India to become the Biggest Importer of Infrastructure Components as well
October 19, 2013Innovation picks up Pace as Solar Industry Size Grows and Makes Inventions Lucrative
October 22, 2013Asahi Glass to exit Solar Glass Business?
China is starting to dominate all parts of the crystalline solar supply chain. The country earlier used to dominate the solar module manufacturing but is now extending this dominance to other parts of the solar industry. One of the major factors in the growth of other solar ancillary industries is the rise of the Chinese domestic market. Earlier the Chinese domestic market was quite small (not even in the top 10 in 2008) and the whole Chinese solar panel industry survived on exports. But now China is set to install around 10 GW of solar panels this year, which would give it an estimated 30% of the total global demand. This is providing a huge boost to solar inverter makers in China who are now edging out western rivals, thanks to their home advantage as well as low costs.
Solar glass makers are also starting to monopolize the global marketshare. With most of the solar module manufacturing located in China, Solar equipment and solar glass makers in China have become quite big. It took them some time to master the technology and attain scale. But now they are well on their way to become global leaders in their field. Huge investments in capacity and low costs have enabled them to drive out competitors from the industry. European solar glass makers had protested against the Chinese solar glass makers which had captured 90% of the European industry. But that movement does not seem to have gone anywhere. Anyway with most of the solar module manufacturing industry in Europe dead, these solar glass makers have nowhere to supply.
Now Asahi Glass is pretty much getting out of the solar glass industry, as it has not been able to beat the heat from the Chinese solar glass companies. The company plans to convert a solar glass factory in China into an automobile glass plant. Note Asahi Glass in one of the world’s largest glass making companies with a large marketshare in the manufacture of glass for LCD panels. The company has already closed its solar glass plants in the USA and Phillipines.