Canadian Solar Exceeds Q2 2024 Panel Shipment Forecast

Despite challenging market conditions, Canadian Solar bettered previous guidance on solar panel shipments in the second quarter of this year according to the firm’s latest financial report.

The company has two business segments: Recurrent Energy and CSI Solar. Recurrent Energy is focused on clean energy project development, while CSI Solar manufactures solar panels and utility-scale battery storage, and delivers total system solutions.

CSI managed 8.2 GW in solar panel shipments in Q2, which was a bit above the high end of guidance for the quarter of 8.0 GW. Q2’s shipments result was up 30% quarter-over-quarter, but the same year-over-year. CSI net revenues (overall) in the second quarter decreased 31% year-over-year to $1.6 billion; reflecting a reduction in module average selling price and lower project sales, which was partially offset by higher utility-scale battery storage solutions sales.

The top five countries for the company’s panels ranked by shipments were China, the USA, Pakistan, Germany, and Brazil.  Of Q2’s total, 135 MW of capacity went to Canadian Solar’s own utility-scale solar power projects.

For the third quarter of this year, total module shipments are expected to be in the range of 9.0 GW to 9.5 GW; approximately 100 MW of which will go to Canadian Solar’s own projects. If CSI achieves the top end of the range, it will be well above Q3 2023’s 8.3 GW.

In the report, CSI Solar also provided a set of revised manufacturing capacity expansion targets.

In its Q1 2024 report, the company had planned significant further expansion past June and out to December for ingots, wafers and cells. But it looks like those plans have been put on the backburner for now; with December’s planned capacities unchanged from September’s. However, the company notes capacity expansion plans can change without notice based on market conditions and capital allocation plans.

Since the company was founded in 2001, Canadian Solar has shipped more than 133 GW of solar panels globally.

Polysilicon Price Drops Bring Some Relief

Solar panel manufacturing has always been a cut-throat business, but it’s been particularly brutal recently. Commenting on Q2’s results, CSI Solar President Yan Zhuang said:

“Amidst fierce industry competition, we maintained our focus on profitability while also increasing volume this quarter. As polysilicon prices further declined, the resulting price decreases across the upstream supply chain helped reduce manufacturing costs.”

Polysilicon prices took another big dip after April this year. According to Bernreuter Research, Chinese P-type silicon dropped from around USD $7 a kilo to ~$4 currently, and N-type silicon from approximately $8.30 to just under $5 as at August 21.

The global polysilicon spot price average as at August 21, which includes polysilicon from outside China, was USD $5.77 per kg. It’s a far cry from a couple of years ago when impacts from the pandemic and other factors saw global average spot prices hit more than US$39 per kilogram.

Decent quality modules from China are as cheap as chips currently. Using Canadian Solar as an example¹ and according to SolarQuotes’ solar panel comparison table, a 440W TOPHiKu 6 module has an Australian retail price of around AUD $140 – just 32c a watt.

Are Canadian Solar Panels Good For Australian Installations?

The firm produces good quality products at the budget end of the spectrum and is currently listed as a SolarQuotes recommended brand. In this year’s SQ Installers Choice Awards, the company took out bronze for the best solar panels in 2024 in the budget category.

Canadian solar panel reviews from Australian customers who have them on their rooftops have generally been favourable. The company has achieved an average 4.8 stars from more than 2,000 ratings overall here on SQ, and 4.9 stars over the last 12 months.