europe and the US expansion plans have a high probability of becoming effective capacity in 2017. A key measure will be the eventual manufacturing ramp at the Tesla/SolarCity/Panasonic facility this year.

O n a g e o g r ap h i c a l b a s i s th e empha s i s in 2017 may tur n to emerging markets and companies establishing local manufacturing albeit at small-scale capacity levels. However, as seen already in late 2016, manufacturing curtailment has already started and previously announced expansion plans being put on hold or cancelled outright may become the norm, regardless of location.

ConclusionDespite the drastic slowdown in announcements in the second half of the year, 2016 activity proved to be a new record high for the solar industry. Chinese PV manufacturers continued to broaden their manufactur ing fo otpr int s in resp onse to ant i -dumping policies in the US and EU, with much of the attention on Southeast Asia.

The drive to higher efficiencies, whether ne w bui ld or upgrades at existing faci l it ies also gained signif icant momentum. It would also seem that a period of digestion following the high activity levels seen in the fourth quarter of 2015 through to the end of the second quarter of 2016 is also underway.

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Kyrgyzstan, 35

Total PV Manufacturing Capacity Announcements by Country in 2016

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Figure 5. Total PV manufacturing capacity announcements by country in 2016.

Figure 4. High-efficiency cell technology capacity expansion announcements (MW).


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A l t h o u g h c a p a c i t y e x p a n s i o n announcements in January remained subdued and followed the low level of activity seen in the second half of 2016, February proved to be the third busiest month since 2014 and the strongest February in more than three years. March did not maintain that momentum but st i l l posted

strong figures, the second highest March figures in more than three years.

As a result, the first quarter of 2017 was the third highest for capacity expansion announcements since the start of the PV industry’s second major manufacturing expansion phase in 2014.

As previously noted, January 2017

capacity expansion plans remained subdued, indicating the potential for an end to the latest global expansion phase, after seven months of low activity, primarily due to fears of overcapacity and the fact that global module average shipment prices (ASPs) declined by around 25% in the second half of 2016.

PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcement plans and analysis for Q1 2017Mark Osborne, Senior News Editor, Photovoltaics International

ABSTRACTOur preliminary analysis of global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first quarter of 2017 shows a strong rebound compared with the significantly subdued environment seen in the second half of 2016. A key driver over the period was plans announced by the majority of the ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) members, which are profiled separately in this report.

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Despite a slow start to the year, PV manufacturers have had a busy first quarter setting out new expansion plans.

Fab & Facilities

A total of 1,235MW of thin-film, solar cel l and module assembly expansion plans were announced in January 2017. This included a total of around 370MW of thin-film announcements, 450MW of solar cell and 415MW of module assembly plans.

This low January total was boosted by rare CIGS thin-film plans from China and contrasts with 1,900MW of expansions announced in December 2016.

“The first quarter of 2017 was the third highest for capacity expansion announcements

since the start of the PV industry’s second major

manufacturing expansion phase in 2014”

February reboundThe significant rebound in capacity expansion plans in February 2017 led to a total of 11,040MW of announcements. This included 6,740MW of solar cell plans and 4,300MW of module a s s e m b l y p l a n s . P h o t o v o l t a i c s I n t e r n a t i o n a l ’ s p r e l i m i n a r y review indicates no new capacity announcements were made in the thin-film sector or for integrated cell and

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Figure 1. Combined total (c-Si cell, module & thin-film) expansion announcements by month (MW).

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module manufacturing plants. There were two key trends at play.

Firstly, several large announcements

were actually phased expansions over specified and non-specified time frames.

A key announcement was that US

manufacturer SunPower had signed a new joint venture partnership in China to produce both solar cells (p-type mono PERC) and modules for its P-Series technology with its existing China-based supply chain partners Dongfang Electric Company (DEC) and Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor (TZS); that proposal included a manufacturing capacity expansion from 1.1GW to 5GW.

The second key trend was the start of expansion plan updates from ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) members. JinkoSolar was the first SMSL to announce plans to expand in-house solar cell production by 500MW in 2017 and module assembly capacity by 1,500MW.

Also of note in February was the confirmation that Panasonic would take over the formerly SolarCity now Tesla facility in Buffalo, New York State, previously known as Riverbend, now dubbed ‘Gigafactory 2’.

However, as the 1GW faci l i ty plans had been announced back in June 2014 it does not count as a new announcement from a capacity perspective and is not included in the preliminary new announcements for February.

Perhaps more important is that its seems increasingly possible that Panasonic’s expected US$250 million investment in Gigafactory 2 is only related to module assembly and not HIT solar cell production. This would change the status of the facility from being the largest integrated production plant in the US to being the largest module assembly plant, should it be ramped at some time in the future to 1GW-plus of module capacity only.

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Figure 4. Hanwha Q CELLS manufacturing capacity expansions (MW).

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Figure 2. Capacity expansion announcements by product type monthly since January 2014 (MW).

