(Yicai Global) April 28 -- First-quarter net profits at Chinese photovoltaic module makers surged because of lower raw material prices and the economic recovery.

Net profit at Trina Solar, China’s biggest solar panel maker, soared 225 percent to CNY1.8 billion (USD255.6 million) in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier. JA Solar Technology reported a CNY2.6 billion net profit, up 245 percent in the period. Risen Energy’s and GCL System Integration Technology’s first-quarter net profits rose 46 percent and 25 percent to CNY311 million (USD45 million) and CNY18.7 million (USD2.7 million), respectively.

Prices of polycrystalline silicon have been falling since the beginning of the year. The average domestic price for silicon materials plunged over 20 percent to below CNY200,000 (USD28,915) per ton on April 19 from the Spring Festival holiday in late January, according to data from the Silicon Industry of China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

The first quarter is a traditional slack season for the PV industry. This year, however, the newly-added installed capacity of PV power generation was nearly 33.7 million kilowatts between January and March, up 155 percent from the same period last year, statistics from China’s National Energy Administration showed.

Changzhou, Jiangsu province-based Trina logged a 40 percent leap to CNY21.3 billion (USD3.1 billion) in revenue in the first quarter from a year earlier. JA Solar, headquartered in Beijing, saw its revenue jump 66 percent to CNY20.5 billion in the period. First-quarter revenues at Risen Energy and GCL System Integration grew 25 percent and 20 percent to CNY6.8 billion and CNY1.6 billion, respectively.

JA Solar set a new single-watt profit record high of 22 Chinese cents (3 US cents) per watt in the first quarter, Yicai Global learned. The figure was 14 Chinese cents in the same period last year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione