Production capacity in the fourth quarter is expected to solve why is there such a shortage of photovoltaic glass?

It is reported that in the fourth quarter of this year, the global component demand exceeded 36GW, but the component supply only about 26GW, nearly one-third of the photovoltaic projects had to delay the grid connection. Without a doubt, the glass supply is the photovoltaic "barrel" of the biggest shortfalls.

Photovoltaic (pv) glass
Why is it so scarce?
After communicating with a number of industry insiders, the reasons for glass shortage are summarized as follows

The following five items:
1，The first is part of the new, new production capacity can not achieve 100% utilization. From the announcement of the glass enterprises, some of the new production capacity for the fourth quarter or even the end of this year, the actual output is limited. Even the few factories that just started production in October are still in the stage of capacity climbing and the yield rate is low, which will inevitably affect part of the product supply .

2，The second is that the glass enterprises are too optimistic about the application prospect of double-sided glass products and the structure is unbalanced. As is known to all, double-sided double glass components are made of 2.0mm glass, while single-sided components are made of 3.2mm glass. Driven by the overseas market, the market demand was mostly 2.0mm, but the domestic demand in the second half of the year was mainly 3.2mm. If the glass manufacturer adjusts the production line at this time, it will not only increase the cost, but also affect the final output and reduce the supply.

3, The third is the low matching degree of the whole industry supply chain. As each enterprise is promoting their own high-power components, the shape and size of different glass manufacturers are forced to prepare hundreds of glass as inventory. This resource mismatch will also limit the supply of photovoltaic modules if A module factory is unable to use their glass directly due to the timely suspension of the battery supply.

4, The fourth is that some glass enterprises are affected by environmental protection policies and their production is restricted. Recently, the ecological environment has released the beijing-tianjin-hebei and surrounding areas of nutrient-laden plain 2020 - comprehensive control of air pollution in the fall and winter of 2021 engines action plan (draft) ", for Beijing, tianjin, hebei, shanxi, shandong, henan and shaanxi 39 industries to limit (including glass), duration of 2020-2021 season.

5, Fifthly, individual glass enterprises and middlemen use the strategy of reluctant to sell, exacerbating the shortage of glass. In addition, some first-line component brands have long contracts with glass enterprises, so it is not difficult to supply, but if the delivery is not timely, it may affect the market supply, causing glass prices to rise.

To sum up, according to relevant calculations, the glass supply in the fourth quarter corresponds to about 26GW of module products, but this simply cannot meet the global market's thirst for photovoltaic modules.