GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, the world's third-largest producer of polysilicon, the raw material used to make solar cells, may see income from the sale of solar wafers outstrip polysilicon revenues for the first time this year.
Zhou Jiangbo, head of investor relations, said the Jiangsu-based company aimed to produce 1,300 megawatts of wafer this year - up from about 46 MW last year - and between 15,000 and 16,500 tonnes of polysilicon this year, up from 7,454 tonnes.
Based on an international average wafer-selling-price of 70 US cents per watt and a polysilicon price of US$45 per kilogram projected by Citigroup for this year, GCL's wafer revenues could hit US$910 million this year and polysilicon income could reach US$709 million, assuming sales of 15,750 tonnes.
Solar panels, or modules, are made mostly from polysilicon rods, some two metres long, which are cut into ingots and then sliced into wafers that are 0.2 millimetre thick. They are then processed into solar cells that convert sunlight energy into electricity; cells are assembled to form solar panels.
GCL began producing solar wafers in last year's second quarter after polysilicon prices fell from more than US$400 per kilogram in mid-2008 to US$63, owing to lower demand amid the financial crisis and rapidly rising supply. GCL's polysilicon price averaged US$50 in this year's first quarter.
Citigroup forecast the price of polysilicon could fall to US$35 by 2012, with global excess supply projected to rise from 37 per cent last year to 71 per cent in 2012.