Chinese module supplier, LONGi Solar, has announced its financial results for the first half (1H) of 2019. The company’s operating revenue in the 1H of 2019 reached ¥14.11 billion ($2.08 billion), a year-over-year (YoY) increase of approximately 41.1%.

LONGi’s net profit stood at ¥2.01 billion ($296.46 million) in this period. The company attributed its performance to the “significant” growth in its overseas business because of its focus on monocrystalline modules. LONGi shipped monocrystalline modules of 2.4 GW capacity to international markets, an increase of 252% over the previous year.

The company also launched its M6 (166mm) silicon wafer, which it claims can significantly improve the energy yield of cells and modules. LONGi claims that the product also helped in reducing manufacturing costs per watt and is expected to become the standard size of the next-generation monocrystalline silicon wafers. LONGi also introduced a PERC module with half-cut cell technology which is expected to reduce the balance of system (BoS) costs of solar projects.

The company reported that in 1H 2019, it completed the first phase of its 10 GW monocrystalline silicon wafer production facility in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province. The construction of Phase two is expected to be accelerated, and the company claims that this will help in meeting the demand for high-efficiency monocrystalline wafers.

Additionally, LONGi has commissioned a 5 GW monocrystalline module facility in Chuzhou, Anhui Province.

LONGi also announced the following capacity increase projections. The monocrystalline silicon rods and silicon wafers capacity is expected to reach 36 GW by the end of 2019, 50 GW by end-2020 and 65 GW by end-2021. Monocrystalline cells capacity is likely to reach 10 GW by the end of 2019, 15 GW by the end of 2020 and 20 GW by the end of 2021. Monocrystalline modules capacity is slated to reach 16 GW by the end of 2019, 25 GW by the end of 2020 and 30 GW by the end of 2021.

Note: The USD ($) – Chinese Yuan (¥) exchange rate used is 6.78, which was the rate published by the China State Administration of Foreign Exchange at the close LONGi’s 1H-2019 reporting period.

In May 2019, LONGi reported that its revenue operations stood at ¥21.9 billion ($1.97 billion), an increase of approximately 34.38% over the previous year, while the net profit attributed to the shareholders of the listed companies for the year was ¥2.558 billion ($2.3 million).

Shaurya is a staff reporter at MercomIndia.com with experience working in the Indian solar energy industry for the past four years in various roles. Prior to joining Mercom, Shaurya worked with a renewable energy developer and a consulting company. Shaurya holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.