Due to demand increase, the spot price of polysilicon has been reviving since last week. This week (December 26-30), the spot price increased by US$1.50/kg to US$27/kg, said Digitimes Research analyst Chihheng Liang. The price range of polysilicon in Taiwan was around US$25-26/kg while in China, the price increased to US$28-30/kg.
"What's interesting is that a diversification of solar wafer prices in Taiwan and China has been apparent," commented Liang.
Although the price of 156 multi solar wafer has been steady, the price in Taiwan has reached around US$1.15-1.20/unit. In China, however, the price of 156 multi solar wafer has been around US$1.06/unit on average.
Liang noted that Taiwan-based solar wafer firms mainly produce solar wafers with higher conversion efficiencies while China-based peers produce products with average efficiencies. The diversification indicates a rise in demand for high conversion efficiency solar products. This has been causing Taiwan-based solar wafers to experience high capacity utilization rates, added Liang.
The diversification of prices is also apparent for solar cell makers in Taiwan and China. The average price of high efficiency 156 multi solar cells from Taiwan-based makers has been around US$0.48/watt while China-based makers have been quoting around US$0.43-0.46/watt for solar cells that have average conversion efficiencies, Liang concluded.
| Weekly price of solar products in Greater China, December 26-30 | ||||
| Item | Type | Unit | Average | Change |
| Polysilicon | Chunk | US$/kg | 27.00 | 1.50 |
| Wafer | 125 mono | US$/unit | 0.94 | -0.02 |
| 156 mono | US$/unit | 1.50 | -0.02 | |
| 156 multi | US$/unit | 1.12 | No change | |
| Cell | 125 mono | US$/watt | 0.53 | 0.01 |
| 156 mono | US$/watt | 0.56 | -0.04 | |
| 156 multi | US$/watt | 0.48 | No change | |
| Module |
| EUR/watt | 0.64 | -0.01 |
Source: Digitimes Research, December 2011
