(Yicai) Nov. 28 -- The leaders of Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Longi Green Energy Technology, and other top Chinese photovoltaic firms shared their opinions on the impact of lower solar panel prices on the industry at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit held in Shanghai yesterday.

Something has gone wrong when module prices halve to CNY1 (14 US cents) a watt from CNY2 a watt in a year and current bidding prices go below CNY1, Trina Solar Chairman Gao Jifan said, adding that the plunge in prices harms the entire industry chain.

Jinko Solar Chairman Li Xiande said the price drop will promote the industry’s development. Even if it drops to CNY1 a watt, integrated PV companies with technological or cost advantages may not be as profitable as before, but there will still be opportunities to make profit, he said.

Prices as low as CNY1 per watt are irrational and make profit hard for the industry, Li Zhenguo, president of Longi, said when the Guangzhou-based firm released its third-quarter trading report at the end of last month. Even integrated industry chains can barely sustain themselves at that price level, he added.

At the summit, the executives of other solar equipment makers also shared their installed capacities and shipments for this year.

Compared with the firm’s forecast at the start of 2023, actual global installed capacity will exceed expectations, according to Lu Chuan, chairman of Chint New Energy Development, a unit of electrical components maker Chint Group. That is especially so in the Chinese market, which far exceeds expectations, he said.

Europe built up a lot of inventory in the first and second quarters, Lu said. Impacted by this, global channel customers faced larger impairments when delivering goods, which slowed down shipments in the third quarter, he pointed out. 

Production capacity outstrips demand, resulting in a gap between each PV company’s expectations and actual shipments, Lu said. For companies, shipments may be a little less than planned at the start of the year, but will be generally in line with overall projections, according to Lu.

Jinko Solar delivered many more products than expected this year, which will slow next year’s growth, Li noted. But demand will likely continue to increase by 20 percent to 30 percent, he added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev