Weekly Review
PV Market News This Week:
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1. Polysilicon market holds steady, awaiting policy-driven shift
The Global Polysilicon Marker (GPM), the OPIS benchmark for polysilicon produced outside of China, remained stable this week at $20.360/kg, or $0.046/W, reflecting unchanged market fundamentals.
The global polysilicon market continues to show stability, with suppliers primarily urging long-term contract customers to adhere to payment schedules and take monthly deliveries as agreed.
Malaysia's relatively low U.S. import tariffs have reportedly sustained some wafer and cell production. According to the China Silicon Industry Association, China's polysilicon exports surged 46% in December 2024 compared to November, with approximately 59% of shipments directed to Malaysia. This indicates that while some wafer production remains in Southeast Asia, a portion can still rely on traceability-compliant polysilicon from China, biting away demand for global polysilicon.
Certain global polysilicon buyers are reportedly hesitant to renew long-term agreements upon expiration. These buyers are closely monitoring U.S. trade policy developments, particularly potential requirements to separate photovoltaic imports from Chinese components.
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2. Most European markets see electricity prices rise
Weekly average electricity prices increased across most major European markets during the second week of February, according to analysis from AleaSoft Energy Forecasting.
When compared to the week prior, AleaSoft noted price increases in the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Nordic markets, while the Portuguese and Spanish markets were the only analyzed markets to see the weekly average price drop.
Weekly averages were above €140 ($146.35)/MWh in all markets except the Nordic, Portuguese and Spanish markets. The Italian market had the highest average of the week, at €159.40/MWh, and the Nordic market the lowest, at €88.82/MWh.
3. U.S. startup unveils highly automated, low-waste solar panel recycling tech
California-based PV Circonomy has launched recycling services for end-of-life (EoL) silicon PV panels based on its proprietary, highly-automated equipment that separates, recovers, and processes PV panel components.
The startup’s material recovery rate is certified by Switzerland-based SGS. “Our recovery equipment was tested by SGS with certification that stated 99.3% recovery rate and currently shows that each panel’s energy consumption for the recovery is at 1 kWh,” Andrew Hung, PV Circonomy CEO, told pv magazine.
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4. Indian scientists design 31.16%-efficient 2D-3D perovskite solar cell
A research team in India using a computational approach designed a perovskite solar cell combining a Dion-Jacobson (DJ) 2D layer with a 3D lead-free halide perovskite, a combination that could potentially achieve a power conversion efficiency of 31.16% and improved stability results
The group described its work in “Achieving 31.16?% efficiency in perovskite solar cells via synergistic Dion-Jacobson 2D-3D layer design,” pubished in Journal of Alloys and Compounds. The scientists participating in the research were from India's Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, University of Delhi, Manipal University, along the Swedish Institute of Advanced Materials.
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5. China’s SPIC offering copper-based heterojunction solar modules
Last week, State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) broke ground on a 10 GW high-efficiency heterojunction (HJT) solar cell and module manufacturing project in Suining, Sichuan province.
The factory will be owned and operated by the company's unit SPIC New Energy, which developed a proprietary copper busbar heterojunction (C-HJT) cell technology that replaces silver with copper in the metallization process. This breakthrough could significantly cut key manufacturing process costs compared with conventional silver-based processes, the company claims.
Lab tests showed the proposed solar cell configuration can achieve a 25.97% power conversion efficiency, with modules hitting 710 W output.
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6. Solar generation grew by 30% in 2024, says IEA
Solar generation is forecast to meet roughly half of the growth in global electricity demand through to 2027, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Electricity 2025 report.
The agency’s flagship report predicts the world’s electricity consumption is set to rise at its fastest pace in recent years, growing at close to 4% annually through to 2027, driven by growing use for industry, air conditioning, electrification and data centers.
Solar is expected to meet half that demand due to continued cost reductions and policy support aiding its deployment, the report explains. The projection is up from the 40% of growth in global electricity demand that solar accounted for in 2024. Low-emission sources, combining both renewables and nuclear, are expected to meet all the global demand electricity growth through to 2027.
