Chinese PV inverter manufacturers signal tougher market conditions in 1H

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Sungrow Power Supply Co has guided net profit for the reporting period to have declined by 8% to 18%, compared with the first half of 2018. Image: Sungrow

In recently released first half 2019 financial guidance, three China-based PV inverter manufacturers, Sungrow, Ginlong and Kehua have mainly guided weaker profits than reported for the prior-year period.
 
The weaker profitability is primarily due to the delay in the Chinese government announcing a new PV support mechanisms in the country after abruptly closing down the previous system at the end of May 2018, known as the “531 New Deal”.
 
Only recently, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) released the result of the first national unified bidding regarding solar PV projects seeking feed-in-tariffs scheduled to be grid-connected by December 31, 2019, which is expected to support around 23GW of PV power plant projects. 

Although the new system is expected to lead to total PV installs in China reaching 38-42GW, compared to previous estimates by AECEA of 32-34GW, the 2019 install forecast could be up to 14% below official install figures achieved in 2018.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

With a significant lull in utility-scale PV project completions in the first half of 2019, major PV inverter manufacturer and EPC firm, Sungrow Power Supply Co has guided net profit for the reporting period to have declined by 8% to 18%, compared with the first half of 2018.

PV Tech had previously reported that Sungrow had reported a first-quarter 2019 profit of RMB 171.1 million (US$ 23.3 million), which was at the low-end of guidance and down 15.5% from the first quarter of 2018.

Ningbo Ginlong Solis New Energy Technology Co, which is in its first year of being a public company, has noted that net profits for the reporting period were expected to be 29.84% to 18.15% down from the prior-year period.

The dedicated PV inverter manufacturer cited the delay in the new support mechanism for an overall decline in demand in the first half of the year. However, Ginlong also noted that it had also increased R&D spending in the period, also affecting net profit. 

Power conversion and PV inverter manufacturer, Xiamen Kehua Hengsheng Co, guided net profits to be flat to up 20% in the first half of 2019.
 
However, the potential growth was attributed to its cloud-based business unit. The company is a major partner with Alibaba Group and the cloud-based business generated around US$230 million in revenue in 2018, out of a total of over US$506 million. 

Kehua’ renewable energy business revenue had increased 22.7% in 2018, primarily a result of the development of energy storage products for overseas markets. 

10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

June 10, 2025
Australia’s Queensland government has confirmed an AU$2.4 billion investment in the CopperString transmission project, aiming to extend the National Electricity Market (NEM) to the North West Minerals Province.
Premium
June 9, 2025
N-type polysilicon prices have dropped to RMB34,000/ton as the project installation rush ends, putting cost pressure on the industrial chain.
June 9, 2025
Sonnedix has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Renfe to supply 420GWh of renewable energy annually for its commercial operations.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  
June 6, 2025
Australia’s Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has called on Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, to “urgently intervene” on a rule change that could threaten to derail the uptake of rooftop solar PV.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece