1.

2 Product Demand
1.2.1 Polysilicon Demand in the Past
On the advent of increased worldwide development and globalization, the demand for
cleaner sources of energy also rises. In 2014, the worldwide solar market demand was
around 44 gigawatts (EnergyTrend, 2014). This demand for can then be translated to a
megawatt of PV requiring to 7,000 to 10,000 kilograms of polysilicon material (Bose,
2014).

Figure 1.2.1. Polysilicon Demand in the Past. Source: NPD Solarbuzz Polysilicon and Wafer
Supply Chain (2014)

In the figure, it can be visualized that there is a rising trend for polysilicon demand on the
past years from 2010 to 2014. The demand for the semiconductor grade polysilicon was
approximately at constant while the solar grade demand was increasing, this led to

building up the demand for 2014 as high as 282,000 metric tons. The solar market
demand is the industry which is continually driving production levels of polysilicon.
1.2.2 Present Demand
1.2.2.1 Philippine Demand
According to the Department of Trade and Industry (2106), the Philippines has
two large solar firms which are the SunPower Manufacturing Ltd. and Solaria
Corporation. SunPower has two manufacturing facilities in the country and
together with the First Philippine Electric Corporation (First Philec), it led to the
creation of First Philec Solar Corporation. The FPSC, located in Tanauan,
Batangas is a large-scale silicon-wafer-slicing company started with an annual
capacity of 400 megawatts worth of solar wafers. Currently, it envisions to
produce 240 million wafers annually to support approximately 720 megawatts of
solar energy. Solaria, another company also manufactures solar panels in the
Philippines. It is based in Fremont, California with locations in the United States,
Germany, and operates locally through manufacturer Ionics EMS, located in
Cabuyao, Laguna.
More recently, in a report by Inquirer.net (2016), Solar Philippines, a local solar
energy developer, made public its plans to construct another solar factory which
could be one of the worlds largest. Also located in Tanauan, Batangas, the facility
shall have its first section to be in operation by the end of 2016. Upon full
completion, the facility will have an eventual capacity of 2 GW. While the
complete details on the facilitys actual capacity and need for raw materials are

still reserved, this almost certainly can be a local market that will have the need
for polysilicon during its operation.
1.2.2.2 Global Demand

PV Manufacturers Ranking Comparison 2014-2017

Figure 1.2.1. PV Manufacturers Rankings Comparison 2014-2017. Source:PV-Tech & Solar

Media Ltd. (2016)

The visual from PV-Tech & Solar Media Ltd. (2016) shows the top 10 companies that
have the major market shares in photovoltaic manufacturing. These companies comprises
a varied range of processing methods from pure polysilicon suppliers such as Wacker to
the leading thin-film company in the industry, First Solar.

Figure 1.2.3. Top solar panel manufacturing companies. Source: EnergySage (2015)

The figure above shows the locations of leading solar panel manufacturing
companies active in the US market in 2015. EnergySage (2015) also made a list
of the specific companies on the following Table 1.2.1 with it broken down by
each headquarters location, manufacturing facility locations and overall quality
ranking. These top solar panel manufacturers are potential target markets which
require polysilicon. The most practical markets aside from the local industries are
those with manufacturing facilities with near proximities to the Philippines such
as those located in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

Table 1.2.1. Solar panel manufacturers, headquarters, manufacturing locations, and ranking
Solar Panel
Manufacturers
1SolTech
Aleo
Axitec
Canadian Solar
Centrosolar
Conergy
Eoplly
ET Solar
Hanwha SolarOne
Hyundai
Itek
KYOCERA Solar
LG
Lightway
MAGE Solar
Perlight Solar
Phono Solar
REC Solar
ReneSola
Sharp Solar
SolarWorld

Company
Headquarters
U.S.
Germany
U.S.
Canada
Germany
Germany
U.S.
China
China
Korea
U.S.
Japan
Korea
China
Germany
U.S.
China
U.S.
China
Japan
Germany

SunEdison/MEMC

U.S.

Suniva
SunPower
Suntech
Trina Solar
Winaico
Yingli Solar

U.S
U.S
China
China
China
China

Manufacturing Location
U.S.
Germany, China
Germany, China, Taiwan
China, Canada
China, Germany, U.S.
India
China
China
China
South Korea
U.S.
Mexico, U.S.
Korea
China
U.S., Germany
U.S.
China
Singapore
China, Japan
U.S., Japan
U.S., Germany
South Korea, Taiwan,
Malaysia, Italy, U.S.,
Japan
U.S.
U.S., Philippines
China, Japan, U.S.
China
Taiwan
China

1.2.3 Projected Demand in the Future

Manufacturer
quality ranking
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Economy
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Economy
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard
Premium Plus
Standard
Standard
Standard
Standard

For the polysilicon market, the fastest rising user industry is solar photovoltaics. This
demand for the solar PV can be attributed to the increasing trends towards sustainability
together with government policies for the environment. Aside from the solar cell market,
other key factors that drive its demand are the semiconductor industry and economic
conditions. Polysilicon is the primary resource needed to manufacture solar wafers which
are used in solar PV installations, which sequentially affects the demand for polysilicon.
It was projected by Greentech Media Research that by the end of 2016, the solar market
capacity will total to 66 gigawatts and will further reach an annual capacity of 95
gigawatts by 2020 (GTM Research, 2016). In fact, as stated in a research at Martkets and
Markets (2016), by 2021, the global polysilicon market is estimated to reach USD 8.90
billion at a compound annual growth rate of 13%.

Figure 1.2.3. Polysilicon Demand Estimate. Source: Tokuyama Corporation (2016)

Additionally, in the visual presented by Tokuyama Corporation (2016), for the

semiconductor-grade polysilicon, an annual increase of almost 5% is estimated for use in
some electronic applications. As for the solar-grade polysilicon demand, an annual
increase of approximately 15% is anticipated leading to an over-all demand that can reach
as high as 380,000 metric tons on 2019. This forecasted demand growth can attributed to
numerous photovoltaic installations in countries such as Japan, China, and the U.S.

References:

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