REC has reported a major jump in solar panel shipments to the Asia Pacific region during the third quarter of this year and says it has maintained a strong position in the U.S. market.
Module shipments to APAC increased by 88% compared to the previous quarter says the company, driven by strong demand from India and Japan.
The USA remained a premier market for REC, with 60% of module shipments during Q3 destined for the country. During the quarter, REC completed supply of 800,000 panels for the 258 MW Tranquility solar project in California.
REC claims it is the most popular panel brand for residential installations in California, and during the first half of this year was the second most popular brand across the USA.
In Latin America, the company says there is continued and growing interest in REC products.
REC solar panels have proved to be popular in Australian solar installations as well, both for residential and commercial applications. Energy Matters introduced the brand to the Australian home solar market back in 2010 and the modules feature in Energy Matters’ Platinum range of solar power systems.
In Europe, REC has increased its presence in the utility segment during Q3 and reported solid performance in Germany, the UK and Netherlands during the period.
While REC says its overall global quarterly shipment volume declined by 15% compared to Q2 2016 due to challenging conditions in some markets, the company states it “emphasized profitability over chasing market share” during Q3.
It’s been a busy year for Norway-headquartered REC, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.
One of the highlights of 2016 for the company was achieving a multi-crystalline solar cell efficiency of 20.46%. REC says it expects to see an average efficiency above 20% in mass production from the beginning of next year.
In 2015, REC finished up the year with 2,000 employees globally, 1.3 GW of solar panel production capacity, and annual revenues of USD 755 million. To date, the company has manufactured more than 20 million solar panels.
REC’s Q3 2016 Solar Market Insight can be viewed here (PDF).
