第一太陽能 (FSLR) 2020 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to First Solar's First Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. This call is being webcast live on the Investors section of First Solar's website at investor.firstsolar.com. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 First Solar 2020 年第一季度財報電話會議。此次電話會議正在 First Solar 網站investor.firstsolar.com 的投資者部分進行網絡直播。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，今天的通話正在錄音中。

I would now like to turn the call over to Mitch Ennis from First Solar Investor Relations. Mr. Ennis, you may begin.

我現在想將電話轉給 First Solar 投資者關係部的 Mitch Ennis。恩尼斯先生，你可以開始了。

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today, the company issued a press release announcing its first quarter 2020 financial results. A copy of the press release and associated presentation are available on First Solar's website at investor.firstsolar.com.

謝謝你。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。今天，該公司發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了其 2020 年第一季度的財務業績。新聞稿和相關演示文稿的副本可在 First Solar 的網站investor.firstsolar.com 上獲得。

With me today are Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer; and Alex Bradley, Chief Financial Officer. Mark will begin by providing a business and technology update and discuss First Solar's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex will then discuss our financial results for the quarter as well as our outlook for 2020. Following the remarks, we'll open the call for questions.

今天和我在一起的是首席執行官 Mark Widmar；和首席財務官亞歷克斯布拉德利。 Mark 將首先提供業務和技術更新，並討論 First Solar 對 COVID-19 大流行的反應。然後，亞歷克斯將討論我們本季度的財務業績以及我們對 2020 年的展望。在發言之後，我們將開始提問。

Please note, this call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's current expectations, including, among other risks and uncertainties, the severity and duration of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you to review the safe harbor statements contained in today's press release and presentation for a more complete description.

請注意，本次電話會議將包括涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與管理層當前的預期產生重大差異，其中包括 COVID-19 大流行影響的嚴重性和持續時間等風險和不確定性.我們鼓勵您查看今天的新聞稿和演示文稿中包含的安全港聲明，以獲得更完整的描述。

It is now my pleasure to introduce Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer. Mark?

現在我很高興介紹首席執行官 Mark Widmar。標記？

Thank you, Mitch. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today, especially in light of the extraordinary situation that we're all facing. I hope each of you and your loved ones are safe.

謝謝你，米奇。下午好，感謝您今天加入我們，特別是考慮到我們都面臨的特殊情況。我希望你們每個人和你們所愛的人都平安。

I want to begin by discussing the country's response to the COVID-19 global health crisis, including the impacts we are seeing on our business and the actions we are taking to support our associates, customers and partners. Turning to Slide 3. Firstly, and most importantly, we are committed to our associates, customers and partners around the world. We are working to navigate this unprecedented challenge together with safety as our top priority. At this time, the majority of our office-based associates are working from home to minimize large concentrations of people at our offices and manufacturing facilities.

我想首先討論該國對 COVID-19 全球健康危機的反應，包括我們看到的對我們業務的影響以及我們為支持我們的員工、客戶和合作夥伴而採取的行動。轉到幻燈片 3。首先，也是最重要的，我們致力於為全球的員工、客戶和合作夥伴服務。我們正在努力應對這一前所未有的挑戰，並將安全作為我們的首要任務。目前，我們辦公室的大多數員工都在家工作，以盡量減少我們辦公室和製造設施中人員的大量集中。

As a technology manufacturing company, we do require certain associates to be physically present at our production facilities. In these locations, we have implemented stringent health and safety protocols that include, among other measures, temperature screenings at facility checkpoints, a mask requirement for all our manufacturing associates, around-the-clock sanitation of high-touch areas and social distancing. In order to further protect our associates, we have also implemented strict limitations on third-party visitors to our offices and manufacturing sites. Through these practices, we strive to protect the well-being of our global associates and ensure that our technology is safely manufactured and delivered to our customers.

作為一家技術製造公司，我們確實要求某些員工親臨我們的生產設施。在這些地點，我們實施了嚴格的健康和安全協議，其中包括設施檢查站的溫度篩查、我們所有製造員工的口罩要求、高接觸區域的全天候衛生和社交距離。為了進一步保護我們的員工，我們還對進入我們辦公室和生產基地的第三方訪客實施了嚴格限制。通過這些做法，我們努力保護我們全球員工的福祉，並確保我們的技術安全製造並交付給我們的客戶。

In meeting the clean energy needs of the global economy, we will continue to balance our top priority of safety with delivering value to each of our stakeholders. We recognize the challenges that our associates and their families are facing in this period of great uncertainty. And we're very proud of the dedication, focus and commitment that we witnessed from our associates over the past months. It is during challenging times like these that our culture of agility, collaboration and accountability and the strength of our differentiated business model shine through.

在滿足全球經濟對清潔能源的需求時，我們將繼續在安全的重中之重與為每個利益相關者創造價值之間取得平衡。我們認識到我們的員工及其家人在這個充滿不確定性的時期所面臨的挑戰。過去幾個月，我們見證了員工的奉獻、專注和承諾，我們對此感到非常自豪。正是在這樣充滿挑戰的時期，我們的敏捷性、協作性和責任感文化以及我們差異化的商業模式的力量才能脫穎而出。

Turning to Slide 4. Our core operating principle is to endeavor to create shareholder value through a disciplined, data-driven, decision-making framework that delivers a balanced business model of growth, profitability and liquidity. With this guiding principle, we will continue to adapt our business model to remain competitive and differentiated in a constantly evolving market through our points of differentiation, which include a competitively advantaged cad tel thin-film module technology, a vertically integrated continuous manufacturing process, an industry-leading balance sheet strength and a prominent sustainability ideology. We have created a resilient business model that better enables us to manage through periods of uncertainty, including the current environment.

轉到幻燈片 4。我們的核心運營原則是努力通過紀律嚴明、數據驅動的決策框架創造股東價值，該框架提供增長、盈利和流動性的平衡商業模式。根據這一指導原則，我們將繼續調整我們的業務模式，以通過我們的差異化點在不斷變化的市場中保持競爭力和差異化，其中包括具有競爭優勢的 cad tel 薄膜模塊技術、垂直整合的連續製造工藝、行業領先的資產負債表實力和突出的可持續發展理念。我們創建了一個有彈性的商業模式，使我們能夠更好地管理不確定時期，包括當前的環境。

The strength of our business model is reflected in our committed Series 6 road map capacity of approximately 8 gigawatts and our multiyear contracted backlog of over 12 gigawatts. We are pleased with the contracted backlog we have built as it provides increased visibility into our future sales, reduces financial exposures to spot pricing and aligns our capacity plan with future demand.

我們商業模式的優勢體現在我們承諾的大約 8 吉瓦的系列 6 路線圖容量和超過 12 吉瓦的多年合同積壓。我們對我們建立的合同積壓感到滿意，因為它提高了我們未來銷售的可見性，減少了現貨定價的財務風險，並使我們的產能計劃與未來需求保持一致。

Turning to Slide 5. I will next provide an update on our module and systems businesses. On March 26, we provided a manufacturing operations update in light of recent developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, we indicated our manufacturing facilities in the United States, Malaysia and Vietnam were committed to operate under their respective circumstances and government mandate. Through today's earnings call, we continue to manufacture Series 6 under their local government orders, which include the following.

轉到幻燈片 5。接下來，我將介紹我們的模塊和系統業務的最新情況。 3 月 26 日，我們根據與 COVID-19 大流行相關的最新發展提供了製造業務更新。當時，我們表示我們在美國、馬來西亞和越南的製造工廠致力於在各自的情況和政府授權下運營。通過今天的財報電話會議，我們繼續根據當地政府的訂單生產 Series 6，其中包括以下產品。

Firstly, on March 22, the state of Ohio issued a stay-at-home order, which was extended to May 29. Recently, the Ohio government rolled out a plan to gradually reopen other parts of the state's economy while still minimizing the spread of COVID-19. Through today's earnings call, our Ohio facilities have been permitted to operate as an essential business under the stay-at-home order. However, with the closing of schools and the associated daycare needs as well as other factors, we have experienced a decrease in our production workforce.

首先，3 月 22 日，俄亥俄州發布了居家令，延長至 5 月 29 日。最近，俄亥俄州政府推出了一項計劃，逐步重新開放該州經濟的其他部分，同時仍盡量減少疫情的蔓延。新型冠狀病毒肺炎（COVID-19）：新冠肺炎（COVID-19）：COVID-19。通過今天的財報電話會議，我們在俄亥俄州的設施已獲准在居家令下作為一項基本業務運營。然而，隨著學校的關閉和相關的日托需求以及其他因素，我們的生產勞動力有所減少。

In March and April, our Ohio 1 site operated at full capacity. However, the temporary decrease in labor availability yielded an approximately 25% reduction in capacity at our Ohio 2 during these months. Starting in May, essentially the entire manufacturing workforce has returned, and we expect Ohio 2 will return to full capacity. During this period of transition, we incurred some incremental costs for overtime and supplemental pay.

在 3 月和 4 月，我們的俄亥俄 1 號站點滿負荷運行。然而，在這幾個月裡，勞動力可用性的暫時下降導致我們俄亥俄 2 號工廠的產能減少了大約 25%。從 5 月開始，基本上整個製造業勞動力已經恢復，我們預計俄亥俄 2 號工廠將恢復滿負荷生產。在此過渡期間，我們產生了一些額外的加班費和補薪費用。

Secondly, on March 18, the government of Malaysia enacted a movement control order, which was extended to May 12 and from which First Solar was exempted as an essential business. Under the order, the workforce at the factory had to be reduced by 50% to improve social distancing while maintaining full pay for all associates. In order to comply with the order, we elected to maintain Series 6 production while halting Series 4. We have anticipated discontinuing Series 4 production during the second quarter of 2020. Prior to the movement control order coming into effect, we had produced approximately 2/3 of our expected 300 megawatts of Series 4 production for the year.

