Aeg Company
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AEG employs 1,700 people, with around 1000 working in “non manufacturing” functions (R&D, sales & marketing etc) and of the 700 working in direct functions, of which some 400 working in manufacturing/assembly. AEG PS outsourcers the manufacturing of its power electronics equipment components and their factories focus on assembly operations, testing and production of proprietary components. The company conducts these operations at facilities in Europe and Asia.
The demand for PV energy is currently booming as subsidies are still very favorable and low long-term funding costs have also positive impact on cost of producing electricity with solar panels. The chart below shows the latest forecasts from European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) presented at the solar conference in Valencia in September. Global installations will more than double in 2010 with 15GW of additions estimated. This is probably also conservative as highlighted by a press release by SMA Solar Technology on 15 Sept raising estimates for global PV market in 2010 to 17 GW.
The buildup of new PV systems results in a massive demand for solar inverters, which is good news for AEG PSs inverter business.
The rising solar demand is supporting higher silicon prices. Instead of a continued decline, prices have trended up from low of USD 50/kg to USD 60/kg in August. More recently, buyers at the solar conference in Valencia indicated USD 70/kg as the going rate for spot volumes. This is up some 25% over few months and considerably above the USD 50/kg contract level. Some companies are even talking about silicon being a bottleneck for market growth
Two solar technologies – There are two main methods today to harness solar energy. The most common is silicon based solar; accounting for close to 90%. The key reason silicon based solar cells is a preferred technology is superior conversion efficiency of 14% to 22%. This compares to the other competing method, thin-film (accounting for 10% of solar cells manufactured today), having a conversion efficiency of 6% to 11%. AEG PS only operates with silicon based cells.
Two ways to produce polysilicon – There are a number of technologies to produce polysilicon. The Siemens process is the principal polysilicon production process in operation worldwide and been in existence for 50 years. It has a market share of approximately 85%. Silicon rods are exposed to high temperature, making the process very energy demanding (70-120 kWh/kg).
The main competing production technology is the Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) process, which is designed to minimize energy usage (around 10 kWh/kg). There are so far no full scale FBR producers in the market, but some larger plants are about to start up production (eg REC at Moses Lake in Canada).