Canadian Solar raises PV module shipment guidance, could surpass 300MW for year

Canadian Solar says it expects to beat the high end of its prior guidance for module shipments for both the third-quarter and fiscal-year 2009 and will raise its projections for both periods. Annual shipments could be as much as 45MW above earlier guidance forecasts and surpass 300MW, the vertically integrated solar manufacturer states. 

Based on its selected unaudited financial results, Canadian Solar believes that its net revenues for the third quarter will be approximately $210 million to $215 million, with shipments of about 101-103MW, compared to prior guidance of approximately 90-100MW. The company says it expects a gross margin of 16% to 17% for the third quarter.

The company attributes a high level of interest in its crystalline-silicon-based products at the EU PSVEC trade show and subsequent purchase orders to part of the reason for the increase in its forecast.

It now sees FY09 shipments coming in between 295 and 305MW, including expected shipments of 127-137MW for the fourth quarter. This represents a significant increase compared to the prior guidance for shipments of approximately 260-270MW for the full year and earlier 2009 guidance of 200-220MW.

The company claims to be making continuous improvements in its cost structure, which it expects will positively impact ongoing profitability.

"Demand has continued to be strong among our core customer group as well as among new customers," commented chairman/CEO Shawn Qu. "We anticipate that Q4 2009 will be even stronger than Q3 2009 in terms of shipments, and we expect to maintain similar gross margins. We plan to increase our solar-module manufacturing capacity to 1GW, our solar-cell capacity to 700MW, and our ingot and wafer capacity to 350MW by the end of 2010 to meet demand levels."

Additional information related to the third quarter and full year will be available when Canadian Solar reports its Q3 2009 results on Nov. 24.