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					</table><p>Solar module manufacturer <a href="https://www.canadiansolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian Solar</a> posted a net income of $12.35 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, an 85.25% year-over-year (YoY) drop from $83.71 million as the company continued to tackle pricing pressures in light of lower module average selling prices (ASP).</p>
<p>The drop in profit was offset by the lower manufacturing costs and higher contribution from battery energy storage solutions (BESS) sales.</p>
<p>The company’s revenue dropped by 21.88% YoY to $1.33 billion from $1.7 billion, primarily driven by the decline in module ASP and offset by BESS sales and an increase in solar module shipment.</p>
<p>Canadian Solar’s operating expenses during the quarter increased to $203.68 million, an 18.15% YoY increase from $172.4 million.</p>
<p>The company shipped 6.3 GW solar module shipments during the quarter, a 4% YoY jump. Of these, 236 MW were shipped to the company’s utility-scale solar power projects.</p>
<p>The company operates two business segments – <a href="https://recurrentenergy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recurrent Energy</a>, the clean energy development platform, and <a href="https://www.csisolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CSI Solar Inc</a>., the solar module, BESS manufacturing, and the engineering, procurement, and construction platform.</p>
<p>Recurrent Energy recorded a 96.65% YoY revenue increase during Q1 2024 to $39.43 million from $20.05 million.</p>
<p>At the end of March 2024, the company’s total global solar development pipeline stood at 26.3 GWp, including 1.5 GWp under construction, 5 GWp backlog, and 19.8 GWp of projects in advanced and early-stage pipelines.</p>
<p>The company’s BESS development pipeline stood at 55.9 GWh, including 4.3 GWh under construction and backlog and 51.6 GWh of projects in advanced and early stages.</p>
<p>In January 2024, Recurrent Energy also secured a $500 million investment from BlackRock to help the company execute its strategy to move from developer to developer plus long-term owner and operator in U.S. and European markets and also grow its high-value project development pipeline.</p>
<p>The investment represents 20% of the outstanding fully diluted shares of Recurrent Energy on an as-converted basis, with the majority of shares still owned by Canadian Solar.</p>
<p>CSI Solar’s revenue for Q1 2024 was $1.3 billion, a 23.29% YoY drop from $1.68 billion, primarily due to the decreased module ASP, offset by the BESS deployments.</p>
<p>CSI Solar’s revenues from BESS surged 16-fold from $14.81 million to $251.47 million. The quarterly revenue figure topped the total of 2023.</p>
<p>The company’s utility-scale battery energy storage platform, e-STORAGE, had a total project turnkey pipeline of around 56 GWh, including both contracted and in-construction projects and projects at different stages of the negotiation process at the end of March 2024.</p>
<p>The platform has 3.1 GWh of operational project capacity contracted under long-term service agreements. The contracted backlog, including those under long-term service agreements, stood at $2.5 billion.</p>
<p>The company shipped 6.3 GW of solar modules and solar system kits to more than 70 countries in Q1 2024. The top five markets ranked by shipments were China, the U.S., Pakistan, Brazil, and Spain.</p>
<p>Yan Zhuang, President of Canadian Solar&#8217;s CSI Solar subsidiary, attributed the improvement in solar manufacturing costs to the decrease in polysilicon prices and the company’s upscaling of N-type TOPCon capacity.</p>
<p>He said, “With the rapid phaseout of PERC and the narrowing cost differential between these technologies, TOPCon has become the market&#8217;s preferred choice. We are well-positioned as we continue to reduce our manufacturing costs and enhance vertical integration. Additionally, e-STORAGE delivered a record quarter, achieving volume and revenue comparable to the totals for all of 2023.&#8221;</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66065" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024.png" alt="Canadian Solar Solar Manufacturing Outlook Q1 2024" width="1510" height="742" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024.png 1510w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024-300x147.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024-768x377.png 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024-650x319.png 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024-624x307.png 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Canadian-Solar-Solar-Manufacturing-Outlook-Q1-2024-600x295.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1510px) 100vw, 1510px" /></p>
<p>Addressing the concerns about the recently filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-solar-manufacturers-trade-petition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petitions</a>, Shawn Qu, President, Chairman, and CEO of Canadian Solar, said, “We have been navigating similar cases for over a decade and have time and time again, managed risk effectively on behalf of both of our company and our customers and partners. Furthermore, as Thailand is both a WTO member and a market economy, it likely faces lower AD/CVD risks. All local leadership and professional cross-functional teams are among our key competitive edges.”</p>
<p>Qu also said the company plans to invest over $1 billion in new manufacturing in the U.S. to build a long-term and resilient domestic solar supply chain.</p>
<p>The company announced the setting up of a 5 GW solar wafer production facility in <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/canadian-solar-wafer-production-thailand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thailand</a> in November last year and a 5 GW solar cell production facility in the <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/canadian-solar-production-facility-in-the-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S</a>. in October last year.</p>
<p>Canadian Solar also announced that it has won three BESS projects, totaling 193 MW, in Japan&#8217;s first long-term decarbonization power source auction, securing 13.3% of the total awarded project capacity. The projects are expected to start commercial operations between 2027 and 2028 and feature its latest SolBank 3.0 system from e-STORAGE.</p>


