Trina Solar Guiding 1 GW Of Shipments In Q2 2014! First Solar PV Supplier To Hit The Milestone?

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According to Trina Solar’s most recently released financials, the solar PV module supplier is on track to guide between 950 MW and 1,010 MW worth of shipments this quarter (Q2 2014). This means that the company has a good shot at hitting the 1 GW milestone for the first time — which would make it the first module supplier to do so.

This — of course — depends on the company hitting its guidance for the quarter, something that hasn’t always been the case. And there’s also something to note in the fact that Yingli Green Energy may itself break the 1 GW mark this quarter as well — making the situation somewhat murky.

Image Credit: NPD Solarbuzz


Yingli Green Energy actually came pretty close to hitting the milestone in the fourth quarter of 2013 — guiding more than 900 MW of module shipments during that period. Yingling is currently slated to release its guidance for Q2 2014 sometime in early June — once that’s released we’ll have a much clearer idea of who’s likely to come out on top of that race.

Of course, achieving the 1 GW is, in itself, not all that important — the winner of the actual battle over industry dominance and profitability is far more important, and far harder to predict.

A final note, both of the companies actually missed guidance for Q1 2014 — thereby allowing Sharp Solar to take the spot during the quarter as the top module supplier globally by shipment volume.

This strong showing by Sharp Solar has been reflective of its performance of late. The company as a whole has been doing quite well — experiencing an 18% boost in sales over last year, and a net profit of JPY 11.56 billion ($113 million). The strong sales represent a return to profit for the company — and given the large loss posted by the company last year, are significant.

The varying story for these three companies is very much based on policy. Chinese solar policy is still very strong, but there have been some delays getting more decentralized rooftop solar policies going this year. Sharp, meanwhile, is benefiting from a booming Japanese solar market that is fueled by strong feed-in tariffs.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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