ITRPV sees trend towards 5 gigawatt fabs, end of M6 wafers this year

The 14th edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV) is now available for download. The current edition was » jointly prepared by 61 leading international poly-Si producers, wafer suppliers, c-Si solar cell manufacturers, module manufacturers, PV equipment suppliers, and production material providers, as well as research institutes and consultants«, and is published by the PV production department of the VDMA German Engineering Federation.
According to the report, the global market for solar modules reached a volume of 295 gigawatts (GW) in 2022, and global production capacity for crystalline solar cells and modules was 600 GW at the end of the year. The roadmap does register notable price reductions, with the weighted average spot market price for crystalline silicon modules down seven percent compared to the end of 2021.
A trend that continues to dominate is the switch to larger cell formats. For cells below the M6 format (166 mm edge length), the report sees complete disappearance this year, and the M6 format itself will also continue to lose market share. In terms of the size of new fabs, the ITRPV sees a trend toward annual production capacities of several GW: By 2026, most new cell factories are expected to have a production capacity of more than 5 GW.
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