By Poornima Gupta
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - China's biggest solar panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd aims to triple sales in the United States market and expand it dealer network this year, a Suntech executive told Reuters on Monday.
'Suntech has been more in a situation where there is more demand for our products than we had supply,' said Suntech's Chief Strategy Officer Steven Chan in an interview. 'If we had the ability to produce more panels, we could sell the panels.'
The executive's comments come as the solar industry is hoping for a rebound this year after a difficult 2009 when prices for solar parts fell and the credit crisis choked off funding for new projects.
Investors, however, fear that proposed subsidy cuts in Germany, the world's largest solar market, could cast a pall over the market.
Chan is confident Suntech would be able to grow its share of the U.S. solar power market to 20 percent this year from about 15 percent last year.
The company also plans to add another 50 dealers this year in the United States to bring the total number of dealers to over 300.
Over all, Suntech has said it expects to increase global shipments at least 75 percent this year compared with 2009, a year in which it expects to have shipped 650 megawatts worth of solar panels.
'That forecast still holds and I am very, very bullish that we can improve upon that,' Chan said.
Chan expects any panel price reductions in countries other than Germany to be 'very, very tempered' because of increasing demand.
'The German feed-in tariff situation is very dynamic and fluid and so it's a little bit premature for us to speculate what the prices would be,' Chan added.
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: SUNTECH/ (poornima.gupta@thomsonreuters.com; San Francisco Bureau +415 677 3935) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - China's biggest solar panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd aims to triple sales in the United States market and expand it dealer network this year, a Suntech executive told Reuters on Monday.
'Suntech has been more in a situation where there is more demand for our products than we had supply,' said Suntech's Chief Strategy Officer Steven Chan in an interview. 'If we had the ability to produce more panels, we could sell the panels.'
The executive's comments come as the solar industry is hoping for a rebound this year after a difficult 2009 when prices for solar parts fell and the credit crisis choked off funding for new projects.
Investors, however, fear that proposed subsidy cuts in Germany, the world's largest solar market, could cast a pall over the market.
Chan is confident Suntech would be able to grow its share of the U.S. solar power market to 20 percent this year from about 15 percent last year.
The company also plans to add another 50 dealers this year in the United States to bring the total number of dealers to over 300.
Over all, Suntech has said it expects to increase global shipments at least 75 percent this year compared with 2009, a year in which it expects to have shipped 650 megawatts worth of solar panels.
'That forecast still holds and I am very, very bullish that we can improve upon that,' Chan said.
Chan expects any panel price reductions in countries other than Germany to be 'very, very tempered' because of increasing demand.
'The German feed-in tariff situation is very dynamic and fluid and so it's a little bit premature for us to speculate what the prices would be,' Chan added.
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: SUNTECH/ (poornima.gupta@thomsonreuters.com; San Francisco Bureau +415 677 3935) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.