Trina Solar and Jingke are now fully operational

As the photovoltaic industry emerges from a global surplus, Trina Solar, SunPower and Jinko Energy are all in full operation.

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE:TSL), China's third largest solar panel manufacturer, is operating at full capacity to meet growing demand. As the photovoltaic industry emerges from a global surplus, Trina Solar, SunPower and Jinko Energy are all in full operation.

Trina Solar, headquartered in Changzhou, China, announced today that its solar panel shipments this year are expected to increase to 2.4 GW, which is in line with the projected annual production capacity.

The photovoltaic industry has been hit by overcapacity, and solar panel prices have fallen by 61% from the beginning of 2011. Trina Solar was the third company in the past month to announce full-scale operation of the plant. The main driver was demand, especially Asian demand. Dan Ries, an analyst at Maxim Group, said that the profit margin is improving, which indicates that the photovoltaic industry is emerging from the recession.

“The PV industry once fell into a very serious downward trend and faced a terrible profit margin,” Dan Ries said in an interview. “The new markets, China and Japan are growing, which offset the impact of the slowdown in the European market. If you Keep the production capacity unchanged, as demand continues to improve, you will get a good balance sheet, and then may not meet the demand."

In the second quarter, Trina Solar's gross margin was 11.6%, which was a significant increase from 1.7% in the previous quarter.

“In the future we will have to continue to operate at full capacity,” said Terry Wang, Trina Solar’s ​​chief financial officer, in a phone call with analysts today. “Now we do have a little bit of room, but we must consider how we can expand our capacity soon. ."

On August 14, JinkoSolar announced its first profit since 2011, mainly driven by strong demand from Japan and China. CEO Kang Kangping said in a conference call that the company's annual production capacity has increased from 1.2GW to 1.5GW, but this still can't meet the company's 2013-1.5GW expected solar panel shipments. Currently, Jinko Energy's operating rate has reached about 90%. The company is headquartered in Shangrao, China.

“Our products were almost sold out in October and the Chinese market played a major role in the third quarter,” said Arturo Herrero, chief marketing officer at JinkoSolar, on the phone.

On Tuesday, Trina's New York-listed American depositary receipts rose 15% to close at $7.82. An American depositary receipt is equivalent to 50 ordinary shares.

With rising demand in Asia and stabilizing solar panel prices, the New York Stock Exchange consisting of 102 constituent stocks - Bloomberg Global Solar Energy Index (SOLAR) has risen 37% this year. Japan is promoting the widespread use of solar energy. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster broke out in 2011, Japan closed its nuclear power plant. China has already said that it expects to install 10GW of solar panels this year.

On July 31, SunPower announced that it is exploring ways to increase production capacity, including expanding the scale of joint ventures with AUO. "From the balance this year and next year, we will start full-scale construction," CEO Tom Werner said on the phone.

According to shipments in 2012, Yingli Green Energy is the largest solar panel manufacturer in China, followed by Suntech Power.