Market Shifting

Photovoltaics cell and module manufacturers

Market shifting

Large-scale systems are After years of oversupply and artificially low module pricing, market becoming a growing market segment. The system in the analysts believe that the solar industry will begin to stabilize by 2017. picture has been installed in While the market activities are shifting from Europe to the Asia Pacific the Japanese prefecture of Yamanashi and uses Solar region and the United States, the solar shakeout continues to be in full Frontier modules. Photo: Solar Frontier swing including solar cell and module manufacturing.

ccording to a recent report by the market ana play the role as global leader are over. “It is clear from lysts at Navigant Research, the annual world the results of 2012 and the forecast for the coming Awide revenues made from solar PV installa years that Europe’s leading role in the PV market is tions will surpass the mark of US$ 134 billion by coming to an end,” says Craig Winneker, Head of Po 2020. “Financial incentives, government renewable litical Communications at EPIA. In 2011, 70 % of glo energy deployment targets, and technology cost re bal new installations were connected to the grid in duction are still the most important drivers of the so Europe, says Winneker. In 2012, the share dropped lar PV market,” says Dexter Gauntlett, a research ana to 55 % and the majority of new installations will no lyst with Navigant Research. In view of such outlooks, doubt be found outside Europe in 2013. The global many companies in the industry have come to believe module and solar cell manufacturers are already re that 2017 will be the year in which solar power will fi acting to this trend. But the industry players must be nally be able to stand on its own feet in the major prepared to invest. According to the market research markets, says the report – without any further need er IHS, the module and solar cell manufacturers plan for incentives. to adjust to the new demand situation with an in crease in investments in new factories and produc Europe’s leading role coming to tion equipment for the first time in three years. After an end a decrease of 72 % in 2012, IHS says capital spend ing is projected to fall by only 36 % in the current year. For the next year, the market researchers then Europe’s PV industry association EPIA is closely fol forecast the industry capital expenditures to rise by lowing the industry development around the world. 30 % up to US$ 3 billion. “As demand expands in new In a study, the association comes to unequivocal re areas, PV manufacturers are gaining interest in pro sults. The times when the European markets used to ducing their wares in these regions, resulting in new Concentrated Off-Grid expertise: We would like to thank all those who contributed to the Off-Grid Experts’ Workshop 2013 and are already looking forward to next time on 25./26.09.2015. Until then, the Phaesun Off-Grid Experts will be pleased to 58 Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013 be at your disposal for your next Off-Grid project and further information about Off-Grid energy: www.phaesun.com factory openings and boosting local capital spend ing,” says Jon Campos, a market analyst for IHS. A good example of this is Canadian Solar, a China- based module manufacturer, which had early begun to position itself in the North American PV market with a production facility in Ontario, Canada. In 2009, the fourth largest producer and sixth largest solar cell module manufacturer worldwide had already started the first activities on the Japanese islands. In its lat est quarterly report, the company now states that its solar module shipments to Japan went up by 75.9 % from the fourth quarter of 2012. In the first quarter of 2013, the company’s total solar module shipments were 340 MW. Canadian Solar recently signed a con tract with the Korean company Samsung Renewable Energy to deliver modules with an output of 400 MW for Samsung’s project business in Japan. Canadian Solar is also the first foreign module manufacturer to set up a solar module production plant in Japan. The leaves no doubt about China’s leading role. Eight out First Solar continues producing plant will have a capacity of 150 MW and start oper of ten companies on the list are based in China. at full capacity. Photo: First Solar ating in the first half of 2014. The demand has in SunPower, a module and solar cell manufacturer, is creased so much that, according to the Japan the only US-based company, currently ranking in Photovoltaic Energy Association, the largest share of eighth place in both segments. But even SunPower is the modules that are installed had to be imported for ramping up its production in Asia. The company has the first time from abroad. achieved strong growth, particularly in the Asia Pacif ic region, where its sales more than redoubled up to China at the head of Top 10 US$ 101.9 million. According to the company, the market share has meanwhile arrived at 10 % in Japan. A look at the world’s Top 10 solar cell and module SunPower operates manufacturing plants in different manufacturers (estimated by IHS iSuppli for 2013) sites, including in the Philippines. Chuck Boynton,

