Evergreen Solar ships 31.9MW in fourth quarter

9 February 2010

NASDAQ-listed US solar company Evergreen Solar shipped 31.9MW from its Devens, US, facility in 2009 at an average selling price of $2.32 per watt, the company’s fourth quarter 2009 results show.

The figures also show the company improved product gross margins to 11.9 per cent from 7.1 per cent for the third quarter of 2009 and reduced total manufacturing cost to $2.05 per watt, down 8.5 per cent from $2.24 per watt for the third quarter of 2009.

Evergreen Solar also reported $16.9m of cash generated from operations, up from $11.2m in the third quarter of fiscal 2009.

Whilst the company’s revenues were down since the third quarter of 2009, its operating loss was up. The company’s revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $74.5m compared to $77.7m for the third quarter of 2009. The company’s operating loss for the fourth quarter was $21.1m, compared to $6m for the third quarter of 2009. The company said the increase in operating loss was due mainly to non-cash charges of approximately $14.6m associated with the acceleration of depreciation and other equipment write-offs relating to the planned transition of panel assembly at the Devens facility to its China facility. Evergreen added that it expects to recoup the charges through incremental cost savings.

‘Over two years ago, we established a cost target for our Devens facility of about two dollars per watt. We are pleased to have effectively achieved this cost target during the fourth quarter,’ said Richard M Feldt, chairman, CEO and president of Evergreen Solar. ‘Our proven track record of manufacturing excellence is even more critical as we will relentlessly pursue additional operational efficiencies, further reduce our silicon and other materials costs and make progress on our technology roadmap to further reduce our costs at Devens to about $1.50 per watt in 2011 as we transition panel assembly to China.’

The company added that its China expansion remains on track, that equipment has already been ordered, and that it expects to ship its first product by summer 2010.

‘Demand for our product was robust throughout the fourth quarter of 2009, a trend which has continued so far in the first quarter of 2010. While incentive programme modifications in Europe have resulted in some near-term uncertainty with respect to demand and selling prices, we remain focused on what we can directly control, namely continued operational improvements at Devens and our expansion in China, where we believe we will produce wafers at about $0.30 per watt and panels for about $1.00 per watt by 2012 through our relationship with Jiawei Solar,’ said Feldt.

Evergreen’s net loss for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $98.1m compared to $82.4m in the third quarter of 2009, its fourth quarter results show. The company said the net loss includes $13.5m of equity loss in the fourth quarter from its share of Sovello, which has made losses under its bank loan agreement.

Massachusetts-based Evergreen Solar manufactures String Ribbon solar power products with its proprietary silicon wafer technology.

Copyright © 2010 NewNet

Tags: solar

This story was published on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 12:54 pm and is filed under North America, companies, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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