- Trina Solar has reportedly shared with Reuters plans to start a 2.5 GW solar tracker fab in Brazil
- During H1/2023, the company shipped 3.3 GW tracker systems with at least 1 GW sold within Brazil
- Its operating income grew by 38.21% to RMB 499.38 billion as net profit rose to around 179%
Vertically integrated solar PV manufacturer Trina Solar has unveiled plans to set up a solar tracker manufacturing facility in Brazil by 2023-end, with an annual capacity of 2.5 GW, according to Reuters. The company revealed the information soon after releasing its H1/2023 financials when it shipped 3.3 GW tracker systems.
Reuters says the Chinese manufacturer plans to test the market potential with its maiden tracker fab in Brazil’s Salvador in Bahia state, which will expand its global annual tracker manufacturing capacity to 10 GW.
In Brazil, Trina claims it has already sold 1 GW worth of tracker capacity to date within 2023 alone. The decision follows increasing demand for locally produced trackers and availability for favorable financing options as credit lines from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).
However, the Chinese solar giant isn’t ready yet to venture into solar panel production in the Latin American nation given the supply chain bottlenecks which currently makes domestic production expensive.
H1/2023 financials
With 27 GW modules shipped in the 1st half of 2023 that took its cumulative module shipments to over 150 GW, Trina reported RMB 49.38 billion ($6.77 billion) in operating income for the period, reflecting an increase of 38.21% YoY with net profit growing around 179% to RMB 3.54 billion ($485 million).
In H1/2022, Trina shipped 18.05 GW solar modules according to InfoLink Consulting, next to JinkoSolar that emerged the top module supplier with 18.21 GW (see Top 10 Shipped 101.7 GW Solar Modules In H1/2022).
It attributes the increase in shipments and sales revenues to the group expanding production capacity leading to drop in costs and its well networked distribution channels.
The share of high efficiency 210 modules in the overall sales improved significantly as well. It now promotes the ‘golden size’ of 210R for modules.
By the end of 2023, Trina aims to grow its solar wafer production capacity to 50 GW. For solar cells, the target is 75 GW, out of which the share of n-type i-TOPCon will be 40 GW, while solar module capacity will grow to 95 GW.
Recently, the manufacturer commissioned its 6.5 GW monocrystalline wafer fab in Vietnam (see Trina Starts Production Of Silicon Wafers In Vietnam).
