Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Solar demands surges in Asia

We've heard in the recent time that solar panel manufacturers are scaling back and some them even filed for bankruptcy.

But in contrary, Bloomberg reported this week that three major solar manufacturers are producing panels at full speed and contemplating plans to expand capacity to meet surging demand in Asia. They are Trina Solar, SunPower and Jinko Solar.


Green money surging in Asia? Image credit: REW


Increased production by major solar manufacturers

Trina Solar, the third-largest panel producer, increased its forecast for panel shipments this year to as much as 2.4 GW from an earlier range of 2 GW - 2.1 GW. Trina shipped 647 MW of panels in the second quarter, up 54% from a year earlier. It expects to deliver as much as 680 MW this quarter.

SunPower Corp. and JinkoSolar Holding Co. said they're also running their factories at maximum and mulling ways to boost output. The industry has been battered by excess production that drove panel prices down 61% since the start of 2011.

JinkoSolar expanded its annual production capacity to 1.5 GW from 1.2 GW, which won't be enough to meet its 2013 forecast of 1.5 GW - 1.7 GW of panel shipments. The factories are running at about 90% of capacity now.

SunPower said on July 31 that it's exploring ways to increase capacity, including expanding a joint venture with AU Optronics Corp.


"The solar industry was put into a bad, bad downturn, a horrendous margin environment. New markets, China, Japan, are growing, more than offsetting slowing markets like Europe."
- Dan Ries, an analyst with Maxim Group LLC.


Japan is promoting wider use of solar power after closing nuclear facilities following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. China has said it expects to install 10 gigawatts of solar panels this year.

According to Bloomberg, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. is the largest panel manufacturer by 2012 shipments, followed by Suntech Power Holdings Co.


TheGreenMechanics: In a small way, Malaysia too, is contributing to this increase in demand in Asia thanks to our very attractive Feed-in Tariff rates for electricity generated from solar PV. Response is very encouraging especially from non-individual segment.

3 comments:

Daniela Grimburg said...

Hi, just discovered your blog.
Very interesting subject and posts that are of universal concern. Will be back for new readings.

tehr said...

aku sentiasa berharap
malaysia juga cepat maju dalam bidang ni

de engineur said...

Daniela Grimburg - thanks for visiting

teh ramuan - semoga dipercepatkan