其次，馬來西亞政府於 3 月 18 日頒布了一項行動管制令，該命令延長至 5 月 12 日，First Solar 作為一項基本業務被豁免。根據該命令，工廠的勞動力必須減少 50%，以改善社交距離，同時保持所有員工的全薪。為了遵守命令，我們選擇在停止系列 4 的同時維持系列 6 的生產。我們預計在 2020 年第二季度停止系列 4 的生產。在運動控制命令生效之前，我們已經生產了大約 2 個/我們預計今年 300 兆瓦的 4 系列產量中的 3 個。

Taking into account inventory on hand, future expected warranty requirements and following engagement with certain customers to replace Series 4 with Series 6 modules, we have elected to accelerate our Series 4 shutdown and will not restart Series 4 module production. However, due to movement control order, we have experienced some delays in completing the exit process of our impacted associates. However, despite operating under the reduced workforce reduction, through labor optimization and a work-from-home strategy for all nonessential Series 6 manufacturing associates, we achieved Series 6 capacity utilization rates above 100% at our factory in Malaysia during March and April.

考慮到手頭的庫存、未來的預期保修要求以及與某些客戶接洽以用 6 系列模塊替換 4 系列，我們選擇加速關閉 4 系列，並且不會重新啟動 4 系列模塊的生產。但是，由於行動管制令，我們在完成受影響員工的退出過程方面遇到了一些延誤。然而，儘管在減少勞動力的情況下運營，通過勞動力優化和所有非必要係列 6 製造員工的在家工作策略，我們在 3 月和 4 月期間在馬來西亞工廠實現了 6 系列產能利用率超過 100%。

Thirdly, on April 1, the government of Vietnam ordered a period of nationwide isolation, which required compliance with government-mandated safety criteria in order to continue manufacturing operations. We implemented all requirements and continued to operate at over 100% of nameplate capacity during March and April. A significant achievement to highlight, the team's commitment to safety was recognized by government auditors as we achieved the best safety score out of the 15 large manufacturing facilities audited in the Ho Chi Minh City area.

第三，4 月 1 日，越南政府下令在全國范圍內進行一段時間的隔離，這需要遵守政府規定的安全標準才能繼續生產運營。我們實施了所有要求，並在 3 月和 4 月期間繼續以超過 100% 的銘牌產能運行。值得強調的一項重大成就是，該團隊對安全的承諾得到了政府審計員的認可，因為我們在胡志明市地區審計的 15 家大型製造設施中獲得了最高的安全分數。

Our operational performance to-date has been facilitated by our strong supply chain partnerships, which have enabled us to minimize disruptions to raw material supplies to the factory. Throughout the crisis, the vast majority of our third-party suppliers have continued to serve us. In cases where we have had challenges in our supply chain, we have substantially mitigated those disruptions through active dialogues with our vendors and implemented implementation of contingency plans. To-date, delays related to procurement of raw materials and components have not exceeded a week.

迄今為止，我們強大的供應鏈合作夥伴關係促進了我們的運營業績，這使我們能夠最大限度地減少對工廠原材料供應的干擾。在整個危機期間，我們絕大多數的第三方供應商都繼續為我們服務。如果我們在供應鏈中遇到挑戰，我們通過與供應商的積極對話並實施應急計劃，大大減輕了這些中斷。迄今為止，與原材料和零部件採購相關的延誤未超過一周。

From a shipping and logistics perspective, we have seen disruptions in global cargo routes and capacity. Despite sailing cancellation, port congestion and staffing reductions, the impact on inbound raw material deliveries have so far been limited. We continue to work with our partners and customers to mitigate these disruptions. Finally, with regards to customer deliveries, in several instances, our customers are experiencing delays in their permitting and EPC process, which is affecting our ability to -- for them to receive our model.

從航運和物流的角度來看，我們已經看到全球貨運路線和運力出現中斷。儘管航行取消、港口擁堵和人員減少，但迄今為止對入境原材料交付的影響有限。我們將繼續與我們的合作夥伴和客戶合作，以減輕這些干擾。最後，關於客戶交付，在某些情況下，我們的客戶在他們的許可和 EPC 流程中遇到延誤，這影響了我們的能力——讓他們接收我們的模型。

In all cases, we continue to collaborate with our customers and provide solutions to challenges they are facing as a result of the current environment. We are committed to meeting the needs of our customers, while the delivery date changes may impact the timing of revenue recognition on our module sales.

在所有情況下，我們都會繼續與客戶合作，並為他們因當前環境而面臨的挑戰提供解決方案。我們致力於滿足客戶的需求，而交貨日期的變化可能會影響我們模塊銷售收入確認的時間。

Turning to the systems business. With regards to early stage development, the most significant impact of the pandemic is the inability to hold public gatherings, which are often a step required in completing the permitting process. Accordingly, our development team is evaluating the potential to utilize virtual meetings to fully satisfy these requirements.

轉向系統業務。關於早期發展，大流行的最顯著影響是無法舉行公眾集會，這通常是完成許可程序所需的一個步驟。因此，我們的開發團隊正在評估利用虛擬會議來完全滿足這些要求的潛力。

From a PPA standpoint, we have continued to make significant additions to our contracted pipeline in the United States and Japan. Since the prior earnings call, we have been awarded 3 PPAs for projects located in Tennessee, California and Texas across a diverse set of utility, CCA and corporate offtakers. These projects secure system volume in the time period that captures the full value entitlement of our ITC safe harbor strategy and copper replacement program. Additionally, these projects have module shipment dates based between 2021 and 2023, which importantly extends our contracted backlog into later years.

從 PPA 的角度來看，我們繼續對我們在美國和日本的合同管道進行重大補充。自上次財報電話會議以來，我們已為位於田納西州、加利福尼亞州和德克薩斯州的各種公用事業、CCA 和企業承購商的項目授予了 3 個 PPA。這些項目確保系統容量在我們的 ITC 安全港戰略和銅更換計劃的全部價值權利的時間段內。此外，這些項目的模塊發貨日期在 2021 年至 2023 年之間，這很重要地將我們的合同積壓延長到了以後的幾年。

From the construction standpoint, we are nearing completion of the last remaining projects being constructed in-house by First Solar's EPC and the remaining projects currently under construction being financed on our balance sheet and executed by third-party EPC partners. While our construction projects have experienced some combination of constraints related to COVID-19, such as certain balanced system supply delays and schedule impacts related to labor availability, we have been working with relevant stakeholders to remediate any project schedule delays. The majority of these delays at this time have been mitigated.

從建設的角度來看，我們即將完成由 First Solar 的 EPC 內部建造的最後剩餘項目，而目前在建的剩餘項目由我們的資產負債表提供資金並由第三方 EPC 合作夥伴執行。雖然我們的建設項目遇到了與 COVID-19 相關的一些限制因素，例如某些平衡的系統供應延遲和與勞動力可用性相關的進度影響，但我們一直在與相關利益相關者合作，以糾正任何項目進度延遲。目前這些延誤中的大部分已經得到緩解。

As it relates to project sales, these require input from and coordination with multiple government and private sector counterparties across a variety of development and financing areas, many of which have faced disruptions in business operations. Therefore, we expect to see delays in project sales in the United States, Japan and India. However, our strong net cash position provides us with financing flexibility and the option to balance sheet finance project construction as well as temporary hold operating assets through periods of market dislocation or disruption in order to create options to maximize value. Alex will discuss this later in greater detail.

由於它與項目銷售有關，因此需要與多個政府和私營部門在各種開發和融資領域的交易對手進行協調，其中許多都面臨業務運營中斷的問題。因此，我們預計美國、日本和印度的項目銷售將出現延遲。然而，我們強大的淨現金狀況為我們提供了融資靈活性和資產負債表融資項目建設的選擇權，以及在市場錯位或中斷期間臨時持有經營資產，以創造最大化價值的選擇。亞歷克斯稍後將更詳細地討論這一點。

With regard to O&M, as one of the world's largest O&M providers, we continue to safely and effectively manage our utility-scale portfolio, so these power plants can continue to generate reliable clean electricity. Our O&M business is well positioned for the current environment as our strategy emphasizes remote monitoring, analytics and predictive maintenance to optimize power plant health and minimize onsite presence.

在 O&M 方面，作為全球最大的 O&M 供應商之一，我們繼續安全有效地管理我們的公用事業規模組合，因此這些發電廠可以繼續產生可靠的清潔電力。我們的 O&M 業務在當前環境下處於有利位置，因為我們的戰略強調遠程監控、分析和預測性維護，以優化電廠健康並最大限度地減少現場存在。

In our operations center at our global headquarters in Arizona, we have implemented stringent health and safety measures in seating arrangements in line with recommended social distancing protocols. As a result of these measures, our O&M business continues to efficiently and safely meet the needs of our customers.

在我們位於亞利桑那州全球總部的運營中心，我們根據推薦的社交距離協議在座位安排方面實施了嚴格的健康和安全措施。由於這些措施，我們的運維業務繼續高效、安全地滿足客戶的需求。

Turning to Slide 6. I will next provide a market, technology and manufacturing outlook. While we are monitoring the near-term impacts of solar procurement, the catalysts for driving increased utility-scale solar penetration continue to grow. Firstly, in many markets, new-build utility-scale solar is economically competitive with fossil fuel generation on both a total and marginal cost basis. In fact, at the start of 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that the United States will see 6 gigawatts of uneconomical coal capacity decommissioned in 2020, while 13.5 gigawatts of new utility-scale solar would be installed.

轉到幻燈片 6。接下來我將提供市場、技術和製造前景。雖然我們正在監測太陽能採購的近期影響，但推動公用事業規模太陽能滲透率增加的催化劑繼續增長。首先，在許多市場，新建公用事業規模的太陽能在總成本和邊際成本基礎上都與化石燃料發電具有經濟競爭力。事實上，在 2020 年初，美國能源信息署估計，美國將在 2020 年淘汰 6 吉瓦不經濟的煤炭產能，同時安裝 13.5 吉瓦的新公用事業規模太陽能。

Secondly, our technology's performance and reliability are well understood. With over 600 gigawatts of cumulative capacity installed globally through the end of 2019, solar has transitioned from an alternative to a mainstream energy resource.

其次，我們的技術的性能和可靠性是眾所周知的。截至 2019 年底，全球累計裝機容量超過 600 吉瓦，太陽能已從替代能源轉變為主流能源。

Finally, while solar experienced a period of significant expansion over the past decade, we are still in the early innings of growth. Although United States has 80x more solar installed today than it did a decade ago, the 77 gigawatts of installed solar capacity only accounts for 2% of the country's electricity generation. Against the backdrop of growth in demand for cleaner electricity and global commitments to achieve climate goals, we see significant runway for solar installation growth.

