PV makers post strong shipments in June

Higher prices also recorded.

A research report said the global solar industry saw an rise in shipments and higher prices in June after two years of overcapacity and consolidation in the global PV business.

Analysts said the trends indicate a strong global demand for solar worldwide and predicted steady growth in 2013.

Based on a survey of leading manufacturers, the report said one reason for June’s encouraging news was the ongoing influence of Japan’s booming PV market. Japan has become the world’s biggest market in revenue terms this year, with some 9.4GW of new capacity expected.

The solar shipment index of Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that shipments from China were larger than manufacturing capacity, with leading manufacturers making shipments corresponding to 116% of manufacturing utilization capacity.

BNEF said Chinese manufacturers were running at 99% capacity and the Taiwanese at 84%.