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Figure 3. JinkoSolar manufacturing capacity in 2017 (MW).

Fab & Facilities

March still strongPreliminary figures for March 2017 indicate that a total of 5,320MW of new capacity expansion plans were announced. Following on from February, only solar cell and module assembly expansions were announced. This included 2,220MW of solar cell plans and 3,100MW of module assembly plans.

Momentum in capacity expansions was sustained primarily by three SMSL members (Hanwha Q CELLS, JA Solar

and Canadian Solar) reporting on plans for 2017 as part of their fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.

SMSL updateThe Silicon Module Super League (SMSL) is our table of the top-ranking module suppliers that collectively are driving many of the trends shaping the market. In the latest quarter they once again played a prominent role.

JinkoSolarLeading SMSL member JinkoSolar said that it would be expanding in-house ingot/wafer, solar cell and module assembly capacity this year.

The company expects to expand in-house ingot/wafer production from 5GW at the end of 2016 to 7GW by the end of 2017. Around 1GW of the wafer expansion will be monocrystalline based.

The company is still limiting in-house solar cell capacity expansions, adding only 500MW in 2017 to take nameplate capacity from 4GW at the end of 2016 to 4.5GW by the end of 2017.

However, the company noted that it is further migrating cell capacity to PERC technology, having reached 1.4GW of in-house PERC capacity in 2016. The company plans to have reached 2GW of PERC capacity by the end of 2017. JinkoSolar is planning to expand module assembly capacity by 1,500MW, reaching 8GW in 2017.

Hanwha Q CELLSCaption for fig 4, in here Figure 4. Hanwha Q CELLS manufacturing capacity expansions (MW).

Hanwha Q CELLS and Hanwha Q CELLS Korea are adding a combined 1.2GW of p-type multi/mono PERC

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Figure 5. JA Solar in-house manufacturing capacity (MW).

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capacity in 2017, including 500MW via PERC upgrades and more mono migration at its facilities in Malaysia and South Korea.

Hanwha Q CELLS also announced plans for an integrated (wafer/cell/module) p-type multi/mono PERC plant in Turkey with a nameplate capacity of 500MW as part of local content rules for developing PV power plants in the country. However, the establishment of plant could be several years away as it seeks government approvals.

JA SolarJA Solar is continuing to expand manufacturing capacity in 2017 after guiding total shipments to be in the range of 6GW to 6.5GW, up from 5.2GW in 2016.

JA Solar exited 2016 with an in-house annual ingot/wafer manufacturing capacity of 2.5GW, up from 1GW in 2015. In-house solar cell capacity reached 5.5GW, up from 3.6GW at the end of 2015, and in-house PV module capacity also reached 5.5GW at the end of 2016, up from 3.6GW.

The comp any g u ide d f ur ther in-house expansions in 2017, which would mean adding 500MW of ingot/wafer production to reach 3GW and

1.5GW of solar cell capacity to reach an in-house production level of 7GW by the end of 2017.

However, in-house PV module capacity expansions include only a 500MW increase to 6GW by the end of 2017. Management noted in a recent earnings call that its OEM partnership in Vietnam provided an additional 1GW of module assembly capacity to achieve a balanced cell and module nameplate capacity of 7GW in 2017.

JA Solar’s 1.2GW Malaysian solar cell facility, which had predominantly produced p-type multi cells , will shift around two thirds of capacity to p-type mono-PERC cells in 2017, according to the company. This equates to a shift of around 800MW of p-type multi-PERC cell production to p-type mono-PERC.

Canadian solarCanadian Solar is placing a major bet on pushing ahead with the migration to p-type multi PERC cell technology using diamond-wire saw (DWS) and ‘Black Silicon’ texturing under its ‘ONYX’ label, instead of increasing p-type mono PERC capacity as many companies are.

The company noted that its in-house

ingot capacity, which stood at a mere 400MW at the end of 2016, would be ramped to 1,700MW by the end of 2017. In-house wafer capacity would also be significantly expanded from 1,000MW in 2016 to 4,000MW by the end of this year. Wafer capacity is expected to reach 2,000MW by the end of June 2017.

These specific expansions would enable Canadian Solar to benefit from a PERC transition, providing higher efficiency cells and modules, while reducing silicon kerf losses and manufacturing cost by avoiding the use of slurries with DWS technology.

With respect to i t s solar cel l m a nu f a c tu r i n g c ap a c i t y, w h i ch stood at 2,440MW at the end of 2016, Canadian Solar said that it had restored production at two cell lines totalling 240MW at its Funing cell facility in China, which was completely destroyed by a tornado in 2016. An additional 480MW of cell capacity will be ramped in March 2017, while a further 720MW will come on stream in June 2017, providing a combined 1,440MW of p-type multi-PERC cell capacity.

Canadian Solar also noted that its newest 850MW solar cell plant in Southeast Asia was completed in February 2017, with production starting to ramp in March 2017.