IEA’s report adds that global solar generation surpassed the 2,000 TWh mark in 2024. The figure is equivalent to 7% of global electricity generation, increasing on solar’s 5% share of total electricity generation in 2023.
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7. TrinaTracker establishes 3 GW factory in Saudi Arabia
Smart solar tracking solutions provider TrinaTracker, a division of China’s Trina Solar, has established a 3 GW manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.
The factory is set to commence operations during the first quarter of this year and will specialize in manufacturing TrinaTracker’s Vanguard series of solar trackers and smart control systems. A statement from the company adds the facility will operate with zero pollutant emissions during the production process.
The company says its smart solar tracking solutions are specifically designed to optimize energy generation in challenging weather conditions common in Saudi Arabia and the wider region, such as sand, strong winds, and high temperatures.
Located in the 3rd industrial city in Jeddah, the new factory is part of a land-lease agreement with the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON).
It is TrinaTracker’s fourth manufacturing plant worldwide, joining existing operations in China, Spain, and Brazil.
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8. Peru installs 195.4 MW of solar in 2024
Peru added 195.48 MW of photovoltaic capacity throughout 2024, thanks to the entry into operation of three solar plants.
The first, Clemesí, from the company Orygen, has a capacity of 114.93 MW. It is located in the district of Moquegua, province of Mariscal Nieto, department of Moquegua, with an investment of $81 million.
The second plant, Carhuaquero, has a capacity of 0.55 MW and is from the company Kondu. It is located in the districts of Llama and Catache, in the provinces of Chota and Santa Cruz, department of Cajamarca, and had required an investment of $400,000.
In August it was the turn of the third plant, Matarani, which has an 80 MW capacity and comes from the company GR Cortarrama. It is located in the Mollendo desert, one of the regions with the highest solar radiation in the world.
Data provided by the Peruvian Association of Renewable Energies (SPR) reveals there is currently a total installed solar capacity of 476.66 MW in the country, due to 11 plants in operation.
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9. Germany hits 100 GW milestone
Two weeks after India, Germany has also crossed the 100 GW milestone for cumulative installed PV capacity.
Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) reported that the country added 1.12 GW of new PV systems in January, which compares to around 1.6 GW in January 2024 and 1.82 GW in December 2024.
Of the new capacity deployed in January, 19.3 MW comes from balcony PV systems, while another 756 MW derives from rooftop installations. Another 237.5 MW comes from ground-mounted projects and 13 MW from other project typologies.
The cumulative capacity reached 100.8 GW at the end of December.
According to updated data, Germany added around 16.73 GW in 2024.
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10. Italy installed 6.8 GW of solar in 2024
Italy reached 37.08 GW of cumulative installed PV capacity, spread across 1,878,780 installations, at the end of December 2024, according to new statistics from Italia Solare, the nation's solar energy association.
Last year, the country added 6.8 GW of new solar capacity, which compares to 5.23 GW in 2023 and 2.48 GW in 2022, and 0.94 GW in 2021.
The data show an acceleration in the utility-scale segment during 2024, with a growing share of connections of large plants, while the residential sector was affected by the end of the so-called Superbonus, which was reflected in a decline in connections of residential systems more markedly in the second half of last year.
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11. Slovakia added 274 MW of PV in 2024
Slovakia added 274 MW of solar in 2024, according to figures from the Slovak Association of the Photovoltaic Industry (SAPI).
The result is a slight increase on 2023 levels, when a total 267 MW was installed. Ján Karaba, director of the association, told pv magazine last year's deployment consisted of 113.6 MW of residential solar, 142.7 MW of commercial-scale solar and 17.7 MW of utility-scale solar.
The country’s cumulative solar capacity now stands at over 1.1 GW. Karaba said he expects around 300 MW of solar to be added both this year and next.