I didn't make it to Munich for last week's big solar soiree, but it appears that Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ ) was the belle of the ball.
The Chinese cell- and module-maker announced Tuesday that, for 2008, it has sold out of the new line of e-Modules, which make use of upgraded metallurgical grade (UMG) silicon. You'll recall that a recent supply agreement with Canadian upstart Timminco was part of Canadian Solar's recent trio of tidings.
There are plenty of skeptics about the advantages of UMG over virgin polysilicon. Suntech Power (NYSE: STP ) , for one, responded during its analyst Q&A session that it doesn't currently view UMG as a competitive solution.
That hasn't stopped "leading industry players such as Pro Solar and Iliotec" from snapping up about 25 megawatts of e-Modules this year. It's a pet peeve of mine how companies often refer to one another as "leading players," so I took a few moments to research these two companies I'd never heard of.
German distributor Pro Solar has been a customer of Canadian Solar in the past. In 2007, the company had two dozen field staff. That doesn't sound like much, but the company, an independent entity since 1997, claims to have installed more than 20,000 systems. That would indicate these volk aren't just jumping on the solar bandwagen.
Iliotec appears fairly high profile as well. The company has a 10-year history, has won many awards, and operates in Germany, Spain, and Portugal. According to a 2006 BusinessWeek article, Iliotec had $68 million in revenue. Lesser solar integrators like Akeena Solar (Nasdaq: AKNS ) and Real Goods Solar (Nasdaq: RSOL ) have made it onto the public markets here at home -- though I told you to stay away.
In short, Canadian Solar's partners appear fairly solid. Whether e-Modules will really pick up steam remains to be seen.
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