As a result , total in-house cell manufacturing capacity is expected to reach 4,490MW by 30 June 2017. The company noted in an SEC filing that this level of nameplate capacity would remain through to the end of 2017. With the completed ramp of its Southeast Asia plant, and without further expansions at its Funing facility, Canadian Solar’s in-house cell capacity would stand at approximately 4,730MW.

Having given PV module shipment guidance for 2017, Canadian Solar expects shipments to be between 6.5GW and 7GW this year. Therefore, the company is expanding in-house module assembly capacity f rom 6,170MW at the end of 2016 to 6,970MW by the end of June 2017.

C o m b i n e d , S M S L m e m b e r s ( JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar, JA Solar and Hanwha Q CELLS) have announced 3,700MW of solar cell expansions and 4,000MW of module assembly expansions for 2017.

With Trina Solar going private before being required to provide fourth-quarter and full-year financial results, the company has yet to make public any new expansion plans for 2017. However, indicative of intent, Trina Solar in January 2017 became a JV partner with LONGi Green Energy

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Figure 7. LONGi PV manufacturing capacity goals (MW).

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Figure 6. Canadian Solar manufacturing capacity expansions (MW).


Fab & Facilities

Technology’s previously announced 5GW monocrystalline silicon ingot pulling production plant in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, China.

LONGiNew SMSL member in 2017 is LONGi Green Energy Technology, which has become the leading fully integrated, h igh-ef f ic ienc y mono cr ysta l l ine module manufacturer in recent years.

LONGi has come a long way very quickly. Annual revenue in 2013, which came solely from selling mono c-Si wafers, was around US$330 million but skyrocketed to approximately US$1.67 billion in 2016, almost a 94% increase over the previous year, which had itself generated a revenue growth of around 61%.

The significant increase was due to aggressive capacity expansions at the ingot/wafer, cell and module segments that were perfectly timed with China’s downstream end-market growth that resulted in 34.54GW being installed in the country in 2016.

With intense expansion activity in the polysilicon, ingot and wafer

segments supported by several key partnerships, LONGi also plans to expand in the solar cell and module segments, including through overseas production.

Having reached around 2.5GW of cell capacity and 5GW of module capacity in 2016, LONGi Solar is expected to add a further 1.5GW of cell capacity in 2017. This is comprised of ongoing expansions at its 2GW nameplate mono-PERC cell facility in Taizhou, China, and establishment of a 500MW solar cell and module facility in India.

LONGi’s vertically integrated ingot/wafer/cell/module facility in Kuching, Malaysia, includes around 500MW of dedicated cell and module production. At the end of 2017, LONGi expects to have approximately 4GW of mono cell production capacity in-house and 6.5GW of in-house module assembly capacity.

LONGi had around 800MW of domestic mono-PERC cell production in 2016, achie v ing average cel l conversion efficiencies of 21%. This is likely to be expanded to around 1.4GW in 2017, with 300MW from

its Malaysian facility providing total mono-PERC cell capacity of around 1.7GW. Average cel l conversion efficiencies are expected to reach 21.3% in 2017.

By the end of 2018, LONGi expects mono-PERC cell capacity to reach around 5GW, with domestic capacity at 4.5GW and overseas mono-PERC cell capacity at 500MW.

Should module shipments in 2017 be in the range of 4.3GW to 4.5GW, as guided by LONGi, then the company would become a new member of the SMSL, having achieved shipments of 2.34GW in 2016.

Surprise strong quarterP r e l i m i n a r y t o t a l g l o b a l P V manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first quarter of 2017 were 17,595MW, which just beat the second quarter of 2016, when total expansion plans topped 17,500MW.

The first quarter included 370MW of thin-film announcements, 9,140MW of solar cell and 7,815MW of module a s s e m b l y. N o i nte g r ate d p l a nt announcements were recorded for the quarter.

The quarter was also notable for a number of possible module assembly expansions, although these lacked meaningful information.

A l m o s t a l l o f t h e s o l a r c e l l expansions were for high-efficiency upgrades such as p-type multi PERC, p-type mono PERC, n-type mono heterojunction and bifacial cells . Indeed, 2,100MW was attributed to n-type mono IBC/bifacial cells, due to confirmations to Photovoltaics International that Jolywood (Suzhou) Sunwatt had started construction of a new cell production plant in February.

On a geographical basis , China expansions dominated, followed by South Korea and the Philippines . Expansions were also announced in India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Germany, Italy and US.

ConclusionA l t h o u g h c a p a c i t y e x p a n s i o n announcements in the second half of 2016 proved subdued, annual updates by SMSL members and some top 15-ranked PV manufacturers resulted in a rebound in the first quarter of 2017. Linked to this recovery was the migration to high-efficiency solar cells whether in new-build lines or upgrades. However, the rebound was also driven by some speculative long-range phased expansion plans, mainly related to modules.

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Figure 8. All manufacturing capacity expansion announcements (thin-film, cell, module, integrated) by quarter (MW).

