There Is a Current Shortage of Glass for Solar Panels Needed To Mitigate Climate Change

There is a current shortage of glass for solar panels needed to mitigate climate change. The future production of PV glass has been seen to be fewer by 20 to 30% than the projected demand in 2021.

Also, the price of glass has increased by 71% from July this year, which negatively affects the economy of solar power production, demand, and supply.

Delayed transition to clean energy

According to the largest solar power farm in the world, the glass shortage is the cause of the increase in costs and the delay in the production of new solar panels. This is negatively affecting the timetable of China in its plan to transition to clean energy.

Since July, the cost of glass needed in coating the photovoltaic panels has increased by 71 percent. Daiwa Capital Markets says that manufacturers try to increase and quicken production to produce enough material to cover sales for just one week.

This shortage coincides with the transition of the solar power industry into using bifacial solar panels, because this increases both the output of power as well as the requirements for the glass.

Petition to the Chinese government

Producers of solar panels, such as the company Longi Green Energy Tech. Co. already requested the Chinese government to address the problem. China is the country where most of the manufacturers of solar power materials are located. The companies want the government to approve the construction of new factories.

If the problem is not solved, there will be price increases that will cause solar power to become too expensive. This will cause a significant toll on the momentum of the industry.

According to Longi management supply chain center general manager Charles Jiang, the users of solar power may perceive a solar venture to be uneconomically feasible, which will cause companies to delay their investments in solar projects. It will cause a massive decrease in the demand for solar.

Jiang adds that the profits of solar power plants will then become too low, and production will not become feasible if the government does not give it subsidies. Longi is the largest solar corporation in terms of capitalization.

Halt in constructing glass manufacturing facilities

Two years ago, the government prohibited the addition of new glass production facilities due to the extreme pollution produced by the glass industry, as well as their high energy requirements.

The rise of bifacial panels

The demand for glass has risen due to the increased use of bifacial solar panels. The top and bottom of the panel are coated with glass, which allows for an additional generation of power from the sunlight that is reflected from below.

These panels are geared to take half of the solar market by 2022; it was 14% of the market last year as reported by Sunwah Kingsway analysts.

The increase in players

Manufacturers of solar glass increased in 2020. The Hong Kong market value of Xinyi Solar company has increased more than twice, while the Flat Glass Group increased by nearly a factor of four.

Since factories for glass manufacturing take a lot of time to construct, manufacturing of solar panels to mitigate climate change may see a shortage from 20 to 30 percent in the needed glass next year, and a balance is not expected to occur until the year 2022.

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