China PV News Snippets

DKEM expects to register Nearly 4X rise in profit; Aiko Solar to invest in cell and module facilities of 30 GW each in China; Chinese Industry Ministry releases operation data of PV rolled glass industry.

DKEM profit forecast for Q1/2023 at RMB 80-90 million: Announcing its performance forecast for the first quarter of 2023, solar cell metallization past producer DK Electronic Materials (DKEM) said it expects to achieve a net profit of RMB 80-90 million ($11.5-$13.01 million), a year-on-year increase of 336.57% to 391.14%. During the reporting period, amid strong development of the photovoltaic industry, the company continued to lead the development of n-type TOPCon technology, with focus on improving efficiency and reducing costs of TOPCon metallization paste. This led to rapid expansion of the production capacity of downstream customers, and the company managed to maintain a lead position in n-type TOPCon cell metallization paste. To add to this, shipment of silver paste products applied to N-type TOPCon cells too increased significantly. All these factors combined together have contributed to the company's performance. In February, at TaiyangNews' Virtual Conference on Solar Cell Production Equipment & Processing Materials, Kevin Nan from DKEM called metallization innovation a key enabler for industrialization of TOPCon technology (see Kevin Nan, DKEM: Presentation on Milestones in Metallization)

Aiko Solar to spend RMB 36 billion on cells and modules: Solar cell producer Aiko Solar announced that it plans to sign an agreement with the Jinan Municipal Government to build a 30 GW high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cell facility and a supporting 30 GW module facility. The total investment is expected to be about RMB 36 billion ($5.2 billion) and will be constructed in five years. The construction will be done in three phases, each with a capacity of 10 GW. The first phase is expected to begin in the first half of 2024 with an investment of RMB 12 billion ($1.7 billion). Aiko Solar had presented today at TaiyangNews' Conference on Distributed Solar and Storage 2023, whose video will be shared soon on TaiyangNews' YouTube channel.

China Ministry releases operation data of PV rolled glass industry: On its official website, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China announced the operation data of the photovoltaic rolling glass industry from January to March 2023. Here are the details:

• From Jan-March 2023, the cumulative output of photovoltaic rolling glass was 5.4 million tons, an increase of 83.6% year-on-year. Among them, the output in March was 1.9 million tons, an increase of 88.7% year-on-year.
• From Jan-March, the average price of 2mm and 3.2mm photovoltaic rolled glass was RMB 18.8/square meter and RMB 25.4/square meter, down 6.6% and 1.9% year-on-year.