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Figure 9. Capacity expansion announcements by product type quarterly (MW).

Photovoltaics International 29

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Cell Processing

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Fab & Facilities

Revised Q1 2017 expansion plansAs previously highlighted in the last report covering Q1 2017 capacity expansion plans, the quarter was dominated by the latest round of annual announcements from the majority of the ‘Silicon Module Super League (SMSL) membership (JinkoSolar, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, Hanwha Q CELLS, LONGi and GCL) which were profiled separately in the last report.

P r e l i m i n a r y t o t a l g l o b a l P V manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first quarter were reported to be 17,595MW, which were ahead of levels seen in the second quarter of 2016, when total expansion plans topped 17,500MW.

On a geographical basis, planned expansions in China dominated, followed by South Korea and the Philippines. Expansions were also announced in India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Germany, Italy and the US.

However, based on the level of new announcements in the second quarter of 2017, extensive checks going back to the beginning of the year revealed a further 7GW of capacity expansion plans existed in Q1 2017, than previously reported, leading to a new total of 24.7GW.

The upward revisions primarily related to January and February, with increases to 4GW and 13.9GW, re sp e c t ive ly. This compare s to preliminary figures for January and

Februar y of 1 .2GW and 11GW, respectively.

Revised figures for March were 6.8GW, compared to 5.3GW, previously reported. There was a reasonable balance between solar cell module assembly announcements in March, 3.7GW and 3.1GW, respectively.

The revised figures only reinforced the previous assessment that almost all of the solar cell expansions were for high-efficiency upgrades such as p-type multi PERC, p-type mono PERC, n-type mono heterojunction and bifacial cells as well as 2,100MW attributed to n-type mono IBC/bifacial cells, due to Jolywood (Suzhou) Sunwatt starting construction of a new cell and module production plant in February.

PV manufacturing capacity expansion plan announcements: Analysis for the first half of 2017Mark Osborne, Senior News Editor, Photovoltaics International

ABSTRACTGlobal solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first half of 2017 showed a significant increase over the second half of 2016, which was characterized by subdued activity, and almost reached the record heights set in the first half of 2016. However the resurgence was overwhelmingly driven by China and the migration to high-efficiency solar cell technologies, compared to a broader geographical split in the prior year period. Although the second quarter of 2017 surpassed first quarter announcements, major updates to previously reported activity covering the first quarter of 2017, have also been made.

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Figure 1. Revised Q1 2017 capacity expansion plans.


Fab & Facilities

The changes related to higher solar cell expansion plans than previously reported and an accompanying increase in module assembly expansions , although the emphasis was solar cell plans in January that outstripped module assembly and higher solar cell and module assembly plans than reported in February. On a geographical basis , the majority of the upward revisions related to China. We have therefore restated in Figure 1 data that includes these Q1 2017, updates.

April review With such a strong first quarter, total capacity expansion announcements in April dropped significantly from the previous month’s 6.8GW to 3.7GW. The high level of solar cell activity seen in the first quarter subsided significantly to just 900MW. Therefore the majority of announcements related to module assembly at 2.8GW.

However, as seen in the first quarter of 2017, large single capacity expansions that actually had multiple phases spread over multiple years continued, dominated by a new joint venture (JV) by Taiwan-based companies TSEC, Giga Solar Materials and Hou Gu Photoelectric to build a new module assembly plant in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan. Initial plans were for a 500MW plant to meet the expected increase in Taiwan’s downstream PV installations, due to new government incentives and strategy to replace

nuclear electricity capacity with renewables. The joint venture partners said the plans were to increase nameplate capacity to 2GW.

Keeping with the high-efficiency solar cell drive, Jinneng Clean Energy Technology ( JNCEC) and its solar subsidiary, Jinergy would be starting ma ss pro duc t ion o f i t s n- ty p e monocrystalline bifacial heterojunction (HJ) cells and modules later in 2017, with a capacity of around 800MW.

In tota l only f ive companie s announced expansion plans in April from China, Taiwan and Thailand.

May reviewIn contrast , due primarily to the largest annual PV exhibition SNEC in Shanghai, China capacity expansion a n n o u n c e m e n t s r o c k e t e d t o a preliminary total of over 16GW in May 2017.

This was the second highest level of activity since November, 2015 when a total of more than 26.5GW of expansion plans were announced. There is a high probability once final checks are made that this figure could rise much further. The majority of announcements were from Chinese manufacturers in the cell and module assembly sectors.

Solar cell announcements dominated in May, totalling over 12GW, up from 900MW in the previous month and easily topping February’s figure of 7.5GW. P-type mono PERC solar cell plans were high on the agenda

with two notable conf irmations that reinforce the phased approach as well as re-emergence of Chinese producers outside the SMSL that are adding significant capacity with next-generation technology.

