JinkoSolar has become the world’s top solar module maker, after posting record shipments in the first quarter of 2016.
The 10-year-old Chinese company announced total shipments of 1,600MW in the March quarter, more than double the same quarter a year ago, allowing it to claim the top position among tier one solar module manufacturers for the first time.
It expects annual production capacity of 6GW to 6.5GW in 2016, and a gross margin of 21.3 per cent, reflecting the strength of the current solar market.
“Despite the steep drop in the price of crude oil and other economic volatilities, global demand for solar is growing steadily,” CEO Chen Kangping told analysts in a conference call after the results were released late last week.
Chen said the company would take a “cautious” approach to expansion – perhaps conscious of the problems facing the debt issues facing other Chinese manufacturers.
“This expansion should only allow us to meet the minimum expectation for the market demand in the future,” he said.
In the latest quarter, the “in-house” costs of solar module production fell from US41c/watt to US39c/watt, and the company expects an overall cost reduction target of 5 per cent to 8 per cent by the end of 2016.
JinkoSolar said that in Australia, the rapid growth in its Smart Module range had proven popular, and its Eagle Series had achieved a world record 20.13 per cent poly cell production efficiency. This is expected to rise to 20.5 per cent in the second half of 2016.
(Top image via JinkoSolar.)
© 2016 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
