Trina Solar, SunPower, First Solar, Hanwha Q-cells, & Jinko Solar = Solar PV Module Leaders

Trina Solar, SunPower, First Solar, Hanwha Q-cells, and Jinko Solar have been labelled the solar PV module supplier leaders, according to a new Scorecard report from IHS Markit.

Published this week, global business analyst IHS Markit released its PV Module Supplier Scorecard, which labelled Trina Solar, SunPower, First Solar, Hanwha Q-cells, and Jinko Solar as the industry leaders. Each company received above average scores for both market presence and market momentum, among a total of 9 separate metrics IHS Markit uses to determine which company is leading the sector.

“IHS Markit evaluated the largest module suppliers based on nine different metrics to arrive at the overall scores,” said Edurne Zoco, senior manager, solar research at IHS Technology. “This scorecard takes into account a company’s current market and financial position, as well as its potential to cope with the next wave of challenges faced by the solar industry.”

Trina Solar received high scores across nearly all categories “due to its leading global market share, completeness of its product offering, strong position in all major regions, and brand perception.” Given our own recent coverage of Trina Solar, this is thoroughly unsurprising. In May, the company promised that its shipments were unlikely to be affected by the slowdown in China expected for the second half of 2016, following a relatively strong first half of 2016. This was backed up by the long-sought after news that the company would depart from the New York Stock Exchange in a $1.1 billion move to go private, confirming the company’s overall attractiveness.

And despite 2016 being a slower year than 2015, and a expected further slowdown in China specifically in the second half of the year, IHS Markit’s Leaderboard reveal an interesting picture about the global solar industry. Three of the top 5 manufacturers are based in Asia, and benefiting from the region’s intentional and impressive solar PV growth. IHS Markit noted that both Hanwha Q-cells and Jinko Solar also scored highly in market presence, and recorded consistently high scores across the board.

Given recent financial results from US-based solar manufacturers and developers, however, it will be interesting to see whether US-based SunPower and First Solar remain on the Leaderboard in six months’ time. IHS Markit notes that First Solar will be challenged by its natural limited market presence.