With the peak of carbon emissions at home and abroad, carbon neutrality policies are frequent, driving the growth of photovoltaic installed capacity from top to bottom. The rapid growth of photovoltaic installed capacity in 2022 will bring about a larger increase in demand for soda ash. At present, promoting the construction of energy infrastructure is a key measure to accelerate the promotion of green and low-carbon development, and photovoltaic power generation system is an important part of it. Photovoltaic glass is a necessary raw material for photovoltaic module manufacturing, and as the installed capacity of photovoltaic power plants continues to grow, the demand for photovoltaic glass continues to grow accordingly. So what is the relationship between photovoltaic glass and soda ash? In fact, soda ash is one of the main raw materials of photovoltaic glass, the main raw materials for the production of glass, quartz sand and soda ash, photovoltaic glass is no exception. Therefore, the ultra-high-speed development of photovoltaic glass will inevitably drive the rapid growth of demand for soda ash.
Soda ash, also known as soda, is composed of sodium carbonate, which is an important basic chemical raw material and one of the two bases in “three acids and two alkalis”. According to different densities, it can be divided into light soda ash and heavy soda ash. The physical form of the two is different, the density of light alkali is 500-600kg/m³, and it is white crystalline powder; The density of heavy alkali is 1000-2000kg/m³, and it is white and fine particles. Compared with light alkali, heavy alkali has the characteristics of solidity, low moisture absorption, not easy to agglomerate, not easy to fly, and good fluidity. Soda ash is an important basic chemical raw material, in industrial production, soda ash is widely used in flat glass, inorganic salts, daily glass, detergents and printing and dyeing industries. The downstream industry of soda ash has clear requirements for the use of light and heavy alkali, and the phenomenon of mixed use of light and heavy alkali rarely occurs. In the downstream industry of soda ash, the flat glass industry is the most important consumer of heavy alkali, daily glass, inorganic salt, washing and other industries mainly consume light alkali, photovoltaic glass field mainly uses heavy alkali, and a small number of enterprises use a certain amount of heavy alkali.
With the optimization of energy structure and the iteration of new technologies, photovoltaic power generation is a trend in the future, and the production of photovoltaic glass will be the main source of demand for soda ash in the future. In 2022, soda ash due to limited supply, in a state of tight balance between supply and demand, soda ash fundamentals are still good, in the short term, China’s domestic soda ash market is running smoothly and well, which can meet the demand for soda ash. In the long run, there will definitely be a large number of enterprises to increase production or put into production in the future, and there is a possibility of a production capacity process, and it is recommended to grasp the more certain fundamental market this year.