最後，雖然太陽能在過去十年中經歷了一段顯著的擴張期，但我們仍處於增長的早期階段。儘管美國今天的太陽能安裝量是十年前的 80 倍，但 77 吉瓦的太陽能裝機容量僅佔該國發電量的 2%。在對清潔電力的需求增長和全球承諾實現氣候目標的背景下，我們看到太陽能裝置的增長有很大的發展空間。

Our Series 6 capacity plan is well positioned to capture a rapidly growing global PV market. In this context, I would like to note that our long-term capacity expansion road map is essentially unchanged. To-date, the only shift in production strategy is delaying the planned 2020 optimization of our Vietnam factories. This elective decision reduces downtime in 2020, and we expect this will partially offset underutilization of our Ohio 2 factory.

我們的系列 6 產能計劃能夠很好地佔領快速增長的全球光伏市場。在這種情況下，我想指出，我們的長期產能擴張路線圖基本沒有改變。迄今為止，生產戰略的唯一轉變是推遲了我們計劃在 2020 年對越南工廠進行的優化。這一選擇性決定減少了 2020 年的停機時間，我們預計這將部分抵消俄亥俄 2 號工廠的未充分利用。

Shifting to our technology road map, our long-term technology road map remains unchanged to-date. However, if operational limitations at our advanced research lab in Santa Clara, California, continue for an extended period, the timing of this road map may be delayed.

轉向我們的技術路線圖，迄今為止，我們的長期技術路線圖保持不變。但是，如果我們位於加利福尼亞州聖克拉拉的高級研究實驗室的運營限制持續較長時間，則該路線圖的時間安排可能會延遲。

As the only U.S.-based company among the 10 largest PV module manufacturers globally, we are committed to manufacturing and diversifying our supply chain in the United States and supporting U.S. manufacturing jobs within First Solar and externally. A good example of this commitment is a supply agreement with a glass provider that enabled the construction of a new glass-float facility approximately 10 miles from our Perrysburg, Ohio, manufacturing site.

作為全球 10 大光伏組件製造商中唯一一家總部位於美國的公司，我們致力於在美國製造和多樣化我們的供應鏈，並在 First Solar 內部和外部支持美國的製造工作。這一承諾的一個很好的例子是與一家玻璃供應商簽訂的供應協議，該協議使我們能夠在距離我們俄亥俄州佩里斯堡的製造廠大約 10 英里的地方建造一座新的浮法玻璃工廠。

On a similar note, we are pleased with the decision in April of the office of the United States Trade Representative supporting the removal of the exclusion of bifaced solar panels from the Section 201 safeguard measures and are monitoring the resolution of the related litigation in the U.S. Court of International Trade. While we have been able to contract through the iterations of the bifacial exemption, we believe this decision of the U.S. Trade Representative is consistent with the underlying intent of Section 201 measures and helps promote a level playing field for U.S. solar manufacturing and innovation and environment of both free and fair trade.

同樣，我們對美國貿易代表辦公室 4 月做出的支持將雙面太陽能電池板排除在 201 條款保障措施中的決定感到高興，並正在監測美國相關訴訟的解決情況國際貿易法院。雖然我們已經能夠通過雙面豁免的迭代來簽訂合同，但我們認為美國貿易代表的這一決定符合 201 條款措施的基本意圖，並有助於促進美國太陽能製造和創新的公平競爭環境和環境。自由和公平的貿易。

Turning to Slide 7. I would like to briefly highlight our bookings activity for the quarter. Despite the uncertain economic environment, demand for our Series 6 product remains strong as evidenced by the 1.1 gigawatts of net bookings since our prior earnings call. Included in this total are approximately 0.4 gigawatts of third-party module sales and 0.7 gigawatts of systems bookings. In addition, 0.7 gigawatts of the net bookings is for deliveries in 2022 and 2023. This demand for Series 6 and the strength of First Solar as a trusted partner have resulted in a year-to-date net bookings of 1.8 gigawatts. After accounting for shipments of 1.3 gigawatts in the first quarter, our future expected shipments are 12.3 gigawatts.

轉到幻燈片 7。我想簡要介紹一下我們本季度的預訂活動。儘管經濟環境不確定，但對我們系列 6 產品的需求仍然強勁，自我們上次財報電話會議以來的 1.1 吉瓦淨預訂量就證明了這一點。其中包括大約 0.4 吉瓦的第三方模塊銷售量和 0.7 吉瓦的系統預訂量。此外，0.7 吉瓦的淨預訂量用於 2022 年和 2023 年的交付。對 Series 6 的需求以及 First Solar 作為值得信賴的合作夥伴的實力導致年初至今的淨預訂量為 1.8 吉瓦。考慮到第一季度 1.3 吉瓦的出貨量，我們未來的預期出貨量為 12.3 吉瓦。

Internationally, we are pretty pleased with approximately 60 megawatts we've booked in Japan since our prior earnings call. Although procurement volume has slowed in Europe, India and Latin America, we are cautiously optimistic that demand will recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.

在國際上，我們對自上次財報電話會議以來在日本預訂的大約 60 兆瓦感到非常滿意。儘管歐洲、印度和拉丁美洲的採購量有所放緩，但我們對 COVID-19 大流行後需求將恢復持謹慎樂觀態度。

Turning to Slide 8. As mentioned previously, the catalyst for increased solar penetration continues to grow. As such, we expect our mid- to late-stage pipeline of opportunities to continue to support the growth of our contracted backlog. In terms of segment mix, the pipeline of 7.5 gigawatts includes 6.3 gigawatts of potential module sales with the remaining 1.2 gigawatts representing potential systems business.

轉到幻燈片 8。如前所述，提高太陽能滲透率的催化劑繼續增長。因此，我們預計我們的中後期機會管道將繼續支持我們合同積壓的增長。在細分市場組合方面，7.5 吉瓦的管道包括 6.3 吉瓦的潛在模塊銷售，其餘 1.2 吉瓦代表潛在的系統業務。

In terms of geographic breakdown, North America remains the region with the largest number of opportunities at 5.2 gigawatts, Europe represents 1.6 gigawatts, with the remainder in other geographies.

就地理分佈而言，北美仍然是機會最多的地區，為 5.2 吉瓦，歐洲為 1.6 吉瓦，其餘位於其他地區。

Finally, operationally, I am very pleased with our manufacturing execution, particularly given these extraordinary circumstances. During March and April, megawatts produced per day was 14.8 and 15.3, respectively. Capacity utilization was over 100% in both periods. Manufacturing yield was 94.5% and 95.4%. Average watts per module was 433 and 435 watts. The percentage of modules produced with antireflective coating was 97% and 98%. And the ARC bin distribution from 430 to 440 watt modules was 94% and 96%.

最後，在運營方面，我對我們的製造執行非常滿意，特別是考慮到這些特殊情況。 3 月和 4 月期間，每天產生的兆瓦數分別為 14.8 和 15.3。兩個時期的產能利用率均超過 100%。製造良率分別為94.5%和95.4%。每個模塊的平均瓦數分別為 433 和 435 瓦。使用抗反射塗層生產的組件的百分比為 97% 和 98%。從 430 瓦到 440 瓦模塊的 ARC bin 分佈分別為 94% 和 96%。

From an entitlement perspective, we have demonstrated capacity utilization of 120% at each of our factories in Vietnam and Malaysia. Enabling and sustaining this incremental throughput, coupled with our module efficiency road map, gives us confidence we can continue reducing our module cost per watt.

從權利的角度來看，我們在越南和馬來西亞的每個工廠都展示了 120% 的產能利用率。啟用和維持這種增加的吞吐量，再加上我們的模塊效率路線圖，讓我們有信心繼續降低每瓦的模塊成本。

I'll now turn the call over to Alex, who will discuss our first quarter financial results and outlook for 2020. Alex?

我現在將把電話轉給亞歷克斯，他將討論我們第一季度的財務業績和 2020 年的展望。亞歷克斯？

Thanks, Mark. Given the unique circumstances related to the virus, I'll spend only a few minutes discussing first quarter financial results. I'll then provide a framework for how we're evaluating our financial and operational outlook and some of the key risks we see in the current landscape.

謝謝，馬克。鑑於與病毒相關的特殊情況，我將只花幾分鐘時間討論第一季度的財務業績。然後，我將為我們如何評估我們的財務和運營前景以及我們在當前形勢下看到的一些主要風險提供一個框架。

Turning to Slide 9 and starting with the income statement. Net sales in Q1 were $532 million. On a segment basis, as a percentage of total quarterly net sales, our module segment revenue in Q1 was 74%. Gross margin was 17% in Q1. The systems segment gross margin was 11% and was negatively impacted by low overall revenue recognized in the quarter relative to the systems segment fixed costs. This was positively offset by the sale of several early-stage development assets in the U.S.

轉到幻燈片 9，從損益表開始。第一季度的淨銷售額為 5.32 億美元。在細分市場的基礎上，按季度淨銷售額的百分比計算，我們第一季度的組件細分市場收入為 74%。第一季度毛利率為 17%。系統部門的毛利率為 11%，並受到本季度確認的總體收入相對於系統部門固定成本低的負面影響。這被出售美國的幾個早期開發資產所抵消。

Module segment gross margin was 19% in Q1, which was negatively impacted by $10 million of severance and Series 4 decommissioning costs, $4 million of a high O2 ramp costs and $4 million of underutilization and excess yield losses driven by temporary declines in capacity utilization. In the aggregate, this impacted module segment gross margin by approximately 5 percentage points.

組件部門第一季度的毛利率為 19%，受到 1000 萬美元的遣散費和第 4 輪退役成本、400 萬美元的 O2 坡道成本高昂以及產能利用率暫時下降導致的 400 萬美元未充分利用和超額產量損失的負面影響。總體而言，這影響了模塊部門的毛利率約 5 個百分點。

Operating expenses were $89 million in Q1. And of note, this includes approximately $5 million of legal fees associated with the settled class action and active of debt litigation, $4 million of severance costs related to the February reduction in force and $3 million of expected credit losses on our accounts receivable as a result of the economic disruption caused by COVID-19. In the aggregate, these items increased Q1 operating expenses by $12 million.

