Zhi Tong Cai Jing·2026-01-30 03:24Core Viewpoint - The photovoltaic sector is experiencing a decline, with several key companies reporting significant losses for 2025, primarily attributed to rising silver prices impacting production costs [1] Group 1: Company Performance - Rainbow New Energy (00438) shares fell by 6.45%, trading at HKD 2.03 [1] - Flat Glass (601865) shares decreased by 5.76%, trading at HKD 10.97 [1] - Xinyi Solar (00968) shares dropped by 4.29%, trading at HKD 3.35 [1] - New Special Energy (01799) shares declined by 3.54%, trading at HKD 7.64 [1] Group 2: Financial Forecasts - Tongwei Co. (600438), Longi Green Energy (601012), and Aiko Solar (600732) all issued profit warnings for 2025, indicating expected losses [1] - Longi Green Energy cited significant increases in silver paste and silicon material costs as a major factor for the anticipated losses [1] - Tongwei Co. also mentioned that the continuous rise in prices of core raw materials, including silver, is contributing to their financial difficulties [1] Group 3: Industry Insights - Silver paste is a critical material in solar panels, used for creating conductive contacts to transmit electricity generated by the cells [1] - The current usage of silver in battery cells accounts for 29% of the total cost of components, a significant increase from 3.4% in 2023 and 14% last year [1] - The photovoltaic industry is actively seeking to mitigate the impact of rising silver prices by accelerating plans to replace silver with cheaper materials like copper [1]