On 22 August 2023, CSI Solar Co., Ltd. (SH：688472), a subsidiary of Canadian Solar, a leading photovoltaic module company, has released its financial report for the first half of 2023. The report states that the company achieved an operating income of approximately 26.106 billion yuan, representing a 31.71% year-on-year increase. Additionally, the company reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of about 1.923 billion yuan, reflecting a 321.75% year-on-year increase.

The significant increase in performance during the first half of the year is attributed to the rise in photovoltaic module shipments, growth in revenue on photovoltaic modules and system products, and a reduced cost for raw materials, freight, and related parts.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO, stated on 23rd August 2023 that there is a robust global growth trend for photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage. It is anticipated that a further 382 GW of PV will be installed in 2023, signifying a 53.1% year-on-year increase. By the conclusion of 2025, the amassed installed capacity is predicted to reach 2.5 TW, with an extra 466 GW of new capacity. Additionally, it is expected that 85.4 GWh of energy storage will be included in 2023, which is 2.4 times higher than the cumulative total of 424 GWh from the previous year. There is an anticipation of adding 138 GWh of new energy storage by the end of 2025.

Its subsidiary announced last week that it will provide 1,200MWh of AC capacity or 1,500MWh of DC capacity to energy storage projects in the US. Dr. Shawn Qu stated that the company’s storage business has received orders totalling over £2.1 billion, providing a foundation for significant expansion in 2024.

The primary performance enhancement resulted from the increased implementation of photovoltaic technology. The initial findings are consistent with the projected results, as module shipments reached 14.3GW, with 8.2GW shipped in Q2, showing a 60.79% increase. The company intends to expand production capacity through TOPCon technology implementation. It provides 182 and 210 TOPCon products, which are not widely available in other firms, and is one of the few offering both TOPCon and HJT products. The IPO has secured 6.9 billion yuan to expand production capacity, replenish cash flow and invest in R&D to boost the company’s core competitiveness.

CSI Solar intends to achieve a TOPCon production capacity of 30GW to 40GW by Q4 2023 or Q1 2024. Additionally, it produces more than 200MW of HJT, half of which is sold to the high-end market while the other half is used for R&D with no current expansion plan.

The production capacities for CSI Solar’s ingots, wafers, cells, and modules were 20.4GW, 20.0GW, 19.8GW, and 32.2GW respectively, at the end of 2022. It is expected that these capacities will increase by the end of 2023, to 20.4GW, 35GW, 50GW, and 50GW, respectively, once its expansion projects are operational.