China-based merchant solar cell producer Guangdong Aiko Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd (Aiko Solar) for example announced plans at SNEC to become a major supplier of high-ef f ic ienc y p- type mono PERC and bifacial cells to PV module manufacturers around the world with an 8GW solar cell capacity expansion commitment.

A new greenfield production plant broke ground ahead of the SNEC show and equipment orders were signed with a number of western suppliers on the morning of the first day of the show. The first phase expansion is up to 800MW and completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The target is for a three-phase expansion, which is expected to be complete by 2022.

The merchant cell producer is also planning to convert its current 1.6GW of nameplate cell capacity in Foshan City, Guangdong province, to P-type mono PERC in 2017.

S u n P o w e r a l s o u p d a t e d i t s manufacturing plans with Dongfang Electric Company (DEC) and Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor (TZS) under its JV for P Series mono-PERC technology cells that includes a manufacturing capacity expansion from

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Capacity Expansion Announcements by Product Type Monthly since January 2014 (MW)



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1.1GW to 5GW. TZS is also planning a 15GW mono/ingot wafer expansion.

In May, module assembly expansion plans dropped to 1.6GW, compared to 2.8GW in the previous month. However, checks are ongoing as a number of Chinese companies at SNEC announced plans that had little actual detail.

Away from SNEC, China-based integrated PV module manufacturer Shanghai Aerospace Automobile Electromechanical Co (HT-SAAE) announced that it had established a 300MW solar cell and 600MW module assembly plant in Turkey to meet local demand as well as supply Europe and the US at the end of May.

Reports also appeared that Egypt Silica Sand would establish a module assembly pilot line in Egypt with plans to build a 1GW plant sometime in the future.

Unique to May w a s up d ate d information from CdTe thin-film leader First Solar over its plans to migrate from its small area Series 4 modules to its large-area Series 6 platform. This entails a complete decommissioning over time of all of its 3GW of Series 4 module production capacity in the US and Malaysia as well as adding new capacity at its mothballed facility in Vietnam and extra capacity in the US.

Rather than simply upgrades, First Solar is effectively planning completely

new production and therefore warrants being included as new capacity. Based on First Solar’s updated plans, over 2GW of effective new capacity is expected to come on stream in 2018 through 2019. Total new capacity is expected to be above 5GW of Series 6 modules once all production lines are decommissioned and refitted and ramped.

June review The activity in June was half the level seen in the previous month. However, total announcements still stood at over 8GW, driven again by high-efficiency solar cell capacity plans of over 12GW.

Of significance was a major capacity expansion planned by China-based Tongwei Solar (Hefei) Co, which said it was adding 2.3GW of p-type mono PERC production over a 3-5 year timeframe to reach 5GW of total nameplate cell capacity. The company also said that it planned to reach 10GW of cell capacity at an unspecified timeframe.

Once again, module assembly announcements slumped to only 210MW, compared to 1.6GW in May, 2017.

SMSL update With the majority of SMSL members having already guided on capacity expansions for the year and been reviewed in the last quarterly report,

there was still some activity worth mentioning.

In March, Hanwha Q C ELL S surprised with plans to build and operate (ingot/wafer/cell/module) plants in Turkey, creating a JV with Turkish firm, Kalyon Holding Energy Group. Initial solar cell and module assembly capacity was expected to be 500MW with plans to start production by the end of 2018. The JV would expand further to 1GW in incremental steps.

Canadian Solar would seem to be continuing to tweak its upstream manufacturing capacity expansion plans as a part of tight capital expenditure controls. The company noted that its in-house solar cell manufacturing capacity was 4.49GW at the end of the second quarter of 2017, while annual capacity at its Funing cell factory had reached 1,440MW, with an additional 850MW cell capacity at its Southeast Asia facility.

Debottlenecking cell production later this year would enable Canadian Solar to reach a nameplate capacity of 4.70GW by year-end. The company expects total worldwide module manufacturing capacity would exceed 7.19GW by year-end, up from initial plans for the year to reach 6.97GW.

LONGi Green Energy Technology noted in its first half year financial report that it was fast-tracking various ingot and

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wafer expansion plans currently under construction and pulling in projects nearing completion where possible, while saying that a 500MW solar cell expansion phase and a 500MW module assembly expansion would also enter production in the fourth quarter of 2017, earlier than expected, due to demand for p-type mono PERC products.

Another strong quarterP r e l i m i n a r y t o t a l g l o b a l P V manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the second quarter of 2017 were over 28GW. This included over 2.3GW of thin-film expansions, over 21GW of solar cell and just 4.6GW of dedicated module assembly announcements.

High-efficiency, next-generation solar cell technologies dominated new capacity expansions in both the first and second quarters of 2017. In the second quarter, HJ expansions accounted for 700MW of the total, while P-type mono PERC announcements were notable for reaching nearly 18GW, compared to around 6.3GW in Q1 2017.

On a geographical basis , China expansions again dominated new a n n o u n ce m e nt s i n t h e s e co n d quarter. In the first half of 2017, China accounted for almost 70% of planned expansions, while Malaysia and Taiwan remained popular with an 8% and 7% share.

