The decline of solar cell spot prices has slowed down this week in the Greater China region due to increased installation demand from Germany as the new subsidy cut of 15% has been finalized in 2012, said Chihheng Liang, an analyst from Digitimes Research. Despite the slower price drop for solar cells, this short-term increase in demand will not be able to clear out inventory, said Liang, adding the backlog problem is still plaguing the industry.
The spot price of polysilicon has dropped to an average of US$31/kg. The lowest spot price of US$28/kg appeared in China's local polysilicon industry, said Liang. However, polysilicon imported into Taiwan are still being quoted at around US$30-35/kg.
Spot prices for solar wafers continue to drop by US$0.1/unit every week, Liang pointed out. The average quote for 156 multi solar wafers in Taiwan is US$1.45/unit. However, the lowest quote of 156 multi solar wafer in China has reached US$1.28/unit.
| Weekly price of solar products in Greater China, October 24-28 | ||||
|
| Type | Unit | Avg Price | Change |
| Polysilicon | Chunk | US$/kg | 31.00 | -1.50 |
| Wafer | 125 Mono | US$/pc | 1.00 | -0.07 |
|
| 156 Mono | US$/pc | 1.85 | -0.10 |
|
| 156 Multi | US$/pc | 1.42 | -0.10 |
| Cell | 125 Mono | US$/watt | 0.53 | -0.01 |
|
| 156 Mono | US$/watt | 0.65 | -0.02 |
|
| 156 Multi | US$/watt | 0.56 | -0.01 |
| Module |
| EUR/watt | 0.73 | -0.03 |
Source: Digitimes Research, October 2011
