Hard on the heels of securing a contract for the supply of 5 megawatts of Suntech solar panels for a 10 megawatt solar farm to power Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, Suntech has also just inked a one year deal with US company Standard Solar, Inc. for the supply of 5MW of solar panels during 2009.
The announcement comes after the world’s largest maker of solar panels revised its estimates upwards for the fourth quarter of last year and overall 2008 performance.
Suntech projects posting revenue of AUD $609 million to $632 million for final quarter of last year, well up on earlier estimates of AUD $518 million to $541 million. Overall for 2008, revenue has been estimated to be AUD $2.87 billion to $2.90 billion; at least AUD $60 million higher than the previous estimate.
Suntech has also stated it projects having shipped 453 to 496 megawatts in solar panels during 2008, perhaps exceeding the high end figure estimate of 490- megawatts released a couple of months ago. 2008 figures will be formalised in a report from the company due mid February.
The news will no doubt please investors. While the company has had some challenges of late due to the falling price of silicon and Suntech having bought supplies now worth AUD $69 to $87 million less than what it paid ahead of the silicon price collapse; plus the global economic crisis, a Forbes analyst has commented that as the company is still profitable on an operating basis, it should be able to ride out the current economic turmoil.
