By adding 25,000 MT of granular silicon capacity using FBR technology, GCL-Poly, one of the world’s largest wafer producer, will expand its wafer capacity by 1GW, reaching a total capacity of about 11GW by the end of 2014, estimated EnergyTrend.
Compared to polysilicon produced through the traditional Siemens method, the FBR-based granular silicon can lower the production cost and lower energy consumption. GCL-Poly noted that the FBR capacity would come on stream in the 2014 to 2015, according to PV Tech.
GCL-Poly’s financial results of 1Q14 reported an approximately 16,022MT of polysilicon production, representing an increase of about 85.2% compared with the same quarter in 2013. At the same time, its solar wafer production reached 2,884MW, increasing 134.3% from 1Q13. As the demand increased and polysilicon’s selling prices climbed as well, GCL-Poly reported a better opportunity to expand its capacity.