第一季度的運營費用為 8900 萬美元。值得注意的是，這包括與已解決的集體訴訟和債務訴訟相關的約 500 萬美元的法律費用、與 2 月份生效的減少相關的 400 萬美元的遣散費以及因此導致我們的應收賬款的 300 萬美元的預期信用損失COVID-19 造成的經濟混亂。總的來說，這些項目使第一季度的運營費用增加了 1200 萬美元。

As a result of the previously mentioned factors, we had operating income of $2 million in Q1. In Q1, we realized a $15 million gain on sale of certain securities associated with our end-of-life recycling program within the other income line on the P&L. This benefit was partially offset by $13 million of credit losses associated with certain notes receivable from one of our investments.

由於前面提到的因素，我們第一季度的營業收入為 200 萬美元。在第一季度，我們在損益表的另一個收入線內出售與我們的報廢回收計劃相關的某些證券，實現了 1500 萬美元的收益。這一收益被與我們一項投資的某些應收票據相關的 1300 萬美元信用損失部分抵消。

During the quarter, we recorded a discrete tax benefit of approximately $89 million related to the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act. The discrete benefit will be partially offset by a related rate impact expected over the remainder of 2020, and we therefore expect a full year net benefit from the CARES Act of approximately $70 million. Additionally, we expect a shift in our jurisdictional mix of income for the remainder of 2020, which we expect to increase the full year tax rate by approximately 2 percentage points. The combination of the aforementioned items led to first quarter earnings per share of $0.85.

在本季度，我們記錄了與《冠狀病毒援助救濟和經濟安全法》相關的約 8900 萬美元的離散稅收優惠。離散收益將被預計在 2020 年剩餘時間內的相關費率影響部分抵消，因此我們預計 CARES 法案的全年淨收益約為 7000 萬美元。此外，我們預計 2020 年剩餘時間我們的管轄收入組合將發生變化，我們預計全年稅率將提高約 2 個百分點。上述項目的組合導致第一季度每股收益為 0.85 美元。

Turn to Slide 10, I'll discuss select balance sheet and cash flow highlights. Our cash, marketable securities and restricted cash balance ended Q1 at $1.6 billion. Our net cash position, which includes cash, restricted cash and marketable securities less debt, ended Q1 at $1.1 billion. Our net cash position decreased relative to the prior quarter primarily due to the payment of the $350 million class-action litigation settlement; Series 6 capital expenditures, which were primarily related to our second Series 6 factory in Malaysia; the decrease in module prepayments following an increase in Q4 2019 associated with ITC's safe harbor module purchase orders; and prepayments for components included on the module builder materials.

轉到幻燈片 10，我將討論精選的資產負債表和現金流亮點。我們的現金、有價證券和受限現金餘額在第一季度末為 16 億美元。我們的淨現金頭寸（包括現金、受限現金和有價證券減去債務）在第一季度結束時為 11 億美元。與上一季度相比，我們的淨現金頭寸減少，主要是由於支付了 3.5 億美元的集體訴訟和解費；系列 6 資本支出，主要與我們在馬來西亞的第二個系列 6 工廠有關；與 ITC 的安全港模塊採購訂單相關的 2019 年第四季度增加後，模塊預付款減少；以及模塊製造商材料中包含的組件的預付款。

Cash flows used in operations were $505 million in Q1 primarily due to payment of the litigation settlement and the previously mentioned decrease in module prepayments. Finally, capital expenditures were $113 million in the first quarter.

第一季度運營中使用的現金流為 5.05 億美元，主要是由於支付了訴訟和解費用以及前面提到的模塊預付款減少。最後，第一季度的資本支出為 1.13 億美元。

In terms of the financial and operational outlook, we recognize these are truly unique times. And for that reason, we're taking a different approach to our guidance discussion today.

就財務和運營前景而言，我們認識到這是真正獨特的時代。出於這個原因，我們今天對指導討論採取了不同的方法。

Turning to Slide 11. In Q1, we were able to mitigate a significant portion of the impacts on our business from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, given the location of our manufacturing facilities in the United States, Malaysia and Vietnam, the location of the majority of our customers' 2020 module sales in the U.S. and the location of the majority of our project asset sales in the U.S. and Japan, the impact was only felt towards the tail end of the first quarter.

轉到幻燈片 11。在第一季度，我們能夠減輕 COVID-19 大流行對我們業務的很大一部分影響。然而，鑑於我們的製造工廠位於美國、馬來西亞和越南，我們客戶的 2020 年組件銷售大部分位於美國，我們的大部分項目資產銷售位於美國和日本，僅在第一季度末才感受到影響。

To-date, the company's financial results have not been materially impacted by COVID-19. However, given the significant uncertainties I'll describe momentarily and their potential impacts on our operations and financial results as well as on energy and capital markets, we are withdrawing our full year 2020 guidance.

迄今為止，該公司的財務業績並未受到 COVID-19 的重大影響。但是，鑑於我將暫時描述的重大不確定性及其對我們的運營和財務業績以及能源和資本市場的潛在影響，我們將撤回 2020 年全年指導。

These uncertainties include but are not limited to, firstly, the number, intensity and trajectory of COVID-19 cases globally; secondly, the actions of federal, state, local and foreign governments in response to the pandemic; thirdly, our third-party suppliers' ability to continue maintaining production and delivery of raw materials and components to our manufacturing sites; fourthly, volatility in the capital markets, including the tax equity market in the U.S., which may affect the value and optimal timing of our asset sales; fifthly, logistical constraints, including reduced shipping capacity and port congestion. And finally, the results of local and national efforts to gradually reopen economies.

這些不確定性首先包括但不限於全球 COVID-19 病例的數量、強度和軌跡；其次，聯邦、州、地方和外國政府應對大流行的行動；第三，我們的第三方供應商繼續維持原材料和組件的生產和向我們的生產基地交付的能力；第四，資本市場的波動，包括美國的稅收股票市場，這可能會影響我們資產出售的價值和最佳時機；第五，物流限制，包括運輸能力下降和港口擁堵。最後，地方和國家努力逐步重新開放經濟的結果。

We are, however, providing limited guidance for metrics that we believe are largely within our control at this time. This includes a view on full year 2020 module production, 2020 CapEx related to our long-term manufacturing capacity expansion and a view on operating expenses and the efforts we're undertaking to optimize costs as we work through the current pandemic.

但是，我們對我們認為目前在很大程度上在我們控制範圍內的指標提供有限的指導。這包括對 2020 年全年組件生產、與我們的長期製造能力擴張相關的 2020 年資本支出的看法，以及對運營費用的看法以及我們在應對當前大流行時為優化成本所做的努力。

Beginning with the module business, we anticipate full year 2020 production of approximately 5.9 gigawatts, which includes 0.2 gigawatts of Series 4 and 5.7 gigawatts of Series 6. From a shipment and sales perspective, whilst we're effectively sold out relative to our 2020 production plan, going forward, we could experience delays in shipments. And the purchasers of our PV modules could encounter delays in their ability to take receipt of the modules or in the development, financing and/or construction of that project. We're in active dialogue and collaborating with our customers to alleviate COVID-19 constraints where possible. As a result of these assets, the timing of module revenue recognition has the potential to move within 2020 or shift from 2020 to 2021.

從模塊業務開始，我們預計 2020 年全年產量約為 5.9 吉瓦，其中包括 0.2 吉瓦的系列 4 和 5.7 吉瓦的系列 6。從出貨量和銷售的角度來看，雖然相對於 2020 年的產量，我們實際上已經售罄計劃，展望未來，我們可能會遇到發貨延遲。我們光伏組件的購買者可能會在接收組件的能力或該項目的開發、融資和/或建設方面遇到延遲。我們正在積極對話並與我們的客戶合作，以盡可能減輕 COVID-19 的限制。由於這些資產，模塊收入確認的時間有可能在 2020 年內移動或從 2020 年轉移到 2021 年。

From a long-term perspective, our 2020 Series 6 manufacturing capacity plans remain unchanged. We expect to spend $450 million to $550 million of CapEx in 2020, the majority of which is Series 6 related. And we remain on track to bring our second Series 6 factory in Malaysia online in the first quarter of 2021.

從長期來看，我們的 2020 Series 6 產能計劃保持不變。我們預計 2020 年將花費 4.5 億至 5.5 億美元的資本支出，其中大部分與第 6 輪相關。我們仍有望在 2021 年第一季度將我們在馬來西亞的第二家 Series 6 工廠上線。

As it relates to our systems business, I'd like to highlight the risks related to the timing of our contracted asset sales in the U.S., Japan and India. Firstly, government shutdowns and restrictions on businesses and operations have resulted in longer lead times for the critical steps in the financing, function and asset sale processes. We're working relentlessly with relevant counterparties to ensure the timely success of the activities required to execute our project sales.

由於它與我們的系統業務有關，我想強調與我們在美國、日本和印度的合同資產銷售時間相關的風險。首先，政府關閉以及對企業和運營的限制導致融資、職能和資產出售流程中關鍵步驟的準備時間更長。我們正在與相關交易對手不懈地合作，以確保執行我們的項目銷售所需的活動及時成功。

Secondly, during the first quarter, a number of prominent financial institutions increased their credit loss reserves as a result of COVID-19. These reserves have the potential to reduce bank profitability. In the U.S., the availability of tax equity is largely driven by the profitability of a discrete set of financial institutions. Several of these institutions also cited risk of further deterioration in the U.S. macroeconomic environment, namely a decline in GDP and further increases in unemployment. To the extent that these scenarios hold, these institutions may be subject to further loan loss reserves, thus reducing their profitability and tax capacity.

其次，在第一季度，由於 COVID-19，一些知名金融機構增加了信用損失準備金。這些準備金有可能降低銀行的盈利能力。在美國，稅收權益的可用性很大程度上是由一組離散金融機構的盈利能力驅動的。其中一些機構還提到了美國宏觀經濟環境進一步惡化的風險，即 GDP 下降和失業率進一步上升。在這些情況下，這些機構可能會承受更多的貸款損失準備金，從而降低它們的盈利能力和稅收能力。

To the extent bank profitability is adversely impacted and the availability of tax equity is constrained in the United States, we continue to believe a legislative solution, such as the ability to receive direct payments in place of investment tax credits, is appropriate to alleviate the structural constraints in the tax equity market. This solution will be directly related to COVID-19 pandemic response and efforts to support U.S. employment. We believe such action is critical to support high-quality solar construction jobs, many of which were at further risk, except the tax equity market is disruptive and what advocates for the U.S. Congress consider this as an approach in the next round of legislative responses to the pandemic.

