Continued Decline in PV Equipment Book-to-Bill Ratio Underscores Challenging Market Conditions

Just last week we reported that for the quarter ending September 30, 2011, the worldwide photovoltaic manufacturing equipment book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.35, reaching its lowest level since the start of the data collection in the first quarter of 2010. (Read press release.) The deteriorating billings and bookings data underscores the overall softening in the global PV industry. After aggressive capital equipment spending across the entire supply chain that characterized 2010 and the early part of 2011, many PV manufacturers have cancelled or put on hold their capacity expansion plans, as challenging market conditions and poor visibility into market expectations continue to overshadow the industry outlook into next year. The expectation is that bookings will not significantly improve in the next six months without policy adjustments in Europe, Japan and China, combined with easing of credit markets and improved economic growth.

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SEMI PV Group, The Grid – December 2011