The rise of photovoltaic auxiliary products The four global companies segment the photovoltaic grade silicon nitride market

In the past decade, photovoltaic companies have blossomed all over China, and the rapid development has led to the rise of related auxiliary material products, but few people pay attention to the auxiliary material silicon nitride powder used in the upstream polysilicon ingot casting link of photovoltaics, but it is very important
in the entire ingot casting process.

Silicon nitride powder for photovoltaics

Silicon wafer is the front product of solar cells, and high-quality silicon ingot is the guarantee of high-quality silicon wafer, silicon nitride powder plays a very important role in the polysilicon ingot casting process, it is sprayed on the inner layer of quartz crucible, plays a role in demolding and blocking the migration of oxygen and other impurity elements in the crucible to the silicon ingot, of course, the purity of silicon nitride itself also affects the purity of the ingot, and in the ingot casting process to prevent the ingot cracking, hidden lines and pores play a vital role
.

The media reporter learned that at present, China's photovoltaic grade silicon nitride market is mainly occupied by four companies, namely Tongli Hi-Tech, ALZChem, Japan's UBE and Germany's H.
C.
Starck
in Yantai, China.

Why four companies are looking at silicon nitride

Yantai Tongli Hi-Tech was established in 2005, mainly engaged in the production and sales of nitride series ceramics
.
By 2008, according to its own industrial advantages, the company accurately positioned emerging industries, aiming at the production and sales of photovoltaic grade high-purity and ultra-pure nitrides, and so far the market share in China exceeds 50%.

AlzChem was founded in 1908 and began mass production of silicon nitride in 1992, but its initial main target customers were also ceramic companies
.
By 2010, the company developed a new strategy and launched a new high-purity silicon nitride for the photovoltaic industry
.

The earliest company to start the production of photovoltaic grade silicon nitride is Japan's UBE company, speaking of the company's silicon nitride business has to mention the leader in the polysilicon ingot furnace industry - the United States GTSolar company, it is GTSolar products in the production of needs, so that the original to spend money to dispose of the special chemical products, from negative value to about 2,000 yuan per kilogram of high-quality photovoltaic auxiliary materials, can be described as salted fish turned over, since then began mass production
.

There is information that UBE has been producing special chemical products since the 30s of the last century, and the application method is chemical vapor phase method
.
According to industry insiders, this method is not something that ordinary enterprises can produce, and it needs to be realized with a small city-sized footprint
.
That is, large companies such as UBE mainly produce other products, incidental production of silicon nitride powder
.
UBE is mainly used as a raw material for the production of silicon nitride ceramics, so the requirements for phase a content are particularly high
.

H.
C.
Starck, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bayer Group, is a German silicon nitride company founded in 1920 and offers products not only in high-performance metals but also in ceramic powders, components and films
.
The process of producing silicon nitride powder is a physical method, which is completely different
from the chemical method.
H.
C.
Starck produces more than 800 kinds of atomized alloys and pure metal powders for P/M, and also produces sintering additives such as nitrides, carbides and sulfides
.
Silicon nitride powder is used to make polycrystalline silicon solar wafers and LED phosphors
.

Market share analysis

In order to meet the needs of the vast majority of customers, the above-mentioned silicon nitride companies have sales offices or distribution channels
around the world.
The target customers are mainly photovoltaic ingot companies, research institutions, universities and customers
who need a small number of samples.
The reporter learned that Shitec signed a distribution agreement with ABCR, ABCR is responsible for the business of order volume less than 100 kg, and all products, specifications and test reports are from Shitec.

Media reporters learned from Yantai Tongli Hi-Tech that as a local national enterprise, it has many advantages, such as: labor, land, taxation and other advantages, so the price is also competitive
.
"At present, most of the domestic ingot casting enterprises are already Tongli customers, conservatively
estimated at 40.
At present, GCL uses more than 90% of Tongli silicon nitride, and customers such as LDK, Jinghaiyang and Hairun even use Tongli silicon
nitride at 100%.
Lu Yu, marketing director of Tongli Hi-Tech, said
.

Stefan Greger, Managing Director of AlzChem, said: "As our SiN performance continues to improve, we are also doing our best to meet the surge in market demand
.
Due to the lack of raw materials and climate problems, the development of solar energy is the trend of the times
.
We will also play a more important role
in energy development.
”

Some industry insiders analyzed that 10 years ago, China's silicon nitride market was UBE and Shitec equally divided the world, currently UBE and Shitec together accounted for about 20%, AlzChem accounted for about 20%, and Chinese local enterprises accounted for about 60%.

In terms of market demand, the domestic monthly demand is about
20 tons.
The G5 ingot furnace requires about 400-480g of silicon nitride per ingot, and the G6 furnace requires about 580-650g of silicon
nitride per ingot.

In terms of price, silicon nitride has gone through a tortuous decline road, from the earliest two thousand yuan / kg, to now less than six or seven hundred yuan, the decline momentum is obvious
.
Compared with several large overseas enterprises, domestic silicon nitride enterprises adopt independent research and development equipment in product production, and adopt the model of "small profits but quick sales" in price, which is more advantageous
for quickly occupying the market.

As long as any industry is localized, the cost will fall rapidly, and the silicon nitride industry is no exception
.
After more than ten years of extensive development, photovoltaic has now moved to the point of backwardness and serious overcapacity, and it is hoped that the photovoltaic auxiliary material industry - silicon nitride can develop healthily and orderly in response to market demand
.