如果銀行盈利能力受到不利影響並且美國稅收權益的可用性受到限制，我們仍然認為立法解決方案，例如能夠接收直接付款代替投資稅收抵免的能力，適合緩解結構性稅收股權市場的限制。該解決方案將與 COVID-19 大流行應對和支持美國就業的努力直接相關。我們認為，此類行動對於支持高質量的太陽能建設工作至關重要，其中許多工作面臨更大風險，除了稅收股票市場具有破壞性，美國國會的倡導者認為這是下一輪立法應對措施的一種方法流行病。

Thirdly, project valuations could be impacted by volatility and availability of capital in the equity and debt financing markets. We've seen return expectations of long-term response to equity holds flat, although base interest rates have declined since the start of the year. Of note, infrastructure funds achieved a strong fundraising total for Q1. Utility-scale solar fits well into this narrative as a hedge to equity market turbulence with long-term useful lives and cash flow profiles without exposure to input quality fuel costs.

第三，項目估值可能會受到股票和債務融資市場的波動性和資本可用性的影響。儘管基本利率自今年年初以來有所下降，但我們已經看到對股票長期反應的回報預期持平。值得注意的是，基礎設施基金在第一季度實現了強勁的籌資總額。公用事業規模的太陽能非常適合這種說法，作為對股票市場動蕩的對沖，具有長期的使用壽命和現金流狀況，而無需承擔輸入質量燃料成本。

From a debt perspective, while base interest rates have declined since the start of the year, credit spreads across investment and noninvestment-grade debt widened. At the same time, the CARES Act has provided a beneficial temporary increase in interest deductibility. Ultimately, the amount, cost and tenor of debt and its value to a project will be determined by the overall credit worthiness of the project. Whilst the uncertain spoken duration of COVID-19 has impacted global markets, we continue to prioritize maximizing project valuation. Accordingly, we may elect to hold our project assets on balance sheet for an extended period based on strategic opportunities or market factors.

從債務角度來看，雖然自今年年初以來基本利率有所下降，但投資和非投資級債務的信用利差擴大了。同時，CARES 法案暫時增加了利息扣除額。最終，債務的金額、成本和期限及其對項目的價值將取決於項目的整體信用狀況。儘管 COVID-19 不確定的口頭持續時間已經影響了全球市場，但我們繼續優先考慮最大化項目估值。因此，我們可能會根據戰略機遇或市場因素，選擇將我們的項目資產長期保留在資產負債表上。

As it relates to operating expenses, while the pandemic presented new challenges, even before the outbreak, we had already been proactively optimizing our business and long-term sustainable cost structure. For example, in September 2019, we announced the transition to a third-party EPC execution model to enhance project development cost competitiveness and derisk project distribution for the company. And our final project being constructed by our in-house EPC team is advancing towards completion.

由於涉及運營費用，雖然疫情帶來了新的挑戰，但即使在疫情爆發之前，我們就已經在積極優化我們的業務和長期可持續的成本結構。例如，2019 年 9 月，我們宣布向第三方 EPC 執行模式過渡，以增強項目開發成本競爭力，並為公司降低項目分配風險。我們內部 EPC 團隊正在建造的最終項目正在接近完成。

In February of 2020, while they bought a business and cost structure review, we affected a reduction in force. In May of 2020, we affected the continuation of this reduction in force to streamline and further optimize each line of business. Although we expect this reduction to lead to $8 million in long-term run rate savings, in 2020, we expect to see severance-related impacts from this action of approximately $2 million.

2020 年 2 月，雖然他們購買了業務和成本結構審查，但我們影響了力量的減少。 2020 年 5 月，我們影響了此次裁員的延續，以精簡和進一步優化各條業務線。儘管我們預計這一減少將導致 800 萬美元的長期運行率節省，但在 2020 年，我們預計這一行動將產生約 200 萬美元的遣散費相關影響。

From the combined February and May reductions, severance now totaled $12 million with expected long-term run rate savings of $33 million to $43 million. In February, during our fourth quarter earnings call, we also announced that we're evaluating strategic options for our U.S. project development business. We continue to work with our financial advisers to determine the optimal path and timing for this process. I would like to note that the current global business operational impacts from COVID-19 may result in companies focusing more on internal initiatives rather than on pursuing new partnerships or M&A deals. And as a result, this may impact the timing of the process.

從 2 月和 5 月的總削減來看，遣散費現在總計 1200 萬美元，預計長期運行率節省 3300 萬美元至 4300 萬美元。 2 月，在第四季度財報電話會議上，我們還宣布我們正在評估我們美國項目開發業務的戰略選擇。我們將繼續與我們的財務顧問合作，以確定此過程的最佳路徑和時間。我想指出，COVID-19 對當前全球業務運營的影響可能會導致公司更多地關注內部計劃，而不是尋求新的合作夥伴關係或併購交易。因此，這可能會影響流程的時間安排。

Each of these proactive and strategic decisions align with our vision to excel in technology, cost and product leadership; to balance growth, profitability and liquidity; and to enable us to best position ourselves both during this disruption as well as for long term.

這些積極的戰略決策中的每一個都符合我們在技術、成本和產品領先方面取得卓越成就的願景；平衡增長、盈利能力和流動性；並使我們能夠在這種中斷期間以及長期保持最佳定位。

Finally, our $1.6 billion gross and $1.1 billion net cash position remains a strategic differentiator that enables not only stability but also growth in innovation in periods of both economic prosperity and uncertainty. We intend to vigorously maintain this strong liquidity position and at this time, do not expect to draw on our revolving credit facility.

最後，我們 16 億美元的總現金頭寸和 11 億美元的淨現金頭寸仍然是一個戰略差異化因素，它不僅能夠在經濟繁榮和不確定時期實現穩定，而且還能促進創新增長。我們打算大力維持這種強勁的流動性頭寸，此時，不要指望動用我們的循環信貸額度。

Turning to Slide 12, I'll summarize the key messages on today's call. Firstly, we had Q1 earnings per share of $0.85 and quarter end net cash of $1.1 billion. Secondly, we achieved fleet-wide capacity utilization of approximately 100% during March and April and have demonstrated capacity utilization of 120% at each of our factories in Vietnam and Malaysia, which gives us confidence that we execute on our cost reduction road map. Despite challenges relating to the pandemic, we're pleased with both our operational and financial performance, achieving results in line with our pre-COVID-19 expectations.

轉到幻燈片 12，我將總結今天電話會議的關鍵信息。首先，我們的第一季度每股收益為 0.85 美元，季度末淨現金為 11 億美元。其次，我們在 3 月和 4 月實現了大約 100% 的全機隊產能利用率，並且我們在越南和馬來西亞的每個工廠的產能利用率都達到了 120%，這讓我們有信心執行我們的成本降低路線圖。儘管與大流行有關的挑戰，我們對我們的運營和財務業績感到滿意，取得了符合我們在 COVID-19 之前的預期的結果。

Thirdly, demand for our Series 6 technology remains strong. And we have continued success adding to our contracted pipeline with net bookings of 1.1 gigawatts since the prior earnings call and 1.8 gigawatts of bookings year-to-date.

第三，對我們 6 系列技術的需求依然強勁。自上次財報電話會議以來，我們繼續成功地增加了我們的合同管道，淨預訂量為 1.1 吉瓦，年初至今的預訂量為 1.8 吉瓦。

Finally, given the significant uncertainty posed by the current pandemic, we are withdrawing our previous full year operational and financial guidance. We are, however, at this time able to provide full year 2020 production guidance of approximately 5.9 gigawatts, full year 2020 capital expenditure guidance of $450 million to $550 million and full year 2020 operating expense guidance of $340 million to $360 million, which includes $50 million to $60 million of start-up expenses.

最後，鑑於當前大流行帶來的重大不確定性，我們將撤回之前的全年運營和財務指導。然而，我們目前能夠提供約 5.9 吉瓦的 2020 年全年生產指導，2020 年全年資本支出指導為 4.5 億美元至 5.5 億美元，以及 2020 年全年運營費用指導為 3.4 億美元至 3.6 億美元，其中包括 50 美元100 萬至 6000 萬美元的啟動費用。

And with that, we conclude our prepared remarks and open the call for questions. Operator?

至此，我們結束準備好的發言並開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) And we have our first question from Mr. Philip Shen.

（操作員說明）我們有來自 Philip Shen 先生的第一個問題。

First one is, you guys announced a large 400-megawatt order for modules yesterday, I believe, with the National Grid subsidiary for delivery in 2022. What kind of pricing were you able to secure with that order? And beyond that order, can you talk through how pricing is evolving in general? Our checks suggests module pricing globally could be down an additional 10% to 15% from current levels, given the oversupply. And so to what degree is that impacting your conversations?

第一個是，你們昨天宣布了一個 400 兆瓦的大模塊訂單，我相信，與國家電網子公司在 2022 年交付。你能夠通過該訂單獲得什麼樣的定價？除了這個順序，你能談談定價總體上是如何演變的嗎？我們的檢查表明，鑑於供過於求，全球組件價格可能會比當前水平再下降 10% 至 15%。那麼這在多大程度上影響了你的談話？

Yes, Phil. I guess on the pricing side, again, one of the things, I think, we continue to emphasize and one of the points we want to continue to make is, again, how we manage our business and how we continue to try to differentiate ourselves and continue to position our technology to capture the optimal value in the marketplace. If you look at it on a year-to-date basis on the third-party module sales, everything that we booked year-to-date, call it, 1.1, 1.2, somewhere close to that number of the 1.8, the aggregate bookings are -- have a 3-handle on them still. So if you look at the average that we've recognized so far against -- on a year-to-date basis, it still has a 3-handle on it.

是的，菲爾。我想在定價方面，我認為，我們繼續強調的一件事是，我們想要繼續強調的一點是，我們如何管理我們的業務以及我們如何繼續努力使自己與眾不同並繼續定位我們的技術以在市場上獲取最佳價值。如果您從年初至今的第三方模塊銷售情況來看，我們年初至今預訂的所有產品，稱之為 1.1、1.2，接近 1.8 的總預訂量是 - 仍然有一個 3 把手。因此，如果您查看我們迄今為止認可的平均值 - 在年初至今的基礎上，它仍然有 3 個手柄。

Now as you go further out, there's 2 things that will show you a different complexion around the ASPs. One is how far out are we booking into in some of those module sales like, in particular, the one that you referenced is actually for shipments in 2022, and deliveries, I think, even start to touch into 2023. So that's one thing. So the further out we go, as you would anticipate, the ASPs will have some amount of erosion as you move forward.

