Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS, 中美晶) said it is under mounting pressure to sustain its revenue growth during the second half of this year as an industrywide decline in average selling prices (ASP) is spreading to the solar cell and module segments.
The Hsinchu-based manufacturer of solar cells and modules expects falling ASPs to stall revenue growth in the third and fourth quarters, and hit its full-year revenue figure. Revenue last year soared 18.93 percent to an all-time high of NT$81.87 billion (US$2.65 billion), rising for a third straight year.
Revenue last month dipped for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years to NT$6.69 billion, falling 3.26 percent from a year earlier. In the first five months of this year, revenue still grew 7.07 percent year-on-year to NT$34.03 billion.
Photo courtesy of Sino-American Silicon Products Inc
SAS said it saw higher volatility in its solar cell business, as the prices of polysilicon and wafers are sinking rapidly and the price declines appear to be spreading to solar cells and modules, company chairperson Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told reporters in Hsinchu on Tuesday.
“As the ASP has fallen significantly compared with last year, revenue would be severely affected, even if we ship the same amount of solar cells as we did last year,” Hsu said.
The price of polysilicon has halved from the same level last year, heaping pressure on solar products such as cells and modules, Hsu said.
SAS is also facing price competition from solar cell imports from developing countries such as Vietnam, Hsu said.
The company said it is an uphill battle to improve its solar cell costs, given its small production scale.
SAS manufactures solar cells in Taiwan and produces solar modules in Germany.
To enhance its technological capability, SAS said it aims to launch high-efficiency N Topcon products early next year, offering samples for customers.
N Topcon technology offers advantages such as a low degradation rate, low temperature coefficient and high conversion efficiency of up to 25 percent, SAS said.
Large M10 N-Type Topcon cells would be SAS’ new iconic product.
Local competitor Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) also said on Monday that it has made major progress in developing N-Type Topcon solar cells and that it expects to start mass production in the first quarter of next year.
In Germany, SAS plans to add early next year one new solar module production line with an annual installed capacity of 400 megawatts to meet robust demand, Hsu said.
SAS would not rule out deploying another 400-megawatt solar module product line next year, if demand continues to trend up, she said.
SAS attributes the healthy demand to German consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for solar products made in Germany.
Solar module manufacturing costs in Germany are much higher than in Taiwan and competition is fierce as the European nation opens to solar imports from around the world, including China, Hsu said.
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