Chinese Solar Firms Feel Squeeze on Profits as Overcapacity Hits

What’s new: China’s solar manufacturers are eking out ever slimmer profits as ballooning capacity in the industry has kept photovoltaic (PV) module prices in a protracted decline, according to the head of solar-equipment maker Longi Green Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (601012.SH).

“Recent ‘irrational’ prices of PV modules have been hovering at near cost levels of 1 yuan (14 U.S. cents) per watt. At this current price, it is hard for anybody on the industry chain to make profit. Most companies are barely surviving,” Longi President Li Zhenguo said on a third-quarter earnings call Tuesday.