Sam Wilkinson, Solar PV Research Analyst at IMS, says: “The three largest Chinese suppliers performed very strongly in the second quarter… Suntech, Trina and Yingli’s combined shipments increased by 14%, significantly more than Sharp and First Solar, the other suppliers in the top five.”

It is interesting to note that First Solar, the US-based producer of cadmium telluride solar thin-film PV modules, topped the production rankings in Q2’10 (even higher than Suntech), however not all of its solar thin-film modules were shipped in the quarter and its shipments bucked the industry trend, declining over the previous quarter.

Wilkinson adds: “IMS Research predicts that total module shipments will increase for the 6th consecutive quarter in Q3, driven by continuing high demand from all markets, including Germany and France, where completed installations are predicted to continue to surge despite recent cuts to the countries’ incentive schemes.”