One of the world's largest solar companies,
Canadian Solar, Inc.
(
CSIQ
) has supplied more than 8 MW of solar modules to groSolar for
three utility and commercial photovoltaic ("PV") projects in the
United States. groSolar is a leading provider of solar energy
solutions for commercial and utility applications. It serves the 1
to 20 MW commercial, residential and utility markets with complete
EPC, financing, and development support, exclusively through its
nationwide procurement and distribution division.
These three projects have been built by utilizing Canadian Solar's
workhorse module, the CS6P. Out of the three projects, two have
completed their construction recently and one 6 MW plant is still
under construction in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Once
completed this 6 MW plant will be the largest solar installation in
the state of Pennsylvania.
The plant under construction has used the modules prepared by
Canadian solar. It has energy generation capacity of 7.5 million
kilowatt hours (kWh). The energy from the plant will be sold under
15-year power purchase agreement ("PPA") to support farmland
preservation and agricultural soil restoration in Lancaster.
One of the completed solar plants, located at the Camden County
Municipal Utility Authority's (CCMUA) wastewater treatment plant in
Camden, N.J, has a generation capacity of 1.8 MW. The
electricity generated from the plant will be sold to CCMUA under
PPA. The other completed plant is located at Longwood Gardens in
Kennett Square, Pa. and has an electric generation capacity of 1.5
MW.
Both these plants together will be able to produce approximately
4.95 million kWh of clean solar energy, which is equal to planting
18,562 trees. Moreover, the clean energy will be sufficient to
counterbalance approximately 3,712 tons of carbon emissions per
year.
The companies prefer to use Canadian Solar's modules as every
module produced by Canadian Solar has high-yield and long-term
performance driven by the company's scrupulous design and
production techniques. In fact, this has made CS6P as one of the
top rankers in California for higher energy production. Also, the
company's modules carry an industry-leading 25-year warranty as
well as matching warranty insurance underwritten by A.M. Best-rated
insurance carriers.
In June this year, Canadian Solar Inc. had entered into an
agreement to supply 17 MW of solar photovoltaic ("PV") modules to
Potentia Solar Inc. (Potentia). Per the agreement, Canadian Solar
will supply its best-selling module, the CS6P to Potentia to power
several commercial rooftop solar systems that will be installed on
commercial, industrial and institutional buildings in major urban
areas of Ontario. The modules will be used for the development of
more than one hundred rooftop solar projects. The company expects
the projects to be completed in 2013.
Canadian Solar caters to a geographically-diverse customer base
spread across its key markets in Germany, Spain and the U.S., as
well as emerging market opportunities in France, the Czech
Republic, Italy, South Korea, Canada, Japan and China.
However, in the near term, fortunes will be impacted by the
industry-wide oversupply, leading to sharply falling Average
Selling Prices, tepid module demand in Europe and rising
competition in the market. Given the industry wide high inventory
level, we do not foresee any short-term improvement in margins of
the company.
Moreover, Canadian Solar Inc. reported higher quantum of losses for
the second quarter of 2012. In the reported quarter, the company
with a loss per share of 59 cents missed the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of a loss of 30 cents per share. Results were also much
lower when compared to earnings of 16 cents in the year-ago period.
The company presently retains a short-term Zacks #4 Rank (Sell). We
have a long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock.
The company mainly competes with
JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd.
(
JASO
) and
JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd.
(
JKS
).
CANADIAN SOLAR (CSIQ): Free Stock Analysis
Report
JA SOLAR HOLDGS (JASO): Free Stock Analysis
Report
JINKOSOLAR HLDG (JKS): Free Stock Analysis
Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research