A new emerging country was Turkey, which had a total of 2.3GW of planned new production plants, enjoying a 4%

share of planned expansions in the first half of 2017.

Conclusion The first half of 2017 has produced the second (Q2) and fourth (Q1) largest amount of capacity expansion announcements in the history of the solar industry, driven by global end market demand increases that are set see in excess of 90GW of installations and 100GW of shipments this year. Also fuelling the announcements is the significant migration underway to p-type mono PERC solar cells, although much of what was announced is based on multi-phase multi-year plans, inline with announcements made in the first quarter of 2017.

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Figure 3. Quarterly capacity expansion announcements by segment type (MW).

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Photovoltaics International

Capacity expansions | Fab & Facilities

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July reviewThe month of July proved to be the most active for new capacity expansion announcements in the third quarter of 2017. Total plans reached 3,001MW, which included 1,000MW of new solar cell capacity, a total of 2,000MW of dedicated module assembly and a nominal 1MW advanced integrated manufacturing 4.0 R&D facility in California, opened by SunPower.

Turkish solar company Smart Energy Group was reported to have established a Joint venture with China-based Phono Solar (part of SUMEC) to build and operate an initial 400MW module assembly plant with future plans said to take capacity to 1,200MW. The assembly plant is set to be established in the Gebze Organized Industrial Zone.

Also of note in July was plans by India-based Premier Solar Systems to build a 1,000MW solar cell plant with an overseas business partner.

The company had also announced that it had opened a 200MW fully automated solar module manufacturing facility in Sangareddy, Telangana, India. The module assembly expansion takes nameplate module capacity to 375MW. The company has 50MW of solar cell capacity.

August reviewThe weakest month for capacity announcements in the quarter was August with only one announcement. India-based Heavy Engineering Corporation announced plans to build a 150MW integrated cell and module assembly plant using both monocrystalline and multicrystalline wafers. Initially, the plant will have a nameplate capacity of 150MW. Modules will be used initially for its in-house downstream PV power plant projects.

There were no dedicated cell or module assembly plant announcements in August and none for thin film.

September reviewNew announcements rebounded slightly in September. Total new capacity plans totalled around 900MW and were dominated by China-based PV module manufacturer Sunport Power, which officially started production at a 1GW module assembly plant using Eurotron’s MWT

AbstractAfter the significant upwards revisions made to global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first half of 2017, which we reviewed in the previous edition of Photovoltaics International, the third quarter was characterized by much more tempered plans. The ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) continued to execute on previously announced plans with some adjustments, while others in emerging markets such as Turkey and India retained grandiose nameplate targets though initial ramps remained small.

Mark Osborne, Senior News Editor, Photovoltaics International

PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcement plans and analysis for Q3 2017

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Fab & Facilities | Capacity expansions

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equipment for back-contact PV modules. The company had initially deployed a 200MW line so the new expansion accounted for 800MW of the total in September.

Also included in September was the first fully automated and unmanned 100MW monocrystalline solar cell line officially opened by Tongwei Group in Hefei, China as part of its most recent 2,000MW new solar cell plant.

Quarterly reviewTotal third quarter 2017 capacity expansion announcements reached only around 4,122MW, compared to 28,000MW in the previous quarter.

The subdued environment was driven by dedicated module assembly plans, which totalled 2,870MW, while integrated cell and module plans, absent so far in 2017, totalled 151MW. No new thin-film expansion plans were announced in the third quarter.

India review With a history of solar manufacturing, albeit on a small scale, India has held the promise of becoming a major powerhouse for solar manufacturing, second only to China.

With a downstream PV market in the 6GW range in 2017 and the promise of much higher installation rates through 2022, the gap between capacity expansion announcements and effective nameplate capacity continues to be one of the widest.

Indian government data released in the second quarter of 2017 put solar cell capacity in India at just 3,164MW, yet only 1,667MW as deemed to be operational. A similar situation existed with module assembly capacity: a total of around 8,400MW of capacity was reported to exist in the country, while only around 5,500MW was deemed to be operational.

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Figure 2. Capacity expansion announcements by product type quarterly (MW).

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reduction in new announcements compared to the last two years with 2016 peaking at over 17,000MW. In total we have tracked over 27,800MW of announcements in India since 2014.

Building a manufacturing supply-chain base in India that comes even close to meeting domestic demand has proved elusive. A key perennial challenge has been the capital markets but a large proportion of the projects tracked were JVs with China-based companies as well as plans from US and Japan, which have also stalled despite the ability to tap low-cost finance in those countries.

A key emerging challenge that has been cited for manufacturing plans being stalled is related to the low prices tendered on multiple gigawatts of downstream power plant projects. Simply put, the winning bids are lower than potential manufacturing costs in India, not least due to the lack of a highly efficient low-cost manufacturing supply chain in the country that could match that of China.

