Polysilicon (i.e., silicon material) is a non-metallic material which is made of industrial silicon and purified through a series of physical and chemical reactions to a final certain degree of purity. The silicon content is above 99.9999%. In the field of photovoltaics, polysilicon is processed into silicon wafers, cells, and components, and is ultimately used in photovoltaic power generation systems. Crystalline silicon components account for about 97.5% of photovoltaic installed capacity, and the rest are thin-film components. Therefore, polysilicon is an important upstream of the photovoltaic industry. Polysilicon has the following characteristics:
1.Technical attributes.
High technical barriers, the Siemens method has long been the mainstream, with a market share of 95.9% in 2021, and the silane fluidized bed method will break through mass production in 2019, and the subsequent market share is expected to increase.
2.Product attributes.
Product height homogenization, the key indicator is purity, and the proportion of single crystal materials used by various companies in the market is distributed between 80% and 100%.
3.Asset attributes.
It belongs to the resource-based industry, and the investment threshold is high (about 800 million yuan / 10,000 tons or 210 million yuan/GW), the expansion cycle is long (12-18 months), the start-up and shutdown of equipment is difficult, and continuous production is required.
4.Cost attributes.
In the past, the investment cost and energy consumption level of polysilicon production lines have changed with the scale effect, localization of equipment, and technological progress have declined year by year, so new production capacity is generally more competitive and has a certain late-mover advantage.
