Beyondsun starts production at 3 GW module facility
China-based solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer Beyondsun Green Energy has begun operation at its new intelligent manufacturing facility, the first in Zhongwei City, Ningxia, producing the company’s first N-Power-Pro series N-type TOPCon photovoltaic module, Beyondsun said on August 1.
The facility at an investment of 3 billion yuan ($417.75 million) will be built in two phases. Phase one involves the establishment of a 3 gigawatt (GW) high-efficiency N-type TOPCon module production plant, while Phase two involves the establishment of a 2 GW high-efficiency Heterojunction (HJT) module production plant, a 3 GW aluminum alloy frame production line, and a 3 gigawatt hour (GWh) energy storage battery production line.
This is the first time the company has expanded its manufacturing facilities, since the company ramped up its module production capacity to 3.6 GW and launched N-type high-efficiency TOPCon modules in 2022, according to the company’s website. Beyondsun currently has a module production capacity of 5
GW.
According to industry sources, new production facilities that have come on-stream in recent months have added pressure to a solar industry struggling with overcapacity and low prices. In the first half of 2024, China added about 21.5 GW of new module production capacity with more than 10 GW of new plants expected to come online in the second half of the year, an industry source said.
The new production facilities in addition to capacity expansions by module manufacturers this year have led to intense price competition amongst module manufacturers, as they compete for new orders resulting in TOPCon module monthly average prices falling to $0.097 per watt peak (wp) in July, down 14.2% from January, according to OPIS data.
As competition intensifies and profit margins shrink, coupled with the high capital expenditures and slow growth returns of investing in new manufacturing facilities, several new projects have been put on hold or divested as solar PV manufacturers chose to conserve cash and focus resources on weathering a market storm. According to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA), about 20 GW of new module capacity was put on hold in the first half of 2024.
The weak demand and sluggish growth in the module industry has a more pronounced negative impact on the cells industry as several cell manufacturers put on hold or terminated new capacity expansion plans amid the supply glut in both the cells and module sector, a market source said.
Jiangxi Haiyuan Composites divested its investment in the 15 GW N-type high-efficiency cells and 3 GW high-efficiency module production facility in Chuzhou City earlier in March. The project was slated to produce 10 GW of high-efficiency cells in Phase one and 5 GW HJT cells and 3 GW high-efficiency modules in Phase two. Jiangxi Haiyuan Composites divested 100% of the equity of its wholly-owned subsidiary Chuzhou Saiwei Energy Technology to Zhejiang Aixu Solar Technology for 38 million.
In March, Lingda Group terminated its investment in the 20 GW high-efficiency cells production facility in Tongling. The project was originally slated to produce 10 GW of TOPCon high-efficiency cells in Phase one and 5 GW TOPCon high-efficiency cells and 5 GW HJT cells in Phase two.
In August, East China Heavy Machinery Company announced that the company’s board of directors reviewed and approved the proposal to terminate the investment in the construction of the Bozhou 10 GW N-type high-efficiency solar cell production base project due to the downturn in the PV industry.
As the solar PV industry struggles under the weight of overcapacity, capacity expansion projects that are in stages of construction are left with little choice but to soldier on. These projects that come on-stream in the next few months will be competing in a very saturated market with low profit returns, sources said. More capacity expansion projects are expected to be put on hold in the coming months as the industry waits out the PV market downturn.
Reporting by Serena Seng, sseng@opisnet.com
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