Germany’s SolarWorld says that it has already sold all of its 2010 production capacity despite the changes in the German feed-in tariff for solar.
Speaking at the Piper Jaffray Europe Conference in London, chief finance officer Philipp Koecke said that the company is “sold out until the year end”. Koecke also said that he believes the UK’s new feed-in tariffs and the regulatory regime make it one of the best markets in Europe for investment.
Koecke expects the German tariffs to continue to decline: he believes that solar needs to reach grid parity so that it can compete with other energy sources.
SolarWorld, which started out as a trading company, has become a fully integrated solar business. It is involved in raw materials, wafers, solar cells, solar modules and solar power plants. With production facilities in Germany and the US, the firm’s shares have been quoted in Germany since 1999.
Koecke argues that SolarWorld, which is increasing capacity in the US, has the scale to compete with the Chinese. Investment bank Nomura says that first quarter margins were better than expected, although the ramp-up costs of the new US facility were higher than forecast.
SolarWorld is expanding the market by launching new products such as the SunCarport, which doubles as a solar electricity generating panel and a car port.
Last month, the firm’s share price increased by 11.2% to €9.45 per share.
Market: Frankfurt
Symbol: SWV
Price: €9.45
12 month high/low: €18.09/€7.88
Market cap: €1.1bn
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