Yingli Ships Record Number of Panels; Market Awaits 2013 Outlook and Downstream Strategy

James Montgomery, Associate Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
January 09, 2013 | 4 Comments

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (YGE) says its preliminary tally of module shipments in 2012 exceeded 2.2 gigawatts (GW), a record high for the company, roughly a 37% increase from the ~1.6 GW it shipped in 2011. 4Q12 results aren't due until late February 2013, but Yingli now says preliminary data suggests 4Q12 shipments also achieved a new record.

PV shipments actually decreased 17% sequentially in 3Q12, the last official reveal of the company's books. The company, citing "public data," says it is now the global leader in silicon-based PV module shipments.

Yingli wouldn't provide figures about its 2013 expecations, though acknowledged more visibility will be forthcoming in those 4Q12 results. For now, we have to go by what was discussed in the company's 3Q12 presentations. At the time, Robert Petrina, managing director for YGE Americas, described "north of 400 MW of contracted deals" for 2013; Bryan Li, YGE executive director & CFO, suggested that shipments would be higher in the first half of 2013. Darren Thompson, managing director for YGE Europe, noted that "Europe will remain the region of challenges," but pointed to "positive signals" with project connection deadlines in the UK and Spain to meet certifications and feed-in tariff extensions. Li also and suggested that China could rise to be the 2nd-largest market in the world, "even more than Germany."

Meanwhile, when asked then about the company's plans to get into downstream project development, where module-making rivals such as SunPower and First Solar have built up higher-margin revenue streams, YGE chairman/CEO Miao Liansheng admitted that this strategy "will be the trend for the future development of the market," and that YGE wants to make that move in 2H13 and 2014. If that schedule is still valid, YGE likely already has a pretty clear direction about its first steps in that direction, but a YGE rep likewise declined to offer more insight. No doubt investors and analysts will be keen for updates on that strategy during YGE's 4Q12 results presentations as well.

Lead image: Dart hitting target, via Shutterstock

4 Comments

dorothy allen
January 14, 2013

Its about time we learn that there need not be such thing as nuclear waste. There is only our unwillingness to recycle. Check out France. Really there should be blog on nuclear power to discuss the issues that pertain to this industry.

ANONYMOUS
January 10, 2013

In absence of carbon price, lack of data availability for precise life cycle assessments of PV manufacturing and lack of data on long term performance of the panels it is impossible to know if various panel manufacturers make PV products with environmentally equivalent benefits. Yet government subsidies treat all panels the same and the industry functions believing in low degradation rates and 30 year performance. Also, how about comparing Chinese and US panels based on ghg emissions associated with their manufacture? What are we going to do with all the junk panels in a decade or two?

I am skeptical as ever about our whole hog embrace of PV. Why aren't we building new generation of nuclear reactors?

RobX Miller
January 10, 2013

Please indicate the amount of Silver required for the PV production. Silver is a required element. The USGS has announced that Silver will be the first element on Earth extinguished due to current consumption.
The so-called cadmium-telluride (CdTe) technology option has drinking water pollution concerns and liabilities along the line of Uranium that could be banned. This leaves Silver mining at the forefront of PV production.
Peak Silver may have passed. Silver mines stocks dropped as the majority of mines reported lower silver ore grades right along the predictions of USGS. The above ground Silver inventories are very tight. China as a major producer of silver use to be the biggest exporter until 2011. Now China is a major importer of Silver in order to fulfill PV, electronics, biological, drinking water processing, automobile, and many other products.
While the US Silver ETF are under increased observations for providing too many paper contracts (e.g. MF Global kind of thing), new Silver ETF are opening in Europe, China, Australia and Canada that promise accountability and transparency of actual physical inventory.
Silver price and physical availability is the largest single success factor in the solar future of PV.
Please ask these Public Companies to provide information on the rate of Silver consumed.

John Nistler
January 10, 2013

Personally, I believe moving downstream is a death bell for Sunpower and First Solar. It detracts from their primary product, the production of solar panels. With the competition associated with solar panels worldwide, focus on the front end aspects of providing high end solar panels is going to be extremely important.

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James Montgomery

Jim is Associate Editor for RenewableEnergyWorld.com, covering the solar and wind beats. He previously was news editor for Solid State Technology and Photovoltaics World, and has covered semiconductor manufacturing and related industries,...