Having depended on low-cost modules produced in China, India is challenged to compete and JVs with major Chinese producers such as Trina Solar and LONGi Group remain suspended.

However, new efforts by the Indian government to support domestic content requirements through a new wave of government-led downstream projects could become the catalyst required to kick start more effective capacity in India. Uncertainties in trade cases in the US could also make India attractive to supply modules to the US market in 2018 onwards. However, further reforms and a complete and low-cost manufacturing supply chain, coupled to rational tendering, all need to be in alignment before the imbalance between capacity expansion announcements and effective capacity is closed.

Solar ‘manufacturing 4.0’Although the third quarter of 2017 was subdued for capacity expansion plans, it has signalled an important milestone in PV manufacturing. Several

facilities were opened in the quarter that relate to the concept of ‘manufacturing 4.0’, which includes fully automated manufacturing lines and remote operation.

In July, SMSL member GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI) announced the establishment and operation of an entirely unmanned module assembly workshop to test intelligent fully automated manufacturing tools and software systems. The workshop is expected to undertake tests for around two years.

The company noted that it was cooperating closely with Chinese domestic equipment manufacturers, and has independently researched and developed a series of intelligent systems, which include a high-speed automated tabbing machine, a high-precision layout machine and a robotic palletizing system. In all, GCL-SI said that 26 separate systems so far developed were industry firsts.

A key aim of the tests is to achieve a 50% improvement in efficiency, a 60% reduction in online manpower and a 30% reduction in processing costs. Product quality improvement targets were being set at a 21% overall improvement. GCL-SI says its intention is to implement the improvements across its volume manufacturing operations.

In August, SunPower said it had invested around US$25 million in the last 12 months on a new US R&D and pilot line facility located at its headquarters in San Jose, California.

SunPower said the new facility included several high-volume production-sized manufacturing tools, high levels of automation and specialised testing equipment, designed to support its next generation of high-efficiency n-type monocrystalline interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells and modules, which are being designed with greater emphasis on lower cost manufacturing.

According to SunPower, over 30 parts suppliers and equipment manufacturers located in the US supplied the facility, which is housing over 100 SunPower engineers and support staff.

In September, as already noted, Tongwei Group opened its completed high-efficiency solar cell plant (S2), which included the world’s first technically unmanned 100MW monocrystalline solar cell production line.

The S2 plant in Chengdu, China has an initial nameplate capacity of 2GW, which brings Tongwei’s monocrystalline cell capacity to around 3.4GW. The company also has around 2GW of multicrystalline solar cell capacity. The company also has around 2GW of multicrystalline solar cell capacity and recently completed a 5,000MT polysilicon plant expansion, bringing nameplate production capacity to 20,000MT.

Tongwei is investing around RMB12 billion (US$1.8 billion) in total to construct new cell manufacturing facilities at in the Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Chengdu City

GCL’s manufacturing 4.0 workshop.


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to provide nameplate capacity of 10GW, while a further 10GW of capacity will be housed in the Southwest Airport Economic Development Zone of Shuangliu District, Chengdu City. Construction on the new projects is expected to start in November 2017 and production ramped in phases over the next three to five years.

Tongwei has taken the early lead in China in investing in manufacturing 4.0 capabilities, however much is being done behind the scenes at other major manufacturers and the learning curve is expected to take several years.

SMSL Q3 manufacturing update

JinkoSolarLeading SMSL member JinkoSolar reported that its in-house annual silicon wafer capacity stood at 7GW at the end of the third quarter, up 1GW from the prior quarter.

Solar cell capacity as expected was 4.5GW, while module capacity did increase by a further 500MW in the third quarter, reaching 8GW. These are the expected nameplate capacities exiting 2017. Although the company claimed its next wave of expansions had yet to be determined and would be based on market demand dynamics it is highly likely new plans will be announced in the next two quarters.

JinkoSolar is expecting to hit record shipments in 2017, having guided just short of 10GW, indicate almost a 10% global market share of module shipments and is sold out through the first half of 2018.

Canadian SolarCanadian Solar has made four revisions to capacity

expansion plans in 2017 and has also provided initial new expansion plans for 2018.

The SMSL member said it had completed the ramp-up of a new multicrystalline silicon ingot casting workshop at Baotou, China at the end of the third quarter of 2017, with a total annual capacity of 1,100MW, which included capacity relocated from its plant in Luoyang, China.

It also said it expected debottlenecking to push capacity to 1,200MW by the end of 2017, which is in line with the last two updated plans.

Canadian Solar said that it had plans further increase its ingot capacity to 1,720 MW by 30 June 2018, and may expand to 2,500MW if market conditions justify.

Wafer manufacturing capacity had reached 3GW in the third quarter of 2017. The company had previously guided that it expected wafer capacity to reach 4GW at the end the year.

Tongwei opened its first 100MW ‘manufacturing 4.0’ line at its 2GW S2 plant.

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Figure 4. JinkoSolar: manufacturing capacity expansions & forecast 2017 (MW).



