Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi leapfrogs Jinko for first-half module shipments

Jinko Solar, which shipped more solar modules last year than any other company, according to Taiwanese market data company PV InfoLink, has been toppled from top spot in the first half of this year.

The latest data released by the market research business had Longi Solar, Trina Solar, and JA Solar in the top three slots, with Jinko falling to fourth with Sino-Canadian business Canadian Solar fifth. Korean manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells was sixth on the list, Chinese business Risen seventh, and U.S. firm First Solar eighth, with Chinese concerns Suntech and Chint rounding out the top ten.

While PV InfoLink did not specify individual company shipment volumes, it reported the top ten cornered 70-80% of the global market from January to June by moving 70.5 GW. Among the group, the analyst said, Longi, Trina and JA Solar between them saw shipment volumes rise 80% on the same period of last year. The rest of the pack, according to PV InfoLink, posted anything from a 30% year-on-year rise to a decline in shipments.

A subsidiary of state-owned energy company the China Energy Investment Corporation today announced a tender to purchase 340 central inverters. The products, which add up to 1.1 GW of inverter capacity must offer 1,500 V and a rated power of 3.125 MW each.

Cell maker Jiangsu Runergy New Energy Technology Co Ltd has announced plans to list on the A-share stock market, with the help of Haitong Securities. Runergy, founded in 2013 in Kunshan city, Jiangsu province, focused on mono PERC cell production and shipped the third largest volume of its products in the world last year and in the first half of this year, behind Tongwei and Aikosolar and ahead of Luan and Zhongyu. The company reported 20 GW of annual cell production capacity at the end of 2020 – 11 GW of it devoted to PERC products – and has announced plans to hit 30 GW this year.

Manufacturer Flat Glass today announced the signing of a contract to supply around 230 million square meters of photovoltaic rolled glass, for use in solar modules, to JA Solar. The three-year contract term will start on Sunday with prices to be set on a monthly basis. The latest PV glass market prices would indicate a total value of around RMB4.6 billion (US$711 million) for the deal.