But another important side effect of the oversupplied market has been the renewed focus on technological competition, an aspect of the business that was often given short shrift during the boom years, according to REC chief technology officer Erik Sauar.
“During the years when PV supplies were limited [roughly from 2004-08], cell efficiencies grew pretty slowly,” Sauar tells Recharge. “Everyone was focused on higher volumes and ever thinner wafers,” so that they could squeeze more of them out of the same amount of silicon — which traded as high as $500 per kg in 2008.
Now,
