Benefiting from the shortage of domestic silicon materials, the market demand for granular silicon continues to rise

Granular silicon refers to a form of polycrystalline silicon, but the current mainstream polycrystalline silicon products in the market are columnar polycrystalline silicon produced by improving the Siemens method and the silane method. Under ideal circumstances, the cost of granular silicon production is lower, and it can improve the production efficiency of silicon rods and support continuous feeding, so it has development prospects. However, limited by production technology, current granular silicon has high carbon content and dust problems, which seriously affects the purity of the product. Moreover, due to problems such as stable operation and product consistency, the cost of use and production is high. Therefore, in polysilicon There is less market application demand.

In terms of application, currently granular silicon is mainly used as a dopant, and the doping ratio in downstream product production is about 30-40%. At present, granular silicon is mainly used for the functions of laying the foundation for high-efficiency polycrystalline silicon ingots, continuous pulling and feeding of single crystal silicon, and gap filling of bulk polycrystalline silicon.

According to the “China Granular Silicon Industry Application Market Demand and Development Opportunities Research Report 2021-2025” released by the Industrial Research Center, the benefits Due to the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry, photovoltaic installed capacity continues to rise, and the granular silicon industry has developed rapidly. If the global photovoltaic installed capacity reaches more than 200GW in 2020, the demand for granular silicon is expected to be more than 200,000 tons. If granular silicon production technology improves in the future, product quality improves, and its doping ratio as a dopant increases, market demand will also increase. If the doping ratio of granular silicon reaches 55%, the global granular silicon market demand is expected to reach 380,000 tons by 2022.

Since the application of granular silicon also has certain technical limitations, the market demand for granular silicon is relatively concentrated, with Zhonghuan accounting for a higher proportion. In addition, LONGi and Shanghai Machinery also purchase small quantities. In terms of production, the current granular silicon manufacturers include Shaanxi Tianhong and GCL-Poly. Among them, GCL-Poly currently has a granular silicon production capacity of 30,000 tons/year, and there are still plans to expand production. It is expected that by the end of 2022, Poly-GCL’s total granular silicon production capacity will be At 220,000 tons. Shaanxi Tianhong currently only has a production capacity of 18,000 tons of granular silicon and has no plans to expand production in the short term.

The technical threshold for granular silicon production is high, especially the stage of silicon production by thermal decomposition in a fluidized bed. The solution at this stage is currently patented by REC and GCL-Poly, and Shaanxi Tianhong is authorized by REC to adopt this patented technology. Due to restrictions on patented technology, it will be difficult for other companies to enter the market in the short term.

Industry analysts said that due to the shortage of silicon materials, the market demand for granular silicon continues to rise, and the industry as a whole is improving. In terms of production, due to the influence of technology and patents, it is difficult for companies to enter the market in the short term. GCL-Poly is currently accelerating its production expansion. It is expected that the actual domestic production of granular silicon will reach about 90,000 tons by 2023. In terms of product quality, it is expected that domestic granular silicon will still maintain a doping level of 30% within five years, with limited application areas.