Due to a shortage in global supply of silver powder arising from an accident at Japan-based Dowa Hightech's factory in early January 2016, some PV silver paste maker have increased quotes by about 10% and others may follow suit after the 2016 Lunar New Year in early February, according to industry sources.

Due to the accident, Dowa Hightech stopped production of silver powder, the sources said. Dowa Hightech partially resumed production two weeks after, but has restored only about 50% of its normal output, the sources noted. Since Dowa Hightech has a global market of about 70%, its production below a normal level has resulted in substantially tight global supply of silver powder, the sources indicated.

Many PV silver paste makers have tried silver powder produced by makers other than Dowa Hightech, but crystalline silicon solar cell makers are generally dissatisfied with PV silver paste made from such silver powder because energy conversion rates for solar cells have dropped by 0.05-0.1 percentage point on average, the sources indicated.

Many solar cell makers, due to worries about short supply of silver powder, have ordered PV silver paste in excess of actual demand with shipments scheduled through May 2016, the sources said.