Founded in 1998, Yingli is another Chinese Tier 1 solar manufacturing giant. In fact, in 2013 they were the #1 manufacturer in the world for volume of shipments, and were listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Unfortunately, things went downhill for the company after that: it got bogged down by excessive debt, had a string of unprofitable years, and lost most of its substantial market share to other major Chinese rivals. Amid these troubles, Yingli was delisted from the NYSE, and its previous holding company has been liquidated. More recently, in 2020, the company was restructured; Yingli executives claim this will result in a leaner, more agile solar manufacturer than can go toe-to-toe with its big rivals. However, they are no longer a publicly traded company, meaning we have limited insight into the company’s current health and it’s long-term prospects.
As for their solar panels, they are built in highly automated factories, and offer mid-range performance at affordable prices. However, given their troubled financial past, we think there are more bankable, low-cost Chinese modules such as those from Canadian Solar, Trina Solar, Jinko
