Yingli Green Energy

Yingli Solar hits 1GW milestone in Americas

Yingli hits 1GW milestone in AmericasYingli Green Energy announced this week that it has shipped a gigawatt of solar to the Americas.

The Chinese solar manufacturer has seen swift growth globally. As North and South America and the Caribbean have turned increasingly to solar and the market has grown, Yingli has seen its sales in the Americas increase as well.

The company, which is the world’s largest solar manufacturer, produces more than 2,450 megawatts of solar worldwide each year.

Yingli is involved in every step of the solar photovoltaic manufacturing process from ingot casting and wafering to solar cell production and module assembly, according to a release from the company.

Yingli has delivered solar panels for use in more than 30,000 solar projects in the Americas and the Caribbean, including some high profile projects at the New York Jets team headquarters, Harvard University and several Kaiser Permanente hospitals.

“Solar energy has grown in importance as an investment opportunity throughout the Americas,” Liansheng Miao, Chairman and CEO of Yingli Green Energy, said in a statement. “We are pleased to contribute to and propel the expansion of this vital clean energy source in the region and around the world.”

Yingli emerged from the solar industry’s dark period of oversupply and low profit margins strong, though its stock value is still depressed.

The company is looking at growth opportunities. Miao told the press earlier this month that he was happy the European Union decided not to tax solar panels imported by Chinese manufacturers, but that Yingli focus would shift away from Europe anyway.

The company built to its current level with a focus on Europe, so the shift is significant.

The company is concentrating on emerging markets, Miao said. While the term generally refers to India, Africa and Yingli’s native China, there are plenty of emerging markets in the Americas as well.

There is rapidly growing opportunity in Latin America. And Yingli recognizes it. The company opened subsidiary offices in Mexico, Chile and Brazil in 2012 and has announced a handful of projects since then.

While not an emerging market, the United States remains a viable marketplace for Yingli even with tariffs on Chinese solar manufacturers.

The company will also look at developing some of its own downstream opportunities and has announced that it plans to ramp up production, increasing its annual output by almost 40 percent to 3.3 gigawatts by the end of 2013.