- EnergyTrend says around 80% of the Chinese producers are now capable of producing 210mm sized cells
- Combined capacity of 182mm and 210mm cells, including 210R, is now around 82.5% with 210mm accounting for 47.83% share
- Roughly 23 module makers are moving towards 600W+ capacity with more than 80% of capacity and shipment in wafers, cells and modules comprising large sized products
- To cut costs and reduce dependability on raw materials, module makers are now expected to drop their wafer consumption from 2.7g per W to 2.8g per W in 2021 to approximately 2.6g per W
Taiwan based market intelligence firm TrendForce’s EnergyTrend counts around 80% of Chinese solar PV manufacturers now having the capability of producing 210mm sized cells, making it the mainstream size in the markets.
These companies have grown their share in the business by 51% on annual basis taking the combined capacity of 182mm and 210mm (including 210R) cells at roughly 82.5% currently, out of which 210mm (including 210R) accounts for 247.6 GW at 47.83%.
According to its recently released report to reflect on Q2/2022, EnergyTrend says as new capacity comes online, capacity of large sized cell sizes of 182mm and 210mm are likely to grow to 593.25 GW in 2023 with 210mm cells alone accounting for 380.4 GW in overall capacity increasing their market share to 57.59%.
In terms of large sized modules, the report anticipates these to account for 442.2 GW of production capacity at the end of 2022, claiming market share of 82.86% with 210mm sized products taking up 253.9 GW capacity.
Roughly around 23 module makers are moving towards 600W+ capacity with more than 80% of capacity and shipment in wafers, cells and modules comprising large sized products.
During H1/2022, most of the newly established capacity that came online was compatible with large sized 182mm and 210mm wafers. “As indicated by the survey of EnergyTrend under TrendForce, large-sized wafers (182 & 210mm) are expected to arrive at 422.6 GW in capacity during 2022 at a ratio of 83.1%, of which 210mm would occupy 164 GW (32.25%) of capacity under a YoY increase of 172% (60.1 GW in 2021). Large-sized wafers (182 & 210mm) will successively complete in capacity layout in 2023, and arrive at a market share of 89.97% then, where 210mm would attain a capacity of 274.6 GW at 46.35%,” reads the report.
Going forward, manufacturers are further going to be making efforts to lower their use of wafer by switching from 165μm to 160/155μm, towards 150μm as a measure to deal with high prices of raw materials. Analysts add, “Wafer consumption is thus expected to drop from 2.7g per W to 2.8g per W in 2021 to approximately 2.6g per W.”
High power modules with around 530W or higher output based on 180mm and 210mm capacity are now preferred by central and state owned enterprises for the various tenders being launched in China, and demand for bifacial modules is increasing as well. These large format modules see their applicability for large sized distributed PV projects and for provincial level installations that are supported by the federal government.
Of 34.31 GW solar module capacity shipped by 6 major module suppliers namely LONGi, Trina Solar, JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar and Risen Energy, in Q1/2022, products with 182mm and 210mm took up 79% share with around 27.26 GW. The report writers forecast major module makers to ship around 203 GW to 230 GW modules in 2022.
Major findings as shared by analysts can be viewed on EnergyTrend’s website.
Earlier in June 2022, EnergyTrend improved its forecast for new PV installations globally as adding up to 240 GW, taking it 9% higher than the previous projection of 220 GW.
In June 2021, TaiyangNews released a report titled Advantages of 210mm Solar Modules which is available for free download here.
