Research and Markets: Research Report on Chinese Solar PV Equipment Industry ... Business Wire (press release)
In the 10 major equipment for solar cell production lines, 8 types can be made in China, of which 6 ones (diffusion furnace, plasma etching machines, cleaning/texturing machines, phosphosilicate glass (PSG) removal equipment, and low-temperature drying oven) take leading roles in production lines in China; the rest two types (tube-type PECVD and fast sintering furnace) coexist with the imported equipment and their shares keep increasing. However, automatic screen printer, automatic sorting machine, and plate PECVD are still dependent on import. Presently, the mainstream production lines of solar cells in China adopt both domestically made and imported equipment. A standard 25MW production line calls for the investment of approximately USD 5-9 million.
To build a PV production line, the equipment investment accounts for over 70%. Though Chinese investment in the PV production lines increases continuously in recent years, the core PECVD equipment is totally dependent on import. In the 6 key cell manufacture devices, the technology levels of Chinese domestically made ones are as follows:
