"We benefited from extraordinary demand, as was the case in the first quarter of the year," said zu Putlitz. "The amendment of the German Renewable Energy Act led to pull-forward effects." aleo also posted revenue growth outside Germany, with revenue on the international photovoltaics (PV) markets rising to 49.4 million in the first six months of the year, compared to 31.1 million last year. This puts the proportion of revenue generated abroad at 17.8 percent.
Germany's PV market is expected to become steadier as the year progresses, added the company. Zu Putlitz continued by saying that it believes Germany will continue to see strong growth, with seven gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in the country in total by the end of the year. However, he told pv magazine that next year, this will drop to between three and four GW.
Aleo additionally stated that strong demand is being recorded in the other European core markets, which means that it will be able to cater better to the international markets in the second half of the year. Zu Putlitz added that the companys main international focus is currently on France, Italy and Greece.
In terms of production figures, the company recorded a production volume of 132.8 megawatts (MW) in the first half of the year, in comparison to 38.6 MW last year, which exceeded its capacity volume. When asked how it managed to handle this, Zu Putlitz outlined the two solutions that it implemented to pv magazine. Firstly, the company optimized its production process and secondly it used cells with higher efficiencies so that the actual values could be increased in production. He explained: "Our three plants have responded flexibly to the growth in demand and optimized their manufacturing process." The plants also produce around the clock in several shifts.
He also mentioned the company's plans to increase production capacity: however, nothing has, as yet, been confirmed. A decision will be reached in this quarter, said zu Putlitz.
The company added that revenue will come to at least 480 million, and its aim is to achieve a solid EBIT margin. It said it intends to progressively lift the proportion of revenue generated abroad and will only set concrete goals for next year in the course of this year, so as to be able to take general developments into account.
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