SOLAR INSIGHT SERVICE

17 February 2017

BNEF PV MODULE MAKER TIER 1 LIST,

Contents Q1 2017
1. WHY DIVIDE THE PV
MARKET INTO TIERS? 1
2. DEFINITIONS ................ 1 Bloomberg New Energy Finance has developed a tiering system for PV module
3. TIER 1 ........................... 1 makers based on bankability, to create a transparent differentiation between the
4. CAN I SHARE THIS LIST
hundreds of manufacturers of solar modules on the market. This basic
ON THE INTERNET? .... 2
5. TIER 1 MODULE categorisation has been used as an advertisement by certain manufacturers, but
MAKER LIST, Q1 2017 . 2 should never replace a proper due diligence process in product selection.

1. WHY DIVIDE THE PV MARKET INTO TIERS?

Bloomberg New Energy Finance is frequently requested by clients for a list of 'major' or 'bankable'
suppliers - in common industry parlance, tier 1 suppliers - for use in manufacturing forecasts,
preliminary competitor analysis, and other internal comparisons. It is very common for industry
players to refer to 'tier 1' players, but these terms are seldom defined or described, which is
unhelpful for firms outside the solar industry trying to get a basic overview.

We strongly recommend that module purchasers and banks do not use this list as a measure of
quality, but instead consult a technical due diligence firm such as Edif ERA (formerly OST
Energy), Sgurr Energy, DNV GL, Black & Veatch, TUV, E3, STS Certified, Clean Energy
Associates, Solarbuyer, Enertis or Leidos Engineering. These would usually consider what
factory the module comes from, as well as the brand, and give an informed opinion on whether
the modules will perform as expected.

2. DEFINITIONS
'Bankability' - whether projects using the solar products are likely to be offered non-recourse debt
financing by banks - is the key criterion for tiering. Banks, and their technical due diligence
providers, are extremely unwilling to disclose their whitelists of acceptable products. Bloomberg
New Energy Finance therefore bases its criteria in what deals have been closed in the past, as
tracked by our database -17,000 photovoltaic financings worldwide as of February 2017.
We only tier manufacturers which actually own production facilities and sell under their own
brands. Companies which outsource production under brand names are not tiered. We do not
publish a tier 2 or 3 list.

3. TIER 1
Tier 1 module manufacturers are those which have provided own-brand, own-manufacture
products to six different projects, which have been financed non-recourse by six different (non-
development) banks, in the past two years. These 1.5MW+ deals must be tracked by our
database, ie the project location (sufficiently to identify the project uniquely), capacity, developer,
bank and module maker must be in the public domain. One exception is manufacturers which
have filed for bankruptcy or a form of insolvency protection, or experienced a major default on
BNEF Solar Tiering Team bond payments; these are removed from the tier 1 list until further notice.

Contact by email only We will make a small change to the methodology in the next quarter, Q2 2017. In China, India,
[email protected] Turkey and some other markets, non-recourse finance is rare and cannot be assumed. From Q2
2017, we will therefore require additional evidence that a deal is non-recourse (for example an

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displayed or used as the basis of derivative works without the prior written consent of Bloomberg Finance
L.P. For more information on terms of use, please contact [email protected]. Copyright and
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email from a non-affiliated developer, or a look at a confidential project finance document) to

include a financing in our database and therefore count it for tiering.

4. CAN I SHARE THIS LIST ON THE INTERNET?

No. If you are a BNEF Solar Insight client, you can share with selected business
partners who will not release it further. Pirate copies on the internet may be doctored
This classification is and are published without BNEF's permission and against our terms and conditions.
purely a measure of
industry acceptance, and 5. TIER 1 MODULE MAKER LIST, Q1 2017
there are many Company/ brand In-house module capacity (MW/year)
documented examples of Jinko Solar 6,500
quality issues or GCL Systems 6,000
bankruptcy of tier 1 Trina 6,000
manufacturers. Canadian Solar 5,800
Hanwha Q Cells 5,550
JA Solar 5,500
Lerri/ Longi 4,500
Risen Energy 3,100
Suntech 2,900
Talesun 2,800
First Solar 2,200
Seraphim 2,100
Chint/ Astronergy 2,000
Eging 2,000
ZNShine 1,600
SolarWorld 1,500
Renesola 1,500
BYD 1,500
China Sunergy 1,450
REC Solar 1,300
HT-SAAE 1,200
Solar Frontier 1,050
Phono Solar 1,000
ET Solar 1,000
SunPower 900
Vikram 900
Hyundai Heavy 600
S-Energy 530
Tata 500
AU Optronics 435
Aleo Solar 250
Sharp 210
Winaico 150
Total 74,525
Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance Note: Methodology here. The first publication of this list accidentally
left off China Sunergy.

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