Concentrated Off-Grid expertise: We would like to thank all those who contributed to the Off-Grid Experts’ Workshop 2013 and are already looking forward to next time on 25./26.09.2015. Until then, the Phaesun Off-Grid Experts will be pleased to Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013be at your disposal for your next Off-Grid project and further information about Off-Grid energy: www.phaesun.com59 Photovoltaics cell and module manufacturers

Top 10 cell manufacturers — capacity in MW the company’s CFO, recently reported that SunPower has reached full manufacturing utilization and that it Company 2011 2012 is now considering whether to expand a production JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. 2,800 2,800 joint venture with Taiwanese electronics manufactur Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. 2,400 2,400 er AU Optronics Corp. or to build new production Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited 2,400 2,450 facilities. Trina Solar 1,900 2,400 The second non-Chinese company in the Top 10 LDK Solar Co., Ltd 1,800 2,200 module manufacturers is Flextronics, which is based Canadian Solar Inc. 1,500 2,100 in Singapore and operates production lines in Hareon Solar Technology Co., Ltd. 1,500 2,100 Malaysia and Mexico. Flextronics has made its debut Motech Industries Inc. 1,500 1,500 in the Top 10 this year and shows that there is a new Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. 1,500 1,500 trend emerging in the global module production seg ment. As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), JinkoSolar Co., Ltd. 1,450 1,450 the company produces modules, but does not offer them on the market. Typically, OEMs sell products to other manufacturers, which distribute them on the Top 10 module manufacturers — capacity in MW market under their own name. Flextronics is current ly listed as sixth largest module manufacturer in the Company 2011 2012 world. The company recently announced its plans to LDK Solar Co., Ltd 3,000 3,000 raise its production from 975 MW to 1,375 MW this Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd 2,450 2,450 year. This will help other manufacturers to make their Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited 2,400 2,450 offers more flexible and to serve a fluctuating de Canadian Solar Inc. 2,118 2,300 mand with OEM products. In addition, Chinese mod Trina Solar 1,900 2,400 ule manufacturers are provided with a possibility to Sharp Corporation 1,575 1,575 avoid the import restrictions and tariffs imposed by Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. 1,500 1,500 the European Union and to continue supplying the JinkoSolar Co., Ltd. 1,450 1,450 European solar markets the way they did before. JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. 1,200 1,500 As a production location for solar cells, Taiwan is among those who benefit from this situation. Accord Jabil Circuit Inc. 1,020 1,020 ing to the market researcher TrendForce, 16 % of the Source: IHS iSuppli Corporation, company data solar cells that were sold globally in the first half of the year came from Taiwan. 40 % of these cells were exported to China, followed by Europe (17 %), Japan (12 %), the United States (6 %) and South Korea (4 %). “The reason for the enormous turnover in China is that Chinese module manufacturers who are affect ed by anti-dumping and punitive tariffs bought more solar cells from Taiwan,” says EnergyTrend. And Taiwan continues to be attractive. The agreement between Mascotte Holdings and Hareon Solar Technology, which plan to establish a 300 MW solar cell production in Taiwan, is an example of this. Shakeout reaches China

According to NPD Solarbuzz, China’s leading role is not limited to the Top 10 companies. In the first quar ter of this year, 70 % of the modules sold on the mar ket were made by the 20 largest solar companies glo bally. “The continued consolidation of solar PV manu facturers is creating opportunities for the leading tier-one module suppliers,” says Ray Lian, a Senior Analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “The market share of the Solarpeace Corp.(Korea) top 20 module suppliers increased significantly in Tel:+86-186 8809 7799 the first quarter 2013 to 70 %, up from 58 % in the Email:[email protected] Website: www.solarpeace.net first quarter 2012.” Because of the globalization of the solar market, the major players, especially large SOLARFENNEL, Corp.(USA) Tel:+1-909-393-1866 China-based companies such as Yingli Green Energy, Email:[email protected] Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar and ReneSola, Website: www.solarfennel.com are pursuing more aggressive marketing strategies. Again, Chinese players continue to dominate the mar ket, says Solarbuzz. In the last four quarters, the ten

