Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

• Most Popular Articles

  • PV-TECH’S TOP 10 STORIES OF 2009
  • Happy solstice: Solyndra files for IPO, could become next CIGS pure-play to go public (corrected)
  • First Solar to add eight CdTe lines; targets sales US$2.9 billion in 2010 (updated)
  • EDF taps €1 billion in solar project financing: exclusive use of First Solar modules
  • China green building & energy investment events run with success

• Popular Technical Papers

  • Photovoltaic Fab Managers’ Forum Review
  • Photovoltaic industry 2009: a journey into uncertainty
  • Thin-film CIGS starts to come of age
  • Overview of automation in the photovoltaic industry
  • CIGS, CdTe thin-film PV equipment sector emerges, standardization remains elusive

• Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

  Name
  Job title
  Company
  Email

German solar panels manufacturer SolarWorld sees no need to refinance before 2013, and even then expects issues to be limited.

"We carried out a private placement at the end of 2006 of about €300 million (US$397.1 million) in the United States that runs over 7 to 12 years," said SolarWorld CFO Philipp Koecke. "If the financial markets return to normal I do not expect that we will come into a situation where we will actually have to refinance."

Reuters reported that SolarWorld trades at 11.1 times 2009 earnings and, according to Koecke, sees revenues “in the positive 3-digit million euro range.” The company's 2008 sales have grown more than 30%, and it expects its 2009 sales to be in excess of €1 billion.

The company has fared better than peers Chinese LDK Solar Co. and Solon, who both cut their sales forecasts as a result of the global financial crisis.

SolarWorld grabbed media attention last November when it announced its plans to bid on General Motors’ Opel unit in Germany, stating that it hoped to turn the company into Europe’s first “green” car company.