Global PV Equipment Market Analysis Forecast and Manufacturers' Income Ranking

The equipment cost for the thin-film photovoltaic cell industry is much higher than that of conventional crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. With the decline in polysilicon prices since the second half of 2008, the advantages of low raw material costs for thin-film photovoltaic cells have become less prominent. Many manufacturers have become very cautious about investing in the field of thin film photovoltaics, or have stopped investing, which has caused the scale of the photovoltaic equipment industry to decline.

Shuiqing Muhua research report pointed out that the equipment cost for the thin-film photovoltaic cell industry is much higher than that of traditional crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. With the decline in polysilicon prices since the second half of 2008, the advantages of low raw material costs for thin-film photovoltaic cells have become less prominent. Many manufacturers have become very cautious about investing in the field of thin film photovoltaics, or have stopped investing, which has caused the scale of the photovoltaic equipment industry to decline. However, in 2010, China's crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell manufacturers increased their production capacity significantly, making up for the decline in thin film photovoltaic cell equipment.

In the second half of 2010, polysilicon prices began to rise, and it is expected that manufacturers' investment in thin film photovoltaic cells will increase. However, it is clear that the price of polysilicon may not soar as it did in 2008. Therefore, people are still cautious about thin film photovoltaic cells.

Compared with traditional energy technologies, photovoltaic cells still have low conversion efficiency, especially thin-film photovoltaic cells. This is a theoretical defect that cannot be broken within 5-10 years. The PV industry is more dependent on policies. In the future, countries will reduce the government deficit and reduce government expenditures and subsidies will be the inevitable choice. Photovoltaic equipment experienced many years of experience accumulated from 2006 to 2010, and it is already quite mature. In addition, there are constant competition from new manufacturers to lower unit prices. This led to the future photovoltaic equipment industry can only moderate growth, it is impossible to explosive growth.

AppliedMaterials is the world's largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, the world's second largest TFT-LCD device manufacturer, and the world's largest photovoltaic equipment manufacturer. PECVD is the most expensive of all types of photovoltaic equipment, and Applied Materials is the dominant PECVD player with a market share of nearly 90%. At the end of July 2010, AppliedMaterials reorganized Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES), which has a continuous operating deficit. The main business of this division is photovoltaic equipment. After the reorganization, the company will withdraw from the complete turnkey solution of the thin-film silicon solar cell production line and turn to the crystalline silicon solar cell and LED business. However, the manufacturing equipment for thin-film silicon solar cells, such as CVD devices and sputtering devices, will continue. AppliedMaterials also has a strong position in the field of photovoltaic equipment is wafer cutting equipment, which came from the 451 million US dollars acquisition in 2007 of the Swiss wafer cutting manufacturer HCTShaping.

2008-2010 Global PV Equipment Manufacturers Revenue Ranking

Oerlikon is a manufacturer dedicated to thin-film photovoltaic equipment. The company's performance in the first half of 2010 fell significantly. Oerlinkon received orders for SEK 497 million in the first half of 2009, compared with 11 million Sweden in the first half of 2010. Krone, down 98%. Similar to Oerlikon is Japan's ULVAC, which also focuses on thin-film photovoltaic cell equipment. Fortunately, ULVAC is also the world's largest TFT-LCD equipment manufacturer, and the proportion of photovoltaic equipment is very low.

The Centrotherm product line is the most complete and there are also very difficult PECVD technologies. Customers are concentrated in Asia, especially in Taiwan. Taiwan's Motech, Yitong, Dijing, Shengyang, Silicone, Fuyang, Yaohua, Green Energy, Sunplus, and Sunlight all use Centrotherm's Turnkey Solution. In 2010, Taiwanese manufacturers expanded their production and used most of them. Centrotherm's equipment made Centrotherm the second largest in the world.

GTSolar is a global leader in CVD reduction furnaces (REACTOR) and polysilicon ingot furnaces (ingotfurnace), and is widely used in the polysilicon field in the photovoltaic industry. In the polysilicon field, the GTSolar is gaining a lot of achievements. However, Chinese manufacturers in the ingot furnace sector have been catching up, causing GTSolar to lose part of its market share.

RauAG is a large PECVD company and is dedicated to CdTe thin-film solar cell equipment. CdTe thin-film solar cells are basically only done by FirstSolar. Fortunately, FirstSolar's production capacity continues to increase, so that Roth&Rau AG's income will not decline.

MEYERBURGER is a Swiss wafer-cutting company and is known for its diamond cutting technology. In January 2010, the company merged with 3SIndustries, which is a Swiss company and is a competitor, further enhancing the company's strength and scale. This makes the company's 2010 revenue soar.

GebrSchmid is the leader of PCB equipment manufacturers, relying on years of accumulated experience in PCB equipment, has a relatively large share in the field of photovoltaic etching equipment, and the company also closely cooperates with ABB to provide a full set of industrial robot equipment.