60 Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013 largest Chinese module man ufacturers were responsible for 41 % of the module sales worldwide. But also Chinese manufacturers in the solar cell segment such as JA Solar, now the largest cell producer in the world, or Hareon Solar, take a leading role. “The top 10 Chi YOUR NEW DUAL nese suppliers have been less successful in countries where MPPT CHARGE CONTROLLER there is strong competition from domestic module suppli ers or attractive solar PV poli cy incentives,” says Lian. “In the United States and Japa NEW nese solar PV markets, for ex ample, local manufacturers still rank at the top for domes tic PV module shipments.” Nevertheless, the Chinese companies are suffering from the markets development, too. Lux Research recently published a report predicting a consolidation of the Chinese PV industry, which however does not change the fact that China continues to dominate the global PV market. Japan-based Solar Frontier has According to the report “The Great Shakeout: China’s been defending its position on Path to a Rational Solar Industry”, China’s low-cost the global market. The picture focus in the PV segment has driven prices down by 75 shows the company’s manu- % since 2007 and produced major losses in the do facturing unit MP3 in Miyazaki, mestic industry as well as abroad. While Chinese tier- Japan. Photo: Solar Frontier one manufacturers such as Yingli and Trina Solar prof it from the consolidation, many smaller manufactur ers were forced out of business, the analysts say. Steca Tarom MPPT 6000 “Enormous oversupply and heavy debt have set Chi Solar charge controller nese solar manufacturers up for consolidation,” says 60 A, 12/24/48 V market analyst Zhun Ma. “The road ahead will be strewn with chaos and uncertainties, but the consol I am flexible with idation will draw a new solar landscape in China that a wide range of still dominates the global solar industry.” Bloomberg analysts expect that no more than ten Chinese man combination optionss ufacturers will survive the shakeout. Two independent maximum Down to a few power point trackers (MPPT) Multifunction graphical LC-display Except for SunPower, only a handful of companies Professional battery maintenance, such as First Solar or the Japan-based Solar Frontier suitable for many battery types in the thin-film segment will be able to compete in Input voltage range up to 200 V this market environment. Meanwhile, the thin-film (for 12/24/48 V) manufacturers are even collaborating to survive. An Easy installation example is the Catalina project currently realized by (35 mm² terminals) EDF Renewable Energy in California. EDF is building a system that combines 82 MW of Solar Frontier thin-film modules and 61 MW of First Solar mod ules. First Solar, Sharp, and Solar Frontier are the Excellent last top dogs to stand their ground in the thin-film segment. Others such as Soltecture, Inventux or efficiency Konarka, to mention just a few, had to file for bankruptcy. PV Off Grid PV Grid Connected Solar Thermal

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62 Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013 Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013 63 Photovoltaics cell and module manufacturers