現在，當您走得更遠時，有 2 件事會向您展示 ASP 周圍的不同膚色。一個是我們在其中一些模塊銷售中的預訂距離有多遠，特別是你提到的那個實際上是 2022 年的出貨量，我認為，交付甚至開始觸及 2023 年。所以這是一回事。因此，正如您所預料的那樣，我們走得越遠，隨著您的前進，ASP 將受到一定程度的侵蝕。

The other is geographies at which we're recognizing the -- where the modules are going to be shipped. So the regions where we have the best value creation, hot humid climates, in particular, we're going to see higher ASPs. So if I had to give you a kind of -- if you look at the average, you're going to see an advantage of probably to the average $0.01 per $0.015 above the average when we're in kind of various core sweet markets for us like a Florida or even a Texas, okay, a Georgia. If you go north -- the further north you go, you're going to see some downward pressure on the ASP. And so you may be $0.01 or $0.015 lower than the average if you're in Illinois, as an example. And so the order that we booked with Geronimo, which is, to your point, affiliated with our subsidiary of National Grid, some of that volume, a significant portion of that volume is going to be further up north in markets where we don't have as strong an energy advantage. So that -- and it's further out in the horizon, so it sits out into '22 and even it touches '23. So where that volume is going to be north and then further out on the horizon, you're going to see a slightly lower ASP. And so across that average we've booked this year, does some of that volume have a 2, a very high and -- a 2-handle on it, but a very high in the 2 range? It does. The average is still north of 3. And even when you go out into -- further in the horizon, call it out into '22 and '23, if we're in a market or a hot, humid environment, we're still going to -- we're still seeing 3 handles, okay? That's what we're seeing right now.

另一個是我們正在識別的地理區域 - 模塊將被運送到哪裡。因此，我們擁有最佳價值創造的地區，特別是炎熱潮濕的氣候，我們將看到更高的平均售價。因此，如果我不得不給你一種——如果你看一下平均值，當我們處於各種核心甜食市場時，你會看到平均每 0.015 美元高於平均水平 0.01 美元的優勢我們喜歡佛羅里達州，甚至德克薩斯州，好吧，喬治亞州。如果你往北走——你往北走得越遠，你就會看到 ASP 有一些下行壓力。例如，如果您在伊利諾伊州，您可能會比平均水平低 0.01 美元或 0.015 美元。因此，我們向 Geronimo 預訂的訂單，就您而言，它隸屬於我們國家電網的子公司，其中一部分數量，很大一部分將在我們沒有的市場中進一步向北具有同樣強大的能源優勢。所以 - 它在地平線上更遠，所以它坐到'22，甚至觸及'23。因此，如果該交易量將向北，然後在地平線上更遠，您將看到平均售價略低。因此，在我們今年預訂的平均值中，其中一些數量是否有 2、非常高和 - 2 把手，但在 2 範圍內非常高？確實如此。平均值仍然在 3 以北。即使你走出去——在地平線上，把它叫到 22 年和 23 年，如果我們在市場或炎熱潮濕的環境中，我們仍然去 - 我們仍然看到 3 個句柄，好嗎？這就是我們現在看到的。

Now again, we have plenty of time to be patient. I'm not beholden to excess supply. Our book is full for the next 1.5 years. And so we can be very selective. We can engage with customers who value our technology, value our relationship with First Solar that we'll -- they know we'll deliver. We'll honor against our contracts, and we'll provide a high-quality product. So as you get into that horizon, customers are looking for CuRe in that longer-dated horizon. I think we've got a unique value proposition, plus a lot of that volume that we did with Geronimo, I think almost all of it, is for our new copper replacement product that will create different advantages, better long-term degradation, even improved temperature coefficient. So we're happy with that booking. It's a great partnership relationship we've had with them. And we're very happy with them being able to secure that volume. And I would say, on balance, and everything I've seen so far, I'm still happy with the ASP environment that we're in, given some of the numbers that you've quoted. And unfortunately, maybe some of our other competitors who have excess supply or an open book is maybe a better way to say, yes, they're going to see very challenging near-term ASPs.

現在，我們有足夠的時間耐心等待。我不受供應過剩的影響。我們的書在接下來的 1.5 年裡已經滿了。所以我們可以非常有選擇性。我們可以與重視我們的技術、重視我們與 First Solar 的關係的客戶進行交流——他們知道我們會交付。我們將履行我們的合同，我們將提供高質量的產品。因此，當您進入那個視野時，客戶會在那個更長期的視野中尋找 CuRe。我認為我們有一個獨特的價值主張，再加上我們與 Geronimo 所做的大量交易，我認為幾乎所有這些都是為了我們的新銅替代產品，它將創造不同的優勢，更好的長期降解，甚至提高溫度係數。所以我們對這次預訂很滿意。我們與他們建立了良好的伙伴關係。我們對他們能夠確保該數量感到非常高興。我想說，總的來說，考慮到您引用的一些數字，我仍然對我們所處的 ASP 環境感到滿意。不幸的是，也許我們的其他一些供應過剩或開放書籍的競爭對手可能是一個更好的說法，是的，他們將看到非常具有挑戰性的近期 ASP。

And we have our second question from Mr. Brian Lee.

我們有來自 Brian Lee 先生的第二個問題。

I hope everyone is doing well. I guess first question I had was just on the gross margins in modules. They were up maybe 50 basis points versus Q4 like-for-like if we exclude some of the onetime items you highlighted, Alex. I guess I would have expected a bit more improvement with Series 6 volume growing here and Series 4 also lower in the mix and given the ongoing cost reduction. So the question would be just that the 10% decline in module production costs in 2020, is that still on track for the year? And then is there anything else in the quarter that might have limited the margin expansion versus where you ended 2019?

我希望每個人都做得很好。我想我的第一個問題只是模塊的毛利率。如果我們排除您強調的一些一次性項目，亞歷克斯，與第四季度相比，它們可能上漲了 50 個基點。我想我會期望隨著第 6 系列的銷量在這裡增長，而第 4 系列的組合也較低，並且考慮到成本的持續降低，我會期待更多的改進。那麼問題就在於，2020 年組件生產成本下降 10%，這在今年是否仍處於正軌？那麼，與 2019 年末相比，本季度還有什麼其他因素可能會限制利潤率擴張嗎？

And then second question, if I could just squeeze this in is on the systems business. Just wondering, that seems to be an area where you might have the most COVID-19 risk. So how much of your original revenue guidance for the systems segment this year was based on projects that had PPAs but hadn't been sold versus projects that had already been sold and just need to recognize revenue ratably as they're complete this year. So just trying to see what that risk if it's really about the project sales that you outlined or the projects that don't have sales status in the 10-K?

然後第二個問題，如果我能把它擠進去是關於系統業務的。只是想知道，這似乎是您可能面臨最大 COVID-19 風險的領域。因此，今年系統部門的原始收入指導有多少是基於具有 PPA 但尚未售出的項目與已經售出且只需要在今年完成時按比例確認收入的項目。因此，如果它真的與您概述的項目銷售或在 10-K 中沒有銷售狀態的項目有關，那麼只是想看看有什麼風險？

Yes. So I mean, on the gross margin, we commented on the pieces that are having a negative impact to the quarter. I can't talk much more beyond that. What I can say is that, when you talk about the 10% reduction over the year, I'd say we're very pleased with how things are going in the first quarter. If you look at -- we've had a couple of COVID-related expenses. But stripping those out, I think we are very pleased with the manufacturing performance and the cost performance. I'd say, we believe we're on track for that reduction over the year as of Q1.

是的。所以我的意思是，在毛利率方面，我們評論了對本季度產生負面影響的部分。除此之外，我不能說更多了。我能說的是，當你談到全年減少 10% 時，我想說我們對第一季度的情況感到非常滿意。如果您看一下-我們有一些與COVID相關的費用。但除去這些，我認為我們對製造性能和性價比非常滿意。我想說，我們相信截至第一季度，我們有望在一年內實現減產。

As it relates to the systems business, so when we guided for the year, we said around 30% of the revenue was coming out of the systems business. If you look in the Q, you'll see in the pipeline table, there's very limited assets there that have already been sold where we're continuing to recognize revenue. Those limited assets remain -- are up and around 90-or-above percent complete. So the majority of the systems revenue for the year was coming from assets that have yet to be sold. Those are assets both in the U.S. and in Japan. And so that's what -- one of the significant reasons when we looked at -- on the guidance, what we chose to do in terms of, not only giving guidance but significant driver of that was uncertainty around the systems business. And that relates to uncertainty around the timing of financing. And if you look in the U.S., I think the tax equity and debt markets, they stand and are generally open for deals that were begun prior to pandemic. We have some assets where financing is in place, others where we're still looking to finance those deals. I think capacity for 2020 exists. 2021 tax capacity is still a lot less certain as institutions are grappling with the impact of the price and what it means for their future tax positions.

由於它與系統業務有關，所以當我們為年度提供指導時，我們說大約 30% 的收入來自系統業務。如果您查看 Q，您會在管道表中看到，那裡已經出售的資產非常有限，我們將繼續確認收入。那些有限的資產仍然存在——已經完成了大約 90% 或以上。因此，該年度系統的大部分收入來自尚未出售的資產。這些都是美國和日本的資產。這就是我們研究指南時的重要原因之一，我們選擇做的事情不僅是提供指導，而且重要的驅動因素是系統業務的不確定性。這與融資時間的不確定性有關。如果你看看美國，我認為稅收股票和債務市場，它們仍然存在並且通常對大流行之前開始的交易持開放態度。我們有一些資產已經融資，而另一些資產我們仍在尋求為這些交易融資。我認為 2020 年的容量是存在的。 2021 年的稅收能力仍然不太確定，因為機構正在努力應對價格的影響以及這對他們未來的稅收狀況意味著什麼。

On the debt side, market's generally open, but -- although we've seen a surge of issuance on the investment-grade credit risk and expressed our guidance for better credit. So I think there's a piece of it around financing, but there's also significant logistical challenges you got to remember on the systems side, right? So asset sales involve multiple counterparties and significant logistical challenges to get done.

