Trina Solar Co., Ltd., a leading global PV and smart energy total solution provider, has announced the publishing of its half-year financial reports for 2020. The company is reporting a 245.81% Year-on-Year Growth in net profits in 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.
The company’s performance shows a sharp increase in sales of PV products and PV systems, which the company attributes to its years of operational experience and effective risk control mechanisms. Total revenue for the first six months of 2020 reached US$ 1.836 billion (RMB 12.55 billion), a year-on-year increase of 16.56%, while net profits—belonging to shareholders of the listed company—hit US$ 72 million (RMB 493 million, up 245.81% from the previous year.
Jifan Gao, Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar, pointed out that Trina and other leading global PV companies had achieved growth despite the global economic downturn brought about by Covid-19 in the first half of the year. “The Chinese PV industry continues to grow in leaps and bounds as we enter the ultra-high-efficiency era,” he said. “Companies with outstanding sustainable development capabilities and those who are leaders in the global PV market are thriving. Having led the way into the ultra-high-efficiency era, Trina Solar now plans to step up the rollout of advanced production capacity and the application of innovative technologies in our products in order to boost profits further.” Customers would remain at the heart of the company’s operations, and the company would constantly improve the quality of its products and services to create more value for customers and produce even better returns for society and stakeholders, added Mr Gao.
Antonio Jimenez, Managing Director and Vice President, Trina Solar Middle East & Africa commented: “The Middle East and Africa region is one of the highest growth regions in the solar industry. Today we are witnessing a tremendous increase in demand for renewable energy in general and solar energy in specific across the region. With the steady growth of our operations and expansion into new markets coupled with our focus on delivering innovative and reliable products and solutions with the highest quality standards, we are confident that we will reach even higher sales and growth figures.”
Innovative and Technological Breakthroughs Demonstrate Core Competitiveness
In the first half of 2020, Trina Solar invested US$ 125 million (RMB 860 million) in R&D. The company has accumulated 852 patents, including 310 innovation patents, and has consistently maintained its investment in the research and development of advanced technologies for high-efficiency cells, high-power modules and smart tracking mounts, focusing on the development of cutting-edge technologies while simultaneously continuing to improve its mass-production capacity.
Global Brand and Layout Enable Growth Despite the Downturn
Thanks to its global brand and global business layout, Trina Solar effectively withstood the shock of Covid-19 in the first half of 2020, not only overcoming the impact of the pandemic on production and logistics, but actually further increasing its market share in certain market regions. In the first half of the year, the company achieved total module shipments of 5.84 GW, up 37% over the same period in 2019. February 2020 saw a new market breakthrough for Trina, with the release of the world’s first 500W+ module, Vertex, and in July the company went one better with its 600W+ module to lead the industry into the 600W era. By the release date of the half-year report, the Vertex module was already approaching 1 GW worth of orders.
The company’s TrinaPro business showed fast and steady growth, with orders for 882 MW delivered worldwide—over 100% more than the same period last year.
Trina Solar also signed a deal with The Rise Fund, part of one of the world’s largest alternative asset management companies, TPG Group, for project contracts worth a total of approximately US$700 million and covering a total scale of 1 GW. Trina’s domestic power plant systems business continues to grow steadily, with close to 1 GW worth of PV price-bidding and price-parity projects won during the reporting period, a year-on-year increase of over 25%.
Further Scaling Up of Global Advanced Production Capacity and Business Layout
Within the industry, Trina Solar is an active proponent of ultra-high-power module products based on large-sized cells, aiming to drive home its advantages in terms of large-scale advanced module production capacity for large cells. The company forecasts total cell production capacity of around 26 GW by the end of 2021, of which the large 210 mm cells are expected to account for some 70%. All of the module production capacity due to be built from the second half of 2020 onwards will be for ultra-high-power modules, with total module production capacity forecast to reach around 22 GW by the end of 2020 and around 50 GW by the end of 2021.
The company also aims to further consolidate its industry-leading advantages in the fields of large high-efficiency cells and modules, with plans to promote upstream-downstream interconnectivity in the supply chain based on the “600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance” and to accelerate the transformation of the “supply chain” to the “value chain”. Drawing on the strengths of its global brand and channels, as well as advanced module product capacity and the coordinated development of the companies in the open innovation eco-alliance, Trina is well set to offer customers maximum value by providing them with higher-value integrated solutions and outstanding professional services.
