QUICK NEWS, April 15: YINGLI IS THE NEW WORLD LEADER IN SUN; OFFICIAL NUMBERS FROM WIND’S RECORD YEAR; LET THERE BE EFFICIENT LIGHT

YINGLI IS THE NEW WORLD LEADER IN SUN China’s Yingli Tops PV Module Supplier Rankings in 2012; Suntech Slips to Fifth

April 11, 2013 (IHS iSuppli)

“Yingli…became the largest global supplier of photovoltaic (PV) modules in 2012 based on annual merchant shipments, while previous leader and besieged fellow Chinese producer Suntech Power dropped to fifth place…In a year that proved very challenging for the entire PV industry, Yingli managed to increase its merchant shipment volumes by 43 percent year-over-year to leapfrog…the two largest suppliers of 2011. First Solar managed to defend its position as the No. 2 module manufacturer, while Suntech…[fell to] fifth…behind Trina Solar and Canadian Solar. REC, the only Top 10 supplier headquartered in Europe, grew faster than most of its Chinese competitors in 2012…

“Although the PV industry is consolidating and many players have exited the business, many of the Top 10 module suppliers lost market share in 2012. While the Top 10 in 2011 had accounted for 46% of global module shipments, the group last year only achieved a combined share of 40 percent…[Only Canadian Solar, Jinko Solar, Hanwha SolarOne, Yingli and REC grew] merchant module shipments at a double-digit rate in 2012…[while global] PV end markets increased by a robust 14 percent in 2012…”

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“…On March 20, 2013, [Suntech’s] manufacturing unit…announced insolvency…[Those] gaining share from the Top 10 companies were the large, but not yet leading, players that continued to aggressively scale up their operations during a phase of general pessimism…Japanese suppliers Solar Frontier and Kyocera expanded output and shipments massively…Solar Frontier climbed from No. 14 in 2011 to 11th place in 2012…Kyocera rose from No. 17 to No. 12…Strong performance was also recorded for Chinese suppliers Renesola, Astronergy, Hareon Solar, and JA Solar, increasing module shipments by more than 200 MW for each…

“Until 2011 it was sufficient for the leading module suppliers to focus on very few key markets in the world—above all on Germany and Italy…[T]his situation has changed…Yingli generated 24 percent of its 2012 revenue in China. Jinko is another winner in this market…while also building up a strong presence in South Africa…Canadian Solar generated 26 percent of 2012 sales in the U.S. market and is [strong] in Japan…U.S. supplier First Solar…is anchoring itself to the Latin America market…”

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OFFICIAL NUMBERS FROM WIND’S RECORD YEAR AWEA Reveals Numbers Behind U.S. Wind Sector's Record-Breaking Year

Mark Del Franco, 11 April 2013 (North American Windpower)

“…[I]n 2012, U.S. wind energy - for the first time - was the No. 1 new source of electricity generation, contributing 42% of all the megawatts installed by the power sector...[and] 43% of utilities reported having wind energy as part their system…[according to the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) newly released U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report for 2012…[W]ind development broke all previous U.S. records for annual installs last year with more than 13.1 GW of capacity installed, pushing the cumulative total past 60 GW…

“…[T]he deadline for the production tax credit was largely responsible for last year's total…[but was also the result of stable federal and state policies]…The top-five wind developers in the U.S., according to 2012 installed capacity, were NextEra Energy Resources (which installed more than 1.5 GW in 2012), followed by Iberdrola Renewables (716 MW), EDF (formerly enXco) (658 MW), Caithness Energy (640 MW) and Duke Energy (620 MW).”

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“…The top-five manufacturers whose units were sold in the U.S. were GE (5 GW), Siemens Energy (2.6 GW), Vestas (1.8 GW), Gamesa (1.3 GW) and REpower Systems (595 MW).Advances in wind turbine technology have boosted capacity factors…Taller towers that [reached] stronger wind resources, along with longer blades that [captured] more energy, [translated] into lower overall cost of wind-generated electricity…[and wind energy] in places previously thought unworkable…

“…The U.S. wind energy industry attracted $3 billion of tax equity supporting 2.9 GW and $4.9 billion of project debt supporting 4.3 GW…”

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LET THERE BE EFFICIENT LIGHT Energy Efficient Lighting for Commercial Markets; LED Lighting Adoption and Global Outlook for LED, Fluorescent, Halogen, and HID Lamps and Luminaires in Commercial Buildings: Market Analysis and Forecasts

2Q 2013 (Navigant Research)

“The market for commercial lighting is on the verge of a major transformation…[as falling] prices and improving quality for light-emitting diode (LED) lighting…drive widespread adoption…”

“The speed of this transformation promises to be faster than previous transformations to new lamp types, as this one technology appears likely to surpass all others in nearly every metric of quality and efficiency.”

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“Revenue from LED sales…will not be enough to keep the big lighting companies afloat…[because of] the much longer lifespan of LED lamps…Navigant Research forecasts that overall revenue from lamp sales will actually decrease in the coming decade, even as a greater portion of sales goes to more expensive lamp types…

“To avoid this inevitable decline, companies are broadening their offerings to include lighting controls and lighting services. Navigant Research forecasts that revenue from LED lamp sales will rise to $8.7 billion by 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.2%. Overall, however, revenue from lamp sales will stay essentially flat through 2017 before beginning a steady decline…”

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