Having turned and continue to remain cautious about its business outlook for the second-half of 2017, JA Solar reported second quarter results that simply defied previous guidance, driven by greater than expected demand in China and a start of a rush to stockpile in the US.
According to independent solar industry advisory firm AECEA, China has already exceeded its 13th Five-Year-Plan (2016-2020) target of 105GW by installing around 10.52GW of solar in July, after record first half 2017 installations of 24.4GW.
A key factor in the strong growth of the PV industry in 2017 is the Silicon Module Super League (or SMSL), comprised of the seven companies that will each ship in excess of 4GW of modules this year, well above all other module suppliers to the industry.
Taiwan-based PV cell and module manufacturer Motech Industries continued a fourth consecutive quarterly loss, yet losses declined on increased solar cell shipments in the second quarter of 2017.
Leading PV module encapsulation and backsheet material supplier Hangzhou First Applied Materials Co, formerly First Photovoltaics (PV) reported a continued increase in demand with sales up by 16.56% but profits crashed by 43.49% on significant ASP pressure in the first half of 2017.
Newly formed German PV module manufacture SolarWorld Industries GmbH has officially started production, according to the insolvency administrator for SolarWorld AG.
The insolvency administrator for SolarWorld AG's shares in Solarparc GmbH, Deutsche Lithium GmbH and SolarWorld Americas said it was focusing its efforts on finding buyers for these companies.
The solar industry is set to reach annual demand at the 100GW level much earlier than has been forecast by both third-party observers and the leading component suppliers. During 2018, the solar industry is shaping up to ship more than 100GW of solar modules during the calendar year, while 2017 alone will see the number exceed 90GW comfortably.
Canadian Solar has launched an innovative ‘cool’ PV module design, dubbed ‘Ku’ modules. The new PV module series is based on Low Internal Current (LIC) module technology to provide better module energy yield and reliability.
