January 26, 2011 --- According to the latest weekly price survey conducted by EnergyTrend, a research institute of TrendForce Corp., solar spot prices remained unchanged this week. Though some cell manufacturers offered $1.1/Watt in an attempt to probe the market sentiment, trading prices still are as high as $1.15/Watt. Based on the observation, EnergyTrend believes that it signals the price stabilization.
This week’s survey showed that the average quotation of cells is on the downtrend with a slight drop of 0.17% to $1.188/Watt, while the module declined slightly 0.31%. The average price of poly silicon wafer reached $69/Kg , a 0.31% decline from last week. Mono silicon wafer declined 0.11%. On the other hand, prices of thin film, concentrator PV and solar Inverter remained stable.
Looking forward at the future, because Chinese government is imposing limitations on mining poly silicon, it would be highly impossible to see dramatic drop in the price of poly silicon. From perspectives of supply and demand, it is estimated that the global annual installation will be 15.5GW~18GW for 2011. EnergyTrend believes that the market will hardly see demand exceeding supply in 2011 and thus the price range for poly silicon should be $75/Kg~$60/Kg.