Production in China
Samsung SDI will start operating its Wuxi Plant in China where “PV paste,” a key material for solar cells, will be produced.
The company announced on May 24 that it will begin the operation of its photovoltaic paste production line in the Wuxi Plant located in Jiangsu Province, China, in June. Samsung SDI started the construction of a polarized film production line and a paste production line at the same time in its Wuxi Plant in September last year. As the paste production line was recently completed, it will be put into operation first. The company has set out the plant to start the operation in a scale of 40 tons a month and to increase its production capacity to 100 tons a month in the future.
Using the Wuxi Plant as a base, Samsung SDI also plans to expand its target markets to Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia and India, which are emerging as new photovoltaic markets recently.
In addition, the company unveiled its new photovoltaic paste, “8800 Series” at the SNEC PV Power EXPO 2016 held in Shanghai, China, on the same day.
The SNEC PV Power EXPO 2016, which is held for the tenth time this year from the 24th to the 26th, is the world’s largest solar cell exhibition where new photovoltaic products and services, such as manufacturing equipment, manufacturing technologies and materials, are introduced.
The new “8800 Series” is the latest PV paste product that has improved the sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency. The current conversion efficiency of existing solar cells stands at 18 percent to 20 percent and the industry is strengthening the technology development in order to raise the conversion efficiency further.
Meanwhile, Samsung SDI ranked first in terms of market share in China, the world’s largest solar cell market, last year in six years after the company started solar cell paste business based on its global leading PDP electrode material technology in 2010. This year, it also plans to secure the top position in the global market by developing new products centering on its production base in China.
A market research firm New Energy Finance forecasts that the global photovoltaic market will grow by an annual average rate of 9% or higher from 56GW in 2015 to 85GW in 2020. Accordingly, the markets for poly-silicon and PV paste, the key solar cell materials, are also expected to expand continuously.