JinkoSolar’s Stunning Solar Panel Shipment Tally

Chinese PV panel manufacturing giant Jinko Solar’s shipment numbers for 2022 are in. They are staggering, and 2023’s are likely to be even higher.

On Friday, Jinko announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022; plus the firm provided guidance for 2023’s first quarter and full year.

For the final quarter of last year, Jinko says its quarterly shipments reached 16,802 MW (16,020 MW for solar panels, and 782 MW for cells and wafers) – up 54.8% sequentially, and up 73.3% year-over-year. For the full year, shipments were 46,580 MW (44,520 MW for modules, and 2,060 MW for cells and wafers), up 84.5% year-over-year.

44.52 gigawatts of panels in a single year is astounding; particularly when you consider the amount of small-scale rooftop solar capacity ever installed in Australia is around 19.25GW according to the latest figures from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (some estimates put it at around 20GW).

By the end of last year, Jinko had delivered a total of 130 GW of PV modules since it started manufacturing panels back in 2009. So, around 34% of its total capacity ever produced occurred last year.

Commenting on the results, JinkoSolar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Xiande Li said:

  “We closed a challenging 2022 with satisfactory results as we delivered strong operational and financial performance in the fourth quarter.  Leveraging our outstanding global supply chain management and marketing network, our total shipments and total revenue increased significantly year over year.”

JinkoSolar’s 2023 Guidance

2022 was certainly a big ‘un for the company and 2023 should be even bigger. While for the first quarter of 2023 the company expects module shipments to be in the range of 11.0 GW to 13.0 GW, for the full year Jinko estimates solar panel shipments to be in the range of 60 GW to 70vGW.

In terms of production capacity, the firm expects its annual capabilities for mono wafers to hit 75 GW by the end of this year, 75GW for solar cells and 90 GW for solar panels.

Jinko Panels Popular In Australia

Given competitive pricing and generally solid performance, Jinko has been a popular choice for rooftop solar installations in Australia. Based on more than 2,080 JinkoSolar reviews and ratings here on SolarQuotes from Australian customers, the company has achieved an average 4.7 stars overall and 4.9 stars in the last 12 months (387 ratings).

Jinko’s modules are also popular with Australian installers, scoring silver in the SQ Installers’ Choice Awards for the best solar panels in 2023 in the budget category; the same ranking as in 2022 and 2021. JinkoSolar is currently (and has been consistently) listed on SQ’s recommended solar panel brands chart.

“But be careful: because Jinko panels are relatively low cost, they can sometimes be offered by retailers who are operating towards the bottom of the market,” says SolarQuotes Founder Finn Peacock. “A good solar power system needs a lot more than a good brand of solar panels. A high quality installation is crucial.”