- Critical materials like polysilicon became harder to source due to unmatched ramp up speed, which led to surging prices.
- Right now, every module maker is engaged in a battle to secure a steady supply of polysilicon.
- JinkoSolar is well ahead of others.
JinkoSolar has signed a long-term deal worth about $14.9 billion with Tongwei to secure polysilicon supplies over the next four years, which is the biggest order of this kind in the industry’s history and the latest effort by this solar PV giant to secure its supplies of critical raw materials for cell and modules.
In the midst of rising fluctuations in supply of polysilicon, in addition to vertical integrated production from wafer to cell and module, JinkoSolar now possesses a more stable supply system compared to other solar module manufacturers. It will ensure JinkoSolar almost unaffected by the polysilicon shortages and other supply chain issues.
JinkoSolar has been ready to go upstream to diversify sourcing all critical materials and components needed. Before all sorts of shortages started to annoy the industry, JinkoSolar is well aware that building solar modules at scale means going all the way to the vertical integration and polysilicone.
As the demand for N-type solar module surges, competition to secure polysilicon is intensifying, and the price of polysilicon is on the rise by dozens of times. As JinkoSolar skips the middle stage and secures record big long term supply chain, there are concerns that other manufacturers, who rely on a relatively small or unstable supply chain of polysilicon suppliers, may fall behind in manufacturing competitiveness.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
