REC Solar almost sold-out for 2015

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  REC Solar, part of Chinese investment firm Elkem Bluestar provided bullish business figures for the second quarter of 2015. Image: REC Solar
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  REC Solar said PV module sales reached US$168 million, up 12% from the prior quarter, driven by 130MW of module shipments to the US in the quarter. Image: REC Solar

Singapore-based tier-1 PV manufacturer REC Solar, part of Chinese investment firm Elkem Bluestar provided bullish business figures for the second quarter of 2015. 

REC Solar said PV module sales reached US$168 million, up 12% from the prior quarter, driven by 130MW of module shipments to the US in the quarter, which accounted for 50% of total sales. REC Solar is a key supplier to SolarCity, which posted 189MW of installations in the quarter, up from 153MW in the first quarter of 2015. 

However, other US customers across residential, commercial and utility-scale segments also contributed to the sales increase in the country which was up 44% from the previous quarter. 

Talking to PV Tech, Luc Graré senior vice president, sales and marketing, EMEA and South America said, “We are almost fully-booked for Q3 and Q4 [2015] and much more demand than we can manufacturer, especially for our 72-cell modules primarily for the US market. 

The company stated that it had secured 818MW of module shipments into the US in 2015 and 2016 and reiterated it would complete its capacity expansion to 1.3GW by the end of the year. 

REC Solar remains bullish on the US market post ITC reductions at the end of 2016, noting that both residential and commercial segments were anticipated to grow further. 

“There may be some dip in demand in the US post ITC but our thinking is this will not be big. The emergence of new forms of low cost capital after the ITC reduction and continued cost reductions should support further growth,” added Graré, and reinforcing SolarCity’s management view of the US residential market after the ITC reduction. 

REC management said in a statement that it expected annual global module installations to reach around 58GW in 2015, an increase of 30% compared to 2014.

The company also noted that weaker demand expected in Europe over the next few years, previously its key end-market had enabled the company, despite being capacity constrained to broaden its global market footprint. 

REC Solar said that it was expanding its sales efforts across South East Asia and planning a longer-term approach the key emerging markets in Africa, such as Ghana, South Africa and Kenya, while Japan remained an important secondary market. 

The company said that it had secured 35MW of module supply deals in Thailand and accounted for 78% of REC’s total sales in APAC in the second quarter of 2015.

Graré told PV Tech that the company was still in site selection mode for its next capacity expansion, though expected the company to add around 400MW of new capacity when the location and timing of the expansion is decided. 

The key market demand driver is expected to remain in the US for the eventual capacity expansion.