64 Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013 Solar Market rebalancing especially from France, Italy and the UK,” says Ángel Luis Serrano, According to the market experts at President and CEO of Isofotón. “The Solutions IHS, the oversupplies will soon belong anti-dumping measures have driven to the past. “Our research is showing a up the prices in the European market, return to market equilibrium with re which will lead to a recovery of the gard to supply and demand. Overca profit margins in the second half of pacity seems to be correcting itself, 2013.” Isofotón is currently in a re and from the last few financial an structuring process, says Serrano. Its nouncements, a handful of solar com future now depends on whether the panies have returned to profitability company is able to refinance its debt, and widened margins. The last piece sell equity and adjust its size to the of the recovery puzzle is capital spend current market. ing and investment in high-efficiency More positive news comes from technology”, says Jon Campos. At the Voltec Solar, a medium-sized company moment, the capacities are declining based in the Alsace region. “We are and prices either stable or rising. Ac even thinking about ramping up our cordingly, the second quarter of 2013 production capacity for crystalline marks a turning point in the crisis of modules from currently 55 MW to the global solar industry. Many com 100 MW,” says Markus Schaefer, panies have raised their forecasts for Co-Founder and Senior Vice President the second quarter. JinkoSolar has re of the Franco-German company. Final ported profits again for the first time ly, the demand for solar modules is in since 2011. This means that the solar creasing again, says Schaefer, “espe module industry is likely to return to cially in France”. Because of public so the profit zone. IHS expects that Yingli lar tenders, says Schaefer, Voltec Solar Green Energy, Trina Solar and Canadian still has several hot irons in the fire, Solar will become profitable again this primarily in the market segment for year. JinkoSolar achieved a second- smaller rooftop PV installations. The quarter profit of US$ 8 million and main reason why the company has Yingli improved its sales both in the gotten through the crisis in Europe is Chinese and the US market. IHS is also that its sales structure is not focused optimistic in view of the market partici on only one but on several of the pants based in Japan and North European solar markets. America. Sharp and Kyocera both re According to an analysis by the US port a strong sales increase; US-based consulting firm Mercom Capital Group, Cost Optimisation SunPower has posted the first operat the global solar market will grow by ing profit in years. Although the recov 23 % to reach a total size of 38 GW in ery was inflated by advance effects in 2013. With the trade case between by Adhesive Europe in the second quarter, IHS ex China and the European Union settled, pects that the development will be Mercom Capital believes that the mar Technology positive in the long-term. Yingli Green ket conditions for solar already look Energy, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar “much better” than three months ago. Easy cost reduction, quality increase and JinkoSolar are anticipated to The agreement will enable the Chinese achieve even higher growth in the sec manufacturers to supply around 7 GW and new design options – with fast ond than in the first term this year. LDK to Europe this year and meet at least curing high strength bonding and Solar is another company that recent half of Europe’s demand, the analysts sealing systems. ly announced a reduction in losses, say. In fact, these 7 GW and the stocks while JA Solar was able to increase its that existed prior to the settlement sales and seems to be returning to the could be enough to cover almost Call us to learn how our innovative black. 100 % of the new installations in and approved solutions for the PV Positive news also comes from Europe. Meanwhile, market partici the hard-hit European market. As the pants such as Stefan Wiebach, Deputy and Solar Industry can help you to Spanish company Isofotón SA report Product Line Manager at Japanese achieve your targets. We commit ed, the number of solar modules or manufacturer Kyocera, expect the new to the highest product quality and dered has gone up because of the installations to be only between 6.5 minimum prices and maximum im and 7 GW in Europe this year. This service standards – all over the port volumes for Chinese solar prod would mean that the European solar world. ucts agreed between the European market would decrease by more than Union and China. “Since early August, 50 % year-on-year. Solar installations the amount of orders received for PV with a capacity of about 17.2 GW were modules from Europe has been rising, newly connected to the grid in Europe

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Good news from the Czech Republic: Kyocera plans to raise the production capacity of its module production plant in Kadan. Photo: Europressedienst

in 2012 of which 7.6 GW were installed in Germany alone. According to a report by Mercom Capital, the newly installed capacities in Japan will be in the range 130580BS_ADV-90x125.indd 1 20/03/13 12:13 of 7 GW in 2013 and therefore partly make up for the slump in Europe. With 8.5 GW of new installations ex pected, China will miss its 10 GW goal, says the study. The United States and Britain could be in the upper league, however, with an anticipated 4.5 and 1.5 to 2 GW, respectively. There are different opinions on the question when the solar market will recover for the long-term. While analysts and manufacturers in Asia already see a light at the end of the tunnel for 2014, others ex pect that the global grid parity target and a final ® ® ® PV*SOL , T*SOL and GeoT*SOL breakthrough will take until 2017. But when that time Plan More Eﬃ ciently with Valentin Software comes, the list of companies that have survived will be much shorter. Photovoltaics, Solar Thermal and Michael Forst NEW! Heat Pumps

