Snapshot of Solar Sector's Third Quarter Results
William Pentland Contributor
a clean energy wonk
The stalwarts of the solar power industry reported mixed results for the third quarter of 2015. Here is a roundup of the notable results.
SolarCity
SolarCity is scrambling to become cash flow positive by the end of next year. The rooftop solar company based in Silicon Valley posted a loss of $2.10 per share for the third quarter, about $0.15 more than analysts had anticipated. On a more positive note, SolarCity also reported higher than expected revenues for the quarter of about $114 million versus analyst estimates of $111 million.
In its shareholder letter, the company said that it sees year-end installations below the low end of guidance for a total capacity of 1,250 MW in 2016. The company had previously expected installation of 920 to 1,000 megawatts. SolarCity's share price has taken a nose dive in after-hours trading, falling by about 18%.
SolarWorld, the German solar panel manufacturer with a factory located in Oregon, posted a 25% increase in product shipments and a 30% increase in revenues for the first nine months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. SolarWorld is forecasting that total shipments will exceed 1 GW in 2015. The US remains Solar World's largest market, accounting for 61% of total shipments in the first nine months of 2015. However, SolarWorld said that shipments in Germany had increased 30%, despite a decline of 30% in German PV market installations.
SunPower
In the past year, SunPower has shifted its focus from selling solar panels in overseas markets to developing a domestic pipeline of projects in the commercial and residential sectors. The company's margins on sales of solar panels have been squeezed in recent years as low-cost producers in Asia increasingly dominate the market.
SunPower reported third quarter revenue of $441 million, down from $704 million in the third quarter of 2014. SunPower also reduced its megawatt (MW) deployment guidance for 2015 from a range of 1.25 GW to 1.30 GW reported in the previous quarter to a range of 1.15 GW to 1.18 GW.
First Solar
First Solar reported higher third-quarter earnings as the sale of the company's majority stake in the Desert Stateline project pushed up margins. In June, First Solar and SunPower completed an IPO for 8point3 Energy Partners, a joint venture Yield Co entity. The IPO was priced at $21.00 per share. Its share has since fallen to about $15.
William Pentland
I am Vice President for Regulatory Strategy and Special Projects at Genbright LLC. The views expressed on this blog are my own and should not be attributed in any way to...