- LONGi’s H1 revenue in 2023 is EUR 8.208 billion (CNY 64.652 billion)*
- 52.05GW monocrystalline wafers and 26.64GW monocrystalline modules shipped globally
- Back contact technology considered to be the future of PV modules
LONGi, the world’s leading solar technology company released its business results for the first half of 2023. In this period, LONGi generated EUR 8.208 billion (CNY 64.652 billion)* in revenue, with a YoY increase of 28.36%, and achieved EUR 1.165 billion (CNY 9.178 billion)* in net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company, with a YoY increase of 41.63%. In the first half of 2023, the company's net profit growth far exceeded revenue growth, with a net profit of over EUR 0.7 billion (CNY 5.5 billion)* in the second quarter, which is the best single quarter in the company’s overall history, demonstrating strong market competitiveness.
With the rapid drop in upstream polycrystalline silicon material prices in the first half of 2023, prices across the entire industrial chain have experienced a downward trend, and industrial chain profits will be redistributed. Companies with a comprehensive global competitive advantage and stable operations will demonstrate better resilience in this phase of the industrial cycle.
Silicon material value recovers and profitability of the industry rises
The new silicon materials produced upstream of the photovoltaic industry were released throughout the first six months of the year, driving down industry costs, stimulating the photovoltaic industry to maintain high growth, and sustaining strong demand in the terminal application market. The profit balance began to tilt towards the entire industrial chain, and industrial chain production scheduling triggered an upward turn.
In the first half of 2023, LONGi achieved a shipment volume of 52.05GW of monocrystalline silicon wafers, including 22.98GW for external sales and 29.07GW for internal use. The company also recorded a shipment volume of 31.50GW of monocrystalline solar cells, including 3.28GW for external sales and 28.22GW for internal use. LONGi shipped a total of 26.64GW monocrystalline modules, including 26.49GW for external sales and 0.15GW for internal use.
At the same time, the return in value of silicon material has led to a significant recovery in the investment yield of power plants, and the wait-and-see approach has dissipated over time.
Acceleration of technological development puts back-contact technology in the foreground
The current technological development of photovoltaic solar cells is extensive, and a step-by-step development path has been established. Mainstream technology directions beyond PERC include TOPCon, HJT, BC cells etc. Although TOPCon cells are at the stage of mass production and large-scale expansion, the industry generally believes that their transitional properties are strong, and back contact technology cells are highly sought after as future technologies.
The Hi-MO 6 modules with back-contact technology provide an additional yield of 5 % compared to conventional TOPCon N-type modules
The Hi-MO 6 PV module is based on the high-efficiency HPBC cell technology and is designed for the distributed market. HPBC stands for Hybrid Passivated Back Contact cell, its front being busbar and ribbon free, contributing to efficiency, durability and aesthetics. With a module efficiency of up to 23.2 % and a module performance of 88.9 %, after 25 years, the LONGi Hi-MO 6 takes its place as the next generation PV module. Performance-wise, the Hi-MO 6 has a significantly higher module output efficiency. The typical regional power generation simulations around the world show an average gain of 5% over conventional TOPCon N-type modules. In terms of durability, the Hi-MO 6 uses a back contact one-line soldering structure to effectively improve the resistance to micro cracking. Its HPBC cell borders only must endure a pressure of 26 MPa while conventional cells are exposed to a stress of 50 MPa.
“LONGi invested in the development of its own HPBC back contact technology because we believe it is the future of rooftop installations in terms of efficiency, durability, and lower LCOE”, explains Nick Wang, Vice President of LONGi EU (DG). “Since the market launch of the Hi-MO 6 module series in Europe in November 2022, we are getting more and more requests – especially for large-scale commercial and agricultural PV installations. The global production capacity for our HPBC back contact technology is at 30 GW” adds Wang.
In July, the Hi-MO 6 series received Carbon Footprint Certification from CERTISOLIS, with carbon footprint results outperforming CRE requirements. This certification is testament to the sustainability of the Hi-MO 6 and its low carbon footprint. Its carbon footprint is up to 19.9 % better than CRE requirements, underlining LONGi’s efforts to focus on the production of eco-friendly solar modules.
LONGi invests heavily in R&D, driving future technologies for the entire PV industry forward
From 2012 to the first half of 2023, the company invested over EUR 2.540 billion (CNY 20 billion)* in research and development, the highest R&D expenditure in the industry. During the reporting period, with certification of the results confirmed by the European solar testing agency ESTI, LONGi achieved a conversion efficiency of 33.5% for crystalline silicon perovskite tandem solar cells on commercial CZ wafers, once again leading the industry.
LONGi has confirmed that the company's multiple high-efficiency solar cell technologies and products are already in the development, and pilot stages, and is accelerating the commercialization and mass production of high-efficiency technology research and development results at low cost.
The PV industry is expanding and rationalizing
According to industry associations, in the first half of 2023, the total export value of photovoltaic products reached USD 28.92 billion, a YoY increase of 11.6%. The industry generally believes that important markets such as China, Europe, the USA, India and Brazil will be the driving forces behind the increase in global photovoltaic demand in 2023. The Middle East region is also expected to overtake the European market in terms of installed capacity growth. LONGi is involved in projects in the Middle East and other regions.
The value chain of the photovoltaic industry comprises four main areas: silicon materials, silicon wafers, silicon cells and modules. Based on the predicted data of various mainstream institutions, the production capacity of these four links will exceed 800GW by the end of 2023. The international trade environment is currently undergoing change, with more localized supply chains and increasingly complex trade barriers to China's photovoltaic industry, resulting in uncertainty for imported photovoltaic products in international photovoltaic markets such as the United States, Europe and India.
Uncertainty in overseas markets has led to an industrial race for customers and orders. In the face of the current industrial cycle and future market uncertainty, during the reporting period, LONGi continued to promote efficient and stable operations to prevent operational risks. As of the end of June 2023, the company's asset liability ratio was 55.99%. Compared to the industry's asset liability ratio of 70% or even higher, LONGi has maintained good debt paying ability. The inventory turnover time decreased by 13 days compared to the first half of 2022. In addition, the competitiveness of LONGi's products is increasing in view of the intensive technological development.
Recently, PV-Tech released the PV ModuleTech Bankability Ratings report for the second quarter of 2023. LONGi was again rated in the highest category "AAA". It has thus received this rating 14 times in a row. This underlines the company's outstanding performance in connection with its products and services, but also its financial strength and stability.
* Exchange rate: EUR 1 = 7.8771 CNY, 30th June 2023, People’s Bank of China