在債務方面，市場普遍開放，但是——儘管我們看到投資級信用風險的發行激增，並表達了我們對改善信用的指導。所以我認為有一部分是圍繞融資的，但在系統方面你也必須記住重大的後勤挑戰，對吧？因此，資產出售涉及多個交易對手，並且要完成重大的後勤挑戰。

So when we look at our portfolio, I think we believe that even those that aren't financed or sold are well positioned to get the financing they may need. We may sell them under a typical sales structure where the project is sold and the counterparty takes financing construction risk and that becomes the responsibility of who purchased it. We may alternatively need it -- find it presents better value for us to do that financing and potentially even hold assets for a little bit longer. So I think a lot of what you're seeing is a timing issue. It's not a fundamental issue. But there are assets we hold that are yet to be sold, and some of them are yet to be financed, and that's one of the key challenges to the guidance.

因此，當我們查看我們的投資組合時，我認為我們相信即使是那些沒有融資或出售的公司也有能力獲得他們可能需要的融資。我們可能會在典型的銷售結構下出售它們，其中項目被出售，交易對手承擔融資建設風險，這成為誰購買它的責任。我們也可能需要它——發現它為我們提供更好的價值來進行融資，甚至可能持有資產更長時間。所以我認為你看到的很多都是時間問題。這不是一個根本問題。但我們持有的資產尚未出售，其中一些尚未融資，這是該指引面臨的主要挑戰之一。

Yes. And the only thing I'll add on the gross margin, Brian, when you look at it sequentially, a couple things that are in the mix in there. One is that the -- sequentially, the ASP is down for both 4 and 6, partly because the ASPs in the fourth quarter were -- benefited from the safe harbor pricing that was in the market at the time because, as you know, everybody was trying to capture their safe harbor, and some of them took deliveries in -- of that product in -- by the end of the year. So you saw a little bit better ASPs associated with that, so you see a little bit of that. And the other is that there's still a reasonable amount -- volume is down pretty significantly. So you see a pretty big drop in volume sold. And then there's still a reasonable amount of Series 4 that sits in the first quarter.

是的。布賴恩，我唯一要補充的是毛利率，當您按順序查看時，其中有幾件事。一個是 - 連續 4 和 6 的 ASP 均下降，部分原因是第四季度的 ASP 受益於當時市場上的安全港定價，因為如你所知，每個人正試圖佔領他們的安全港，其中一些人在年底前接收了該產品的交付。因此，您看到了與此相關的更好的 ASP，因此您看到了一些。另一個是仍然有一個合理的數量——交易量大幅下降。因此，您會看到銷量大幅下降。然後在第一季度仍有相當數量的系列 4。

Now as we move forward, the margin profile will continue to improve. There's about close to a 5 percentage point difference between Series 4 and Series 6 when you look at it on a normalized adjusted basis. And as we move forward, you're going to see volume shipments move towards 100% from 36% as we get into second half, for sure, a little bit of Series 4 in the second quarter. But after that, it's all Series 6. And then as Alex indicated, you've got the benefit of the cost reduction road map as we progress through the balance of the year.

現在，隨著我們向前發展，利潤率狀況將繼續改善。當您在標準化調整的基礎上查看時，系列 4 和系列 6 之間的差異接近 5 個百分點。隨著我們向前發展，隨著我們進入下半年，你會看到出貨量從 36% 向 100% 移動，當然，第二季度的第 4 系列會有一點點。但在那之後，都是系列 6。然後正如亞歷克斯所指出的，隨著我們在今年餘下時間的推進，您將受益於成本降低路線圖。

And the fleet, yes, as Alex said, I think we're pretty happy with where we are with the fleet. There is some headwind that we're dealing with a little bit on -- in Ohio and even Malaysia. Vietnam is performing extremely well. It's really the only factory that has really not been impacted in any way. Both Malaysia and Ohio have seen some impact. So what we'll probably most likely see is Vietnam will overperform for the year, and then they'll make up for some of the challenges that we've experienced here in Ohio as well as Malaysia.

艦隊，是的，正如亞歷克斯所說，我認為我們對艦隊所處的位置非常滿意。我們正在處理一些逆風——在俄亥俄州甚至馬來西亞。越南的表現非常好。它真的是唯一一家真正沒有受到任何影響的工廠。馬來西亞和俄亥俄州都受到了一些影響。因此，我們最有可能看到的是，越南今年將表現出色，然後他們將彌補我們在俄亥俄州和馬來西亞遇到的一些挑戰。

And our next question comes from the -- Michael Weinstein.

我們的下一個問題來自-- Michael Weinstein。

This is Maheep on behalf of Michael. Alex, you spoke about the timing issue with the systems in the previous question. But could you talk about any timing issues on the module side, where you might be delaying shipments on the customers' request? And then how should we think about that in relation to any underabsorption on production versus shipments and that impact on the cost later this year?

我是代表邁克爾的 Maheep。 Alex，您在上一個問題中談到了系統的時間問題。但是您能否談談模塊方面的任何時間問題，您可能會根據客戶的要求延遲發貨？那麼我們應該如何考慮與生產與出貨量的吸收不足以及今年晚些時候對成本的影響？

Yes. So the impacts on the margin in some ways are similar. So when I say it's -- one of the significant reasons for us having lack of clarity on our future guidance is the systems business. The issues we face on the systems business are the same issues our customers who are buying modules from us face on their project. So a lot of our modules, the volume is going to customers who have projects that have financing, either in place or committed. However, there may be assets where that isn't the case. And if so, we may see customers requesting delays to allow them to close financing. And if that's the case, we'll work with customers as we can to accommodate their schedule. So I think there's definitely some overlap there.

是的。因此，在某些方面對邊際的影響是相似的。因此，當我說它是 - 我們對未來指導缺乏明確性的重要原因之一是系統業務。我們在系統業務中面臨的問題與從我們這裡購買模塊的客戶在他們的項目中面臨的問題相同。因此，我們的很多模塊，數量都流向了擁有融資項目的客戶，無論是到位還是承諾。但是，可能有些資產並非如此。如果是這樣，我們可能會看到客戶要求延遲以允許他們完成融資。如果是這種情況，我們將盡可能與客戶合作以適應他們的日程安排。所以我認為那里肯定有一些重疊。

There's also some more simple issues on the modules side. We may have shipping constraints getting modules to their final delivery point, be that sea, rail or road. And we may find the same from customers there. They have constraints taking delivery at ports on project sites. So from our side, one of the large drivers of lack of clarity around guidance was the systems business, but there are some of the same forces at play as it relates to the module business.

在模塊方面還有一些更簡單的問題。我們可能有運輸限制，將模塊運送到最終交付點，無論是海運、鐵路還是公路。我們可能會從那裡的客戶那裡找到相同的結果。他們在項目現場的港口收貨時受到限制。因此，從我們的角度來看，指導缺乏明確性的主要驅動因素之一是系統業務，但也有一些與模塊業務相關的相同力量在起作用。

And relating to the last question around gross margin, I think we're going to see some of that play out in Q2 as well. We already have a view of some module shipments being delayed out of Q2 into Q3 based on some of those factors I spoke about just now.

關於毛利率的最後一個問題，我認為我們也將在第二季度看到其中的一些表現。基於我剛才談到的一些因素，我們已經看到一些模塊出貨量從第二季度推遲到第三季度。

As it relates to cost, it's not going to have a direct impact on our manufacturing cost. So it will have an impact on timing of rev rec. Gross margins impacted us with lower revenue, and therefore, lower gross margins. We have less absorption of the fixed cost structure that sits across both our module and systems business. But otherwise, you see the manufacturing business continues to run the cost of base of interest rate. And we'll just see the timing of rev rec and gross margin shift largely out into the second half of the year.

由於它與成本有關，它不會對我們的製造成本產生直接影響。所以它會對rev rec的時間產生影響。毛利率以較低的收入影響了我們，因此毛利率也較低。我們對模塊和系統業務的固定成本結構的吸收較少。但除此之外，您會看到製造業務繼續以利率為基礎的成本運行。而且我們只會看到rev rec和毛利率的時間在很大程度上轉移到今年下半年。

And our next question comes from Mr. Ben Kallo.

我們的下一個問題來自 Ben Kallo 先生。

So my first question, there's a bunch of big projects out there that I'm reading about. Where are you on being on those? So like these gigawatt-type projects. I know you stayed clear of that before.

所以我的第一個問題是，我正在閱讀大量的大型項目。你在哪裡？所以就像這些千兆瓦類型的項目。我知道你之前一直很清楚。

And then my second question is, you went through all the, I think, 4 things about guidance before the -- but I calculated maybe like $0.40 of project business. And so I'm just wondering why you pulled guidance? And I think you guys have good visibility, but can you talk to your visibility on that?

然後我的第二個問題是，我認為您在之前經歷了所有關於指導的 4 件事——但我計算出的項目業務可能約為 0.40 美元。所以我只是想知道你為什麼取消指導？我認為你們有很好的知名度，但你能談談你的知名度嗎？

Yes. So Ben, on those large projects, I'm assuming maybe you're referencing some of the projects in the Middle East, which they've been big elephant hunting type of opportunities for module producers for a number of years. We were in early in some of those opportunities. And we did the very first DEWA project. And we provided the modules for the second one. And then what's happened ever since then on some of those large opportunities is people are just going extremely aggressive and very low pricing that is uneconomical. I guarantee that whoever is providing those modules, unless they're getting even incremental incentives to what they already have and being provided to them that there's -- the module prices that they're trying to bid into those projects is that they're probably barely covering variable cost of the project. And so we've chosen not to participate in that. That's one reason why we have the strength of the contracted backlog that we have. We can be selective, and we're not looking to entertain and willing to participate in those types of opportunities. We have many other places that we can go to and capture better value for our technology.

