Solar companies such as Trina Solar Ltd, Canadian Solar and JinkoSolar Holding have returned to profitability while others have cut losses, as panel prices stabilised after a four-year decline.
Withdrawal of consumer subsidies in top market Europe and excess manufacturing capacity in China had sent the solar market into an extended downturn.
“We continued to perform well in all of our key regions in the fourth quarter, notably China, which is proving to be one of the cornerstone markets of global solar demand,” Chief Executive Baofang Jin said in a statement.
This year, China has a target of installing 14.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar generating capacity - close to Finland’s entire power capacity. Solar companies are also benefiting from power subsidies in Japan, which is banking on solar power to help meet the shortfall in supply after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 shattered public confidence in nuclear energy.
“The growth from China and Japan is definitely sustainable as more than 80 per cent of their revenue has come from the Asia Pacific region,” S&P Capital analyst Angelo Zino said. “More exposure to US and Japan would also help JA solar in the near future.”
JA Solar forecast full-year cell and module shipments between 2.7 GW and 2.9 GW for 2014, up from 2.1 GW in 2013.
JA Solar said it expected total shipments to be between 580 megawatt (MW) and 610 MW in the first quarter, down from 665.5 MW shipped in the fourth quarter. The company posted a net profit of $23 million, or 32 cents per American depositary share (ADS), in the fourth quarter ended December 31, compared with a net loss of $102.4 million, or $2.65 per ADS, a year earlier.
