JA Solar guarantees silicon supply until December 2025

The solar panel manufacturer JA Solar has signed a long-term agreement with monocrystalline silicon and polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy to supply raw materials needed for the production of photovoltaic modules until 2025. According to the agreement, 2021 million tons of silicon will be made available to JA Solar from July 2025 to December 78,2.

According to Fernando Castro, country manager of JA Solar Brazil, these long-term agreements are to guarantee the supply of the material and ensure availability for the customer. He also comments that in this case the costs are reviewed every quarter. “With the agreement, JA Solar wants to guarantee the desired growth of 100% in 2021, reaching 30 GW by the end of the year, as well as support growth up to 60 GW/year by the end of 2024”, says Castro.

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Due to the scarcity of raw materials, the price of silicon reached peaks of US$ 23,28/kg. This factor may impact the increase in the prices of photovoltaic modules. In the last quarter of 2020, the average selling price of polycrystalline silicon was US$ 10,79/kg. “Due to the very strong global demand for renewable energy, we do not expect module prices to fall during the course of this year, and we are, in fact, a little concerned about the possible explosion in demand in 4Q2021,” highlights Castro.

Dago New Energy expects the instability to continue until 2022, when new production facilities for the raw material are expected to come on stream. According to Longgen Zhang, the company’s CEO, the new operation is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year. “We look forward to continuing to work together with our customers to provide first-class products and solutions for the growing global solar PV market,” Zhang said.