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However, Canadian Solar noted that its shift to diamond-wire saw technology, which is compatible with its proprietary and highly efficient ‘Onyx’ black silicon multi-crystalline solar cell technology, helped to significantly offset the recent impact of polysilicon price increases that impact margins and so was planning to add a further 1GW of wafer production to end the year at 5GW.

The company said that its solar cell manufacturing capacity reached 4.7GW at the end of the third quarter of 2017, which was the target in its third revision to its capacity expansion plans.

However, Canadian Solar said that it planned to add additional cell manufacturing capacity at its Funing and Southeast Asia plants by year end, bringing 2017 cell nameplate capacity to 5,450MW, a 750MW increase.

Subject to market conditions Canadian Solar said it planned to add another 1.5GW of cell capacity in 2018 to reach approximately 7GW by the end of 2018.

With respect to PV module manufacturing capacity, Canadian Solar expects that its total worldwide module capacity would exceed 8,110MW by the end of 2017.

Subject to market conditions again, the SMSL member said it planned to add another 1,250MW of module capacity by the end of 2018, bringing nameplate capacity to 10.3GW. Canadian Solar is the first manufacturer to guide nameplate module capacity to reach over 10GW.

JA SolarJA Solar confirmed that it expected to achieve both cell and module nameplate capacities of around 7,000MW by the end of 2017. JA Solar is on track to achieve full-year module shipments in the region of 6.8GW in 2017, but did not provide an update on 2018 capacity expansion plans.

Hanwha Q CELLS Hanwha Q CELLS said that it was starting to migrate solar cell capacity at its China-based facilities to passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology, highlighting the shift away from standard back side field (BSF) technology for higher conversion efficiencies.

Hanwha Q CELLS noted in its third quarter earnings call that capital expenditure was being focused on its manufacturing facilities in China to enable the company to have PERC cell production capacity of 1.4GW, while retaining around 1.2GW of BSF production. Hanwha’s lead manufacturing facilities are in Malaysia and are already 100% PERC.

Its affiliate, Hanwha Q CELLS Korea, is currently adding 1.6GW of cell and module production, which

“Although the third quarter of 2017 was subdued for capacity expansion plans, it signalled an important milestone in PV ‘manufacturing 4.0’”

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Figure 5. Canadian Solar: capacity expansions and forecasts made in 2017 (MW).


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is expected to provide a nameplate capacity of 3.7GW by the end of this year.

Hanwha Q CELLS’ in-house cell and module capacity has not increased in 2017 as the company keeps tight control on spending to return to sustainable profitability. However, with Hanwha Q CELLS Korea expansions in 2017, the group will have access to 8GW of cell and module capacity starting in 2018, up from 6.4GW at the end of the third quarter of 2017.

Hanwha Q CELLS recently reiterated that it expected module shipments in 2017 to be in the range of 5.5GW to 5.7GW.

GCL System Integration TechnologyGCL-SI reported it had ramped its solar cell and module assembly JV plant in Vietnam to around 800MW in the third quarter of 2017.

Critical to the market, the solar cell capacity ramp has been PERC technology with the flexibility to produce p-type multi and p-type mono cells for the residential, commercial and utility-scale markets.

The company said that its total solar cell capacity would reach 2GW by the end of 2017, which would be completely PERC-based

technology. Currently, around one-third of production is p-type multi using ‘Black Silicon’ texturing after wafers (S2 size) are cut with diamond wire. Around a third of production is p-type mono PERC, while a further third of production is flexible to customer demand.

LONGi GroupLONGi Group, which is leading the industry transition to high-efficiency monocrystalline wafers, cells and modules, has actually increased the pace of some of its previously announced plans for 2017.

At the beginning of the year its capacity for wafers had reached 7.5GW and is was expected to reach 12GW by the end of 2017. In the third quarter of 2017, LONGi surpassed the 12GW mark and said it was planning to add further capacity to meet continued strong demand.

LONGi still expects to meet expansion goals of 5GW for solar cells and 6.5GW for modules by the end of the year. However, it does not plan to provide updated plans until issuing its 2017 annual report.

ConclusionDespite the slowdown in new plans in the quarter, executing on existing plans has been a key theme throughout the year, notably for China-based firms and the majority of SMSL members. Having continued to gain market share in 2017, SMSL members are all expected to announce record annual module shipments in 2017.

“Despite the slowdown in new plans in Q3, executing on existing plans has been a key them throughout the year, notably for Chinese firms”

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LONGi: PV manufacturing capacity goals in 2017 (MW)

LONGi (LGET) Mono Wafer Capacity (MW) LONGi Solar: Mono Cell Capacity (MW)LONGi Solar: Mono Module Capacity (MW)

Figure 6. LONGi: PV manufacturing capacity goals in 2017 (MW).

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pv manufacturing capacity expansion plans in 2016 exceeded ... capacities_… · negated plans...

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