PV*SOL® advanced 6.0 - Dynamic simulation Further information: Battery storage systems - Planning and design Navigant Research: www.navigantresearch.com Any number of arrays - Plausible yield forecast EPIA: www.epia.org - Clear ﬁ nancial analysis IHS: www.ihs.com PV*SOL® basic 6.5 - English, French, German, Italian, Canadian Solar: www.canadiansolar.com Import of consumption proﬁ les Spanish Samsung Renewable Energy: www.samsungrenewableenergy.ca Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association: www.jpea.gr.jp GeoT*SOL® basic 2.0 - 1 year software maintenance SunPower: www.sunpowercorp.com Geothermal collectors included for basic and advanced Flextronics: www.flextronics.com Water/water heat pumps programs NPD Solarbuzz: www.solarbuzz.com Lux Research: www.luxresearchinc.com Dr. Valentin EnergieSoftware GmbH · [email protected] · www.valentin.de First Solar: www.firstsolar.com Solar Frontier: www.solar-frontier.com Isofotón: www.isofoton.com Voltec Solar: www.voltec-solar.com

MIX_90x125-112013SWE_engl_RZ.indd 1 06.11.13 08:56 66 Sun & Wind Energy 11+12/2013 Good news from the Czech Republic: Kyocera plans to raise the production capacity of its module production plant in Kadan. Photo: Europressedienst

Photovoltaics industry worldwide 2013 The market shakeout is in full swing. In SUN & WIND ENERGY’s annual survey of the module and solar cell manufacturers, the list of companies that have given a fore cast for the current and the next year is accordingly much shorter than in previous years. The present world map draws on studies, publications and analyst reports and provides an overview of a total of 146 solar cell, 336 module and 57 thin-film production locations. At the end of 2012, the global solar cell capacities had increased to 67 GW (PY 63 GW). Due to plant closures and bankruptcies, these capacities will be reduced to between 47 GW and 50 GW in 2013. The trend is a similar in the module segment: after increasing to 79 GW (PY 70 GW) by the end of 2012, the global module capac ities are expected to drop down to between 60 GW and 63 GW by the end of 2013. In the thin-film segment, the total capacities had stood at 14.4 GW (PY 10 GW) at the THE STANDARDIZED end of the last year. They will be significantly reduced to 8 GW to 9 GW in 2013. SOLUTION FOR FREE FIELDS While Europe had produced solar cells with a capacity of 2.8 GW (3.5 GW PY) and modules with 9.5 GW (9.6 GW PY) in 2012, the lion’s share had come from - For smaller projects - On concrete foundation China with a solar cell and module capacity of 44 GW and 56 GW, respectively - Pre-engineered (PY 45 and 48 GW). Although Europe’s solar cell capacity will remain stable in (ready to assemble) 2013, the module capacities are anticipated to drop down to between 7.5 GW and - Optimal corrosion resistance 8 GW. The development is similar in China where the solar cell capacities will be - Short lead time only slightly lower, whereas the module capacities will go down to 44 GW. In view of these figures, the times of major capacity building seem to be over. The majority of the Top 10 manufacturers have not changed their production capac ities. Gintech Energy Corporation, which had announced an upgrade from 1.3 GW to 2.37 GW in the last year, increased its solar cell production by only 200 MW to 1,500 MW in the end. In the module segment, Trina Solar was able to build up a capacity of 2,500 MW, putting it on a par with JA Solar. A newcomer in the Top 10

list is the OEM manufacturer Flextronics. In the thin-film segment, First Solar www.SadeF.cOm confirms its leading position with a production capacity of 2,200 MW.

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