Sep 24, 2014 - The combined shipments by five leading solar module suppliers from China are expected to reach between 14.9 GW and 16 GW for the full 2014, up from some 11.2 GW a year back.
Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co Ltd (NYSE:YGE), which ranked as number-one supplier globally both in 2012 and 2013, this year may share the glory with Trina Solar Ltd (NYSE:TSL) as both eye between 3.6 GW and 3.8 GW of 2014 shipments. Yingli had more ambitious targets of 4 GW-4.2 GW but it lowered them during the second quarter of the year based on market and operating conditions, estimated production capacity and customer demand projections.
While Yingli relies on stronger demand in China, the UK and new emerging markets, Trina’s key geographical regions include China, Japan and the US. The two actually grabbed almost a 15% share of the global photovoltaic (PV) module market in 2013. Yingli Green ranked first for the year with shipments of 3.23 GW, while Trina Solar sold 2.58 GW.
JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (NYSE:JKS), in the meantime, is expecting a jump in module shipments to between 2.9 GW and 3.2 GW. During the second quarter the company revised up its previous full-year projection of 2.3 GW-2.5 GW, motivated by a 13.5% rise in module sales during the period. JinkoSolar reached record module shipments of 1.76 GW in 2013.
Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ), another name in the list of top suppliers, has set a 2014 shipments target of between 2.5 GW and 2.7 GW. By comparison, the company sold 1.89 GW in 2013 and 1.54 GW in 2012. Chairman and CEO Shawn Qu said in August that second-quarter PV module shipments have surpassed the high end of its own forecast thanks to solid demand from Japan, Germany, the UK and the US.
Renesola Ltd (NYSE:SOL) is more modest with its forecasts -- it expects to ship 2.3 GW-2.5 GW of modules during the year. The amount of PV panels sold during the second quarter of 2014 alone rose by 14.9% year-on-year to 498.7 MW. In 2013, the company’s module shipments surged to 1.73 GW from only 712.8 MW a year before.
The above calculations exclude JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd (NASDAQ:JASO), another major supplier, since the company released a combined guidance for cell and module shipments. It expects these to reach between 2.9 GW and 3.1 GW, up from 2.1 GW a year before. Yet, Ja Solar’s contribution to the total sales by Chinese companies will be significant, for sure, since it has already shipped 834 MW of modules during the first half of 2014.
According to NPD Solarbuzz’s Module Tracker Quarterly report released in August, shipments of solar modules by these six leading Chinese suppliers have climbed by 26% in the second quarter of 2014 over the 5.2 GW reported in the prior three months. “[Chinese shipments growth] comes at a time when trade disputes are creating obstacles for Chinese solar suppliers, which suggests that strategies to address the regional markets are being successfully implemented,” NPD Solarbuzz senior analyst Ray Lian commented.
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Solar panels. Author: David Goehring. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic
