According to the weekly price survey conducted by EnergyTrend, the spot price for solar cells still appeared to be in two extremes. The price of polysilicon has still remained at a high level, but the extent of the increase has shrunk. Moreover, the price of Si wafer has slightly decreased, and the price of solar cell has faced a price war and come to $1.2/Watt.
The survey shows that in the upstream sector of the solar industry, the price of polysilicon has increased by 0.7%, to $85.8/kg. In addition, the average price of Si wafer has constantly decreased. The average price of multi-Si wafer has dropped by 3.3% and come to $3.43/piece; the average price of mono-Si wafer has stayed the same, compared with that of last week. In terms of solar cells, due to weak demand, the spot price has reduced by 1.4%, to around $1.2/Watt this week, which signaled that manufacturers are facing pressure for price reduction. Moreover, the price of module has wildly fluctuated, mainly because some manufacturers tried to put inferior goods on sale, distorting the market price. Though the lowest price came to $1.55/Watt, the average price has stayed at $1.61/Watt.
According to EnergyTrend’s survey, due to ceased Italian market demand, the inventory level in the European market has continued to rise. Some manufacturers have already taken a conservative attitude toward the European market demand in 2011, and believed that the actual demand is lower than expected in early 2011. On the other hand, Japanese market planned to launch a subsidy for 1GW photovoltaic system to offer power supply for the Japan earthquake area. So far, the specific content and schedule have not been finalized yet, and the Japan is conventionally a more closed market. Therefore, it is forecasted that only Japanese manufacturers can get the benefit from such subsidy policy.