JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd.
(
JASO
) has completed the supply of 9.5 megawatt ("MW") of PV modules
for Volkswagen Solar Park, located in the vicinity of the
Volkswagen manufacturing plant at Chattanooga, Tennessee. JA
Solar delivered 33,600 high-performance multi-crystalline silicon
PV modules that are spread across 33 acres of land.
To date, this will be the biggest solar park in the state of
Tennessee. Owned by Silicon Ranch Corp, the solar park is
designed and constructed by Phoenix Solar Inc. On an annual
basis, the facility is expected to produce 13.1 GWh of
electricity.
Per a 20-year power purchase agreement, the electricity generated
by the solar park will be sold to Volkswagen. Volkswagen's
Chattanooga manufacturing plant will utilize 100% of the
electricity produced. The solar park has a capacity to meet 12.5%
of the electricity needs of the manufacturing plant during its
peak production period and 100% of the needs during
non-production periods.
Since 2011, Phoenix and Silicon Ranch have been working together
for the development and implementation of photovoltaic ("PV")
plants in southeast US. In Feb 2012, both had entered into a
partnership to build a 200-kilowatt solar system on the roof of
the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.
The US is one of the fastest growing markets in the global solar
industry. Many a US energy company is showing a keen interest in
solar products in order to meet their renewable energy standards
required by the Environmental Protection Agency. For example, in
Aug 2012,
ReneSola Ltd.
(
SOL
) entered into an agreement with Solar Planet Power Inc. to sell
4.6 MW of its high-quality, high-efficiency 255 watt ("W") poly
modules. Solar Planet Power Inc. is a US company specialized in
photovoltaic system solutions.
This trend is not confined to the US alone. To meet the
increasing demand for power there has been a worldwide interest
in solar energy. In Dec 2012,
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd.
(
STP
) collaborated with SunSystem S.p.A. for two solar projects.
SunSystem S.p.A. is a leading Italian solar engineering,
procurement and construction company. The projects will utilize
Suntech's solar panels and are expected to come online by the end
of this year.
Based in Ningjin, in the People's Republic of China, JA Solar
Holdings Company manufactures high-performance solar cells. JA
Solar caters to an increasingly geographically diversified
pan-continental customer base, which spans Germany, Italy, the
US, Spain, India, Korea, China and Japan. The company also
effectively uses its locational advantage in China, with Chinese
low-cost solar module manufacturers contributing a substantial
revenue stream.
However, given the industry-wide high inventory level, we believe
margins will decline moving forward. In addition, tepid module
demand in Europe, rising competition, wafer dependency, the
financial stability of its customers and the oversupply of solar
cells in the market may adversely impact the performance in the
near term. The company presently retains a short-term Zacks Rank
#4 (Sell).
In the near term, we would rather advise investors to accumulate
the short-term Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy rating) stock
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd.
(
YGE
).
JA SOLAR HOLDGS (JASO): Free Stock Analysis
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RENESOLA LT-ADR (SOL): Free Stock Analysis
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SUNTECH PWR HLD (STP): Free Stock Analysis
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YINGLI GREEN EN (YGE): Free Stock Analysis
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