Canadian Solar’s Q1 Profits Dip 85% on Lower Module Demand and Prices


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					</table><p>Solar module maker <a href="https://www.canadiansolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian Solar</a> reported record 2023 numbers with an 89% surge in net income for the full year (FY), but profits in the fourth quarter (Q4) fell sharply as pricing pressures and lower shipments weighed on margins.</p>
<p>Net income attributable to Canadian Solar was $1 million in Q4 2023, down significantly from net income of $78 million last year. The revenues in the quarter fell 14% year-over-year (YoY) to $1.7 billion from $1.97 billion in the same period last year. The company cited a decline in module average selling prices as well as lower shipments.</p>
<p>Prices of solar modules have fallen sharply to hit all-time lows as increased competition, economies of scale, and higher production from China have created a glut in the market.</p>
<p>Gross profit fell 39% from the prior year to $213 million, with gross margin compressing to 12.5% from 17.4% last year. Management attributed the gross margin compression primarily to lower module pricing and inventory write-downs, partially offset by lower manufacturing costs.</p>
<p>Total operating expenses were flat YoY at $213 million. However, depreciation and amortization charges increased 78% to $89 million as Canadian Solar continued investing in vertical integration and capacity expansions.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, selling and distribution expenses declined 6% sequentially. “The reduction was driven by lower shipping costs due to the ongoing global freight oversupply with the Red Sea shipping disruption largely contained until the end of December. We foresee a slight but not meaningful increase over the course of 2024 due to the ongoing conflict,” said Ismael Guerrero, Corporate Vice President, during a post-earnings call with analysts.</p>
<p>Solar module shipments recognized as revenue rose 26% YoY to 8.2 GW in the quarter, while total debt increased to $3.6 billion as of December 31, 2023, versus $3.3 billion at the end of Q3 2023, driven by new borrowings for working capital and project development.</p>
<p>The top five markets ranked by shipments were China, U.S., Brazil, Spain, and Pakistan.</p>
<p><strong>Full Year 2023 </strong></p>
<p>For the FY 2023, Canadian Solar achieved record revenues and profits. The company benefited from record solar module shipments and its energy storage business growth.</p>
<p>Net income attributable to shareholders was $274 million in 2023, up from $145 million in 2022. The increase was driven by higher revenues and gross profits resulting from higher overall shipments.</p>
<p>Revenues rose 9% YoY to a record $7.6 billion in 2023, supported by a 45% increase in total solar module shipments to 30.7 GW for the CSI Solar segment. The development business, Recurrent Energy, saw revenues decline to $498 million from $822 million in 2022 as the company transitioned from a develop-and-sell model.</p>
<p>Total operating expenses fell by nearly 9% to $827 million in 2023, driven by lower selling and distribution costs despite higher R&amp;D spending.</p>
<p>While total module shipments increased 45% from last year to reach 30.7 GW, total debt also rose to $3.6 billion from $2.8 billion at the end of 2022.</p>
<p>The company’s net income in the previous quarter <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/canadian-solars-net-module-prices-decline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fell</a> 71% as lower module prices hurt its bottom line. In the same month, it also <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/canadian-solar-wafer-production-thailand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> it is setting up a 5 GW solar photovoltaic wafer production facility in Thailand to serve customers in the U.S. as the country limited imports of solar modules from China.</p>
<p>“N-type TOPCon cell capacity now accounts for more than half of our total cell capacity and is expected to reach near 80% by the end of this year. Alongside our expansion of TOPCon manufacturing, we also continued to make inroads in our made in the U.S. modules, increased our vertical integration, and strengthened our Thailand supply chain.,” said Yan Zhuang, President of Canadian Solar&#8217;s subsidiary CSI Solar.</p>


Canadian Solar Posts Record Year Even as Q4 Profits Plunge

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