Canadian Solar Making European Inroads - Analyst Blog

Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) has supplied modules to Europe's largest capacity photovoltaic solar power plant, built by MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.'s (WFR) subsidiary SunEdison. SunEdison's 70 MW photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Northeast Italy, near the town of Rovigo, is the largest capacity single-operating PV solar power plant in Europe.

SunEdison is a global provider of solar-energy services. The company develops, finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using proven photovoltaic technologies for its commercial, government and utility customers.

Canadian Solar is a vertically-integrated manufacturer of silicon ingots, wafers, cells, solar modules and custom-designed solar power applications. The company sells its products to customers worldwide, spread across Germany, Spain, the U.S., France, the Czech Republic, Italy, South Korea, Canada and China.

The company offers one of the broadest crystalline silicon solar module product lines in the industry, ranging from modules made of medium power, low-cost upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon, to high efficiency, high power output mono-crystalline modules, along with a range of specialty products.

The company's standard solar modules are sold to distributors and system integrators, and specialty solar modules and products to various manufacturers, who integrate these solar modules into their own products or sell and market them as part of their own product portfolio.

Canadian Solar's China-based manufacturing assets have a distinct cost advantage over its peers. The company also pursues a balanced and diversified supply channel mix by entering into long-term supply contracts and toll manufacturing arrangements. In addition to in-house solar cell, wafer and ingot manufacturing, it is also ramping up its internal solar cell capacity to cut back its reliance on third party solar cells for the manufacture of solar modules.

Looking forward the prospects for Canadian Solar are favorable based on a geographically-diversified customer base, ongoing capacity expansion programs, improving operating efficiencies, rising margins and material cost savings through its vertically integrated manufacturing operation.

However, in the near-term its shipments were curtailed by higher solar cell prices in the market, which was eating into its margins. The company is addressing this by ramping up its captive solar cell capacity. However, it will take some time until the company becomes self-sufficient for its solar cells requirements.

The company currently is trading at a premium compared to its peers in terms of forward earnings estimates. Thus in the near term, we believe its Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) peers like STR Holdings Inc. (STRI), and LDK Solar Company Ltd. (LDK) offer more promise compared to the Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) Canadian Solar stock.

 
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MEMC ELEC MATRL (WFR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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