Orders are up as Chinese solar power companies post 2Q09 profits, losses

There are signs demand for solar power in China’s solar equipment manufacturing sector could be on the rebound, even though companies have been taking a beating from the global economic crisis and growing industry competition, the New York Times reports.

Wuxi-based Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE:STP) said yesterday it posted a profit, though its second quarter net income dropped to $9.6 million, from almost $52 million in the same period in 2008.

But that didn’t stop the company from touting a multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic module this week that achieved a world record in conversion efficiency (see Suntech claims new multi-crystalline PV efficiency record).

The NYT reports that Suntech’s numbers suggest “it is getting product out the door at a fast clip even as it struggles to improve profitability.”

Other Chinese solar manufacturers released numbers this week that showed many of them taking major losses, while reporting shipments are on the rise for photovoltaic modules and products:

• Baoding-based Yingli Green Energy Holding (NYSE:YGE) lost $57 million this quarter, while reporting that shipments of its PV modules were up 72.3 percent from the start of 2009.
• Xinyu City-based LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) posted a loss of $205 million this quarter, but said it has seen 20 percent higher shipments of its solar-cell wafers, over the start of the year, the NYT said.
• Shanghai-based Solarfun Power Holdings (Nasdaq:SOLF) posted a second-quarter loss of almost $8 million compared to its strong profits last year, but said it shipped 50 percent more PV modules than over the same period in 2008.
• Changzhou-based Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL) recorded a net profit of $18.9 million for the quarter that ended June 30—up 11 percent over the second quarter of 2008. Trina said it shipped 63.9 megawatts of solar modules in Q2, an increase of 30.9 percent over the previous quarter (see Trina Solar beats projections with 2Q09 profit).
• Jiashan-based ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) reported a net loss of $3.6 million with its total sales volume falling by about 52 percent. Then yesterday, the company announced a $700 million deal with the Wuzhong government to develop a 150 MW on-grid solar power project in northern China.

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