Being biggest isn't always the best in the solar industry

New York

JINKOSOLAR Holding Co is poised to become the latest solar-industry leader to learn coming in first doesn't always make you a winner.

Jinko had 6.5 gigawatts of panel-production capacity at the end of the third quarter, and said full-year 2016 shipments may be as high as 6.7 gigawatts. That means the No 3 solar company is poised to vault to the top of the list, surpassing Trina Solar Ltd and Canadian Solar Inc, the two biggest suppliers by shipments in 2015. None of these companies have set dates to release 2016 results.

Being biggest isn't always the best in the solar industry, especially if that growth comes with a lot of liabilities. Jinko's total debt more than doubled to US$2.7 billion at the end of the third quarter over the past two years. Panel demand around the world wa…