Even
the
strongest
production-equipment
suppliers
have
seen
their
order
books
decimated
as
customers
across
the
crystalline
silicon
(c-Si)
and
thin-film
supply
chains
close
their
wallets
in
an
attempt
to
weather
the
ongoing
capacity
glut.
Spending
on
the
machines
that
PV
manufacturers
use
to
turn
out
their
product
–
from
ingots
to
modules
–
plummeted
to
$3.6bn
in
2012,
from
a
record-high
$12.9bn
the
year
prior,
according
to
market
researcher
NPD
Solarbuzz.
Spending
is
forecast
to
fall
even
further
to
$2.2bn
in
2013,
a
level
not
seen
since
2006
–
a
different…
