Trina remains the top PV module producer

Research and consulting firm GlobalData has announced the world’s biggest producers of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in 2015. Trina Solar held onto the top spot with the production of 4.55 GW, with crystalline modules, while Canadian Solar was second with 3.9 GW.

Ankit Mathur, GlobalData’s practice head for power, said Trina Solar has experienced “impressive results over the past year”.

“For example, it has announced a new efficiency record of 22.13% for its monocrystalline silicon solar cell, which breaks the previous record of 21.40% and demonstrates an impressive efficiency improvement of 0.73 percentage points within only one year,” he said.

Additionally, Trina Solar’s efforts to expand its presence across the globe have enabled the company to capture numerous opportunities. Mathur said the company has “announced a new manufacturing base in Thailand to add 500 MW module and 700 MW cell capacities, and this, along with its Malaysia facility, will help to expand Trina Solar’s production and boost competitiveness in global markets”.

Canadian Solar also had a positive year, following the acquisition of Recurrent Energy, a provider of solar power systems, for a purchase consideration of approximately $265 million in cash in February 2015. Mathur said, “The acquisition enables Canadian Solar to more than double its total and late-stage solar project pipelines, and propelled the company from fourth in 2014 up to second place last year, overtaking Yingli and JinkoSolar.

“Canadian Solar has a substantial global project pipeline, a strong downstream project development business and offers low manufacturing costs. The company has also begun to offer a new upgraded warranty on its polycrystalline PV modules by guaranteeing a lower first-year power output degradation.”

JinkoSolar claimed third place with 3.79 GW produced, while JA Solar came in fourth with 3.38 GW and Hanwha Q CELLS ranked fifth with 3.2 GW produced. Yingli has been less successful, with production dropping from 3.35 GW in 2014 to 2.35 GW in 2015, as liquidity issues and debt repayments caused the company to plummet from second to seventh in the global rankings.

The GlobalData report can be found here.