Climate Change: China’s GCL Poly Energy ramps up production of cheaper, more efficient solar panel materials

Name: China installs record number of solar panels on rooftops in race for carbon neutrality
Uploaded: 2022-01-24T08:33:07.000Z
Duration: 1 min 5 s
Description: China installs record number of solar panels on rooftops in race for carbon neutrality

The firm is readying plans to increase its capacity to produce so-called granular silicon products next month

The reduction in the carbon footprint of the production process is equivalent to planting 2.2 million trees per year, GCL claims

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Granular silicon can ‘solve the critical shortcomings of high energy consumption and large carbon emissions at the front end of the photovoltaic industry chain,’ says GCL. Photo: AFP

Eric Ng

Published: 4:33pm, 24 Jan 2022Updated: 4:36pm, 24 Jan 2022

GCL Poly Energy, one of China’s largest makers of raw materials for solar panels, is ramping up production of a new generation of cheaper and more cost-efficient products that it says could help the nation meet its climate change goals.

The firm is on track to increase by 50 per cent its capacity to produce so-called granular silicon products next month, after installing its first commercial production lines recently, capable of churning out 20,000 tonnes annually of the raw material used in solar panels.

“The operational costs and product quality of the granular silicon project meet or even beat the expected standard,” the company said in a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Monday.

01:05

China installs record number of solar panels on rooftops in race for carbon neutrality

The project had begun to show its advantages, generating a bigger profit margin despite higher input prices, it added. Granular silicon accounted for 18 per cent of GCL’s total production last year.

The company, which is based in Jiangsu province, expects to post a 5 billion yuan (US$790 million) net profit for 2021, a major turnaround from losses of 5.7 billion yuan a year earlier. Its shares closed 2.4 per cent higher on Monday at HK$2.53.

Prices of polysilicon, GCL’s mainstay product, are expected to hover at about 200 to 240 yuan per kilogram in the near term amid tight supply, Nomura analyst Donnie Teng wrote in a note on Friday. The price has more than quadrupled since June 2020 to as much as 280 yuan late last year, before easing off this month.

Everbright Securities projected GCL’s earnings would climb to 6.3 billion yuan this year and 7 billion yuan in 2023. Western Securities was more bullish with its forecasts for 7 billion yuan and 7.4 billion yuan, respectively.