是的。因此，本，在那些大型項目中，我假設您可能會參考中東的一些項目，多年來，它們一直是模塊生產商的大型大象狩獵類型的機會。我們在其中一些機會中處於早期階段。我們做了第一個 DEWA 項目。我們為第二個提供了模塊。然後從那以後發生的一些大機會是人們只是變得非常激進和非常低的定價，這是不經濟的。我保證無論誰提供這些模塊，除非他們對他們已經擁有的東西甚至獲得了增量激勵，並且被提供給他們——他們試圖競標這些項目的模塊價格是他們可能幾乎不包括項目的可變成本。所以我們選擇不參與。這就是我們擁有強大的合同積壓的原因之一。我們可以有選擇性，我們不尋求娛樂並願意參與這些類型的機會。我們還有許多其他地方可以去，並為我們的技術獲取更好的價值。

As it relates to visibility in -- the biggest impact that we're having around guidance is the uncertainty of capital markets. And there's 3 large projects from revenue and margin penetration standpoint. There's American Kings and Sun Streams 2 here in the U.S., and then there's the Ishikawa project in Japan. There's a couple of other projects as well, but those really are the 3 largest revenue and margin contributors. And right now, we don't have great clarity around what's going to happen in the capital markets. And also the -- we have expectations on what we think the value that is embedded in those assets, and I don't want to just go out and sell just to be beholden to an earnings or revenue commitment to the year if it means I'm going to get diminished value. We want to be able to optimize that value, and we've been very selective with doing that in the past. And we may and in this case, end up holding some of those assets longer than we would have otherwise because we can capture better value when markets normalize back. And I think there's a lot of uncertainty right now. As Alex indicated, there's some positive indicators in the capital markets, and there's potentially issues in the capital markets. Until everyone can kind of see what happens and sort of evaluate from their own perspective. We won't know till we know. And so we have to get out into the market and really get an update.

因為它與可見性有關——我們對指導的最大影響是資本市場的不確定性。從收入和利潤率滲透的角度來看，有 3 個大型項目。美國有《美國國王與太陽溪流 2》，日本有 Ishikawa 項目。還有其他幾個項目，但這些確實是 3 大收入和利潤貢獻者。而現在，我們對資本市場將發生的事情還不是很清楚。還有——我們對我們認為這些資產中嵌入的價值有什麼期望，我不想只是為了對當年的收益或收入承諾感到感激而出去出售，如果這意味著我'將獲得減少的價值。我們希望能夠優化該價值，過去我們一直非常有選擇性地這樣做。在這種情況下，我們可能最終持有其中一些資產的時間比我們原本持有的時間更長，因為當市場恢復正常時，我們可以獲得更好的價值。我認為現在有很多不確定性。正如亞歷克斯所說，資本市場有一些積極的指標，資本市場也存在潛在的問題。直到每個人都能看到發生了什麼並從自己的角度進行評估。在我們知道之前我們不會知道。所以我們必須進入市場並真正獲得更新。

We've got indication of value of assets pre-COVID. And unfortunately, what we need to do now is better -- get a better indication of what the valuation of those assets would be post-COVID. So the systems business is a piece of it. But the other thing that Alex mentioned is not -- we do have -- we have firm committed contracted backlog and sold out for the year. So we have that. But -- and a high percentage of our module -- third-party module sales, customers have already gone out and they've closed on financing. There's a difference between us. I mean, we, obviously, have balance sheet financing. Most of our customers would go out and they get construction financing, tax equity bridge loans and everything else. So they've already got committed capital. So a good percentage of our backlog has committed capital. But there's other portion of our module shipments that our customers have not closed on their financing yet. So they need to do that. Though some of that's delayed, some of that pushed their schedule, and -- we don't know yet. And so we have to get that insight to get -- have a higher level of conviction around the module business and the contribution from revenue and earnings for the year. We've been in close contact with a number of them, but they are still highly confident in their ability to close. They're getting signals from the banks. And whether it's the debt side or the tax equity side, and they feel comfortable, but they're still uncertain. And so we felt that given where we are right now with all the uncertainty that we have, the right thing to do is to pull guidance.

我們已經得到了 COVID 之前資產價值的跡象。不幸的是，我們現在需要做的是更好的——更好地了解這些資產的估值在 COVID 之後的水平。所以系統業務是其中的一部分。但亞歷克斯提到的另一件事不是——我們確實有——我們已經堅定地承諾合同積壓並在這一年售罄。所以我們有。但是 - 以及我們模塊的很大一部分 - 第三方模塊銷售，客戶已經離開並且他們已經關閉了融資。我們之間是有區別的。我的意思是，我們顯然有資產負債表融資。我們的大多數客戶都會出去，他們會獲得建設融資、稅收股權過橋貸款和其他一切。所以他們已經有了承諾的資本。因此，我們的積壓訂單中有很大一部分已經投入了資金。但是，我們的模塊出貨量的其他部分尚未完成，我們的客戶尚未完成融資。所以他們需要這樣做。雖然其中一些被推遲了，但其中一些推遲了他們的日程安排，而且——我們還不知道。因此，我們必須獲得這種洞察力才能獲得 - 對模塊業務以及當年收入和收益的貢獻有更高的信念。我們已經與其中一些人保持密切聯繫，但他們仍然對自己關閉的能力充滿信心。他們從銀行那裡得到信號。無論是債務方面還是稅收權益方面，他們都覺得很舒服，但他們仍然不確定。因此，我們認為，鑑於我們現在所處的位置以及我們所擁有的所有不確定性，正確的做法是尋求指導。

Now I can, and I think Alex said in his comments, we are very happy with how the year has started. We're very happy with everything that we've seen and as we move forward, if things return to what we had initially -- what the world of the capital market was like in February, then we feel very confident we can still deliver against commitments that were made in February. But I don't know yet. I mean there's so much uncertainty that we feel right now, let's pull the guidance, make sure people understand kind of where we are, and we'll continue to provide the best information when we learn more, especially around the sell-down of our projects, or if there's any customers that have, for whatever reasons, difficulty in closing financing for their projects. And then our project module shipment schedule gets pushed at all.

現在我可以了，我認為亞歷克斯在他的評論中說，我們對今年的開始感到非常滿意。我們對所看到的一切感到非常滿意，並且隨著我們的前進，如果事情恢復到我們最初的狀態——資本市場在二月份的情況，那麼我們非常有信心我們仍然可以應對2 月份做出的承諾。但我還不知道。我的意思是我們現在感覺有很多不確定性，讓我們拉開指導，確保人們了解我們的位置，當我們了解更多信息時，我們將繼續提供最好的信息，尤其是在我們的拋售情況下項目，或者如果有任何客戶由於任何原因難以為其項目完成融資。然後我們的項目模塊發貨時間表被完全推遲了。

Yes. Ben, I just want to reiterate. I think this is a timing issue more than a business fundamental issue. So if you look at the comments we made in the script, our underlying demand is strong and shown by the bookings reported, including 0.8 gigawatts since the end of the quarter, right, after the end of the Q date, which was all during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you look at the other businesses, the underlying manufacturing fundamentals are strong and have shown -- demonstrated really good throughput capacity in the factories. Efficiency is good. Cost borrowing, COVID-specific impact is good. CapEx capacity plans are on schedule. The OpEx metrics continue to improve. So we have the issues that we've just talked around -- especially around systems business. But all this being said, the challenge with guidance is our inability to forecast timing. We just don't have that clarity today. But business fundamental remains strong.

是的。本，我只想重申。我認為這是一個時機問題，而不是業務基礎問題。因此，如果您查看我們在腳本中所做的評論，我們的潛在需求很強勁，並且從報告的預訂中可以看出，其中包括自季度末以來的 0.8 吉瓦，對，在 Q 日期結束之後，這都是在2019冠狀病毒病大流行。如果你看看其他業務，基本的製造基礎是強大的，並且已經顯示——在工廠中表現出非常好的生產能力。效率不錯。成本借貸，針對 COVID 的影響是好的。資本支出容量計劃如期進行。運營支出指標繼續改善。所以我們遇到了我們剛剛討論過的問題——尤其是在系統業務方面。但話雖如此，指導的挑戰是我們無法預測時間。我們今天只是沒有那麼清楚。但商業基本面依然強勁。

And our next question comes from Mr. Colin Rusch.

我們的下一個問題來自 Colin Rusch 先生。

With those customers, can you give us a sense of the order of magnitude of customers that did not have committed capital and whether you're willing to step in, in terms of being a finance partner with those projects?

對於這些客戶，您能否讓我們了解沒有承諾資金的客戶數量級，以及您是否願意介入，就成為這些項目的財務合作夥伴而言？

Yes. So I mean, Colin, as you could expect, there's a portion of that order module backlog at utility-owned generation. So something's going into rate base that's already been approved through commission and all that. I mean, that's not a risk item, right? If anything, we're being hit directly and aggressively continue to produce and to make sure we deliver against commitments and schedules and everything else, right? So there's a portion of that. It's really the -- it's more the PPA for segment and for -- primarily for independent power producers or developers. And that's where the risk runs. And I would say the stuff that we're anticipating to deliver through to Q2 and Q3, largely financing is in place. Where you start seeing a little bit more of a gray area is projects that would be delivered in Q4 that released support CODs that start out in -- there would be projects that would hit COD into 2021, call it, the second half of 2021. So we're about a year or so out from where those CODs are, and construction hasn't actually started in those places. So -- and you've got to remember, this disruption has been with us now almost 2 months. And so people were going to go out, sort of hit the capital markets in kind of the end of Q1, beginning of Q2 that largely would have put their construction financing, tax equity bridge financing in place that then would have funded their construction and deliver against CODs in the second half, middle of 2021. So it's really the volume that sits in our fourth quarter that is our most exposure to the stuff. In Q2, Q3, not as much. And again, if anything, it's more directly tied to the utility-owned generation, which a portion is -- of that volume is less risk at this point in time. I don't have the exact percentages, but I can put you in each bucket, but I can just give you some color around where the exposure sits.

是的。所以我的意思是，科林，正如你所料，在公用事業擁有的一代中有一部分訂單模塊積壓。因此，已經通過佣金和所有其他方式批准的利率基礎將進入利率基礎。我的意思是，這不是一個風險項目，對吧？如果有的話，我們會受到直接的打擊，我們會繼續積極地繼續生產並確保我們按照承諾和時間表以及其他一切來交付，對嗎？所以有一部分。這實際上是——它更多的是針對細分市場和——主要針對獨立電力生產商或開發商的 PPA。這就是風險所在。我想說的是，我們預計將在第二季度和第三季度交付的東西，主要是融資到位。您開始看到更多灰色區域的地方是將在第四季度交付的項目，這些項目發布了開始的支持 COD——有些項目將在 2021 年達到 COD，稱之為 2021 年下半年。所以我們離這些 COD 的位置還有一年左右的時間，而且這些地方還沒有真正開始建設。所以——你必須記住，這種中斷已經存在了將近 2 個月。所以人們會走出去，在第一季度末，第二季度初進入資本市場，這在很大程度上將把他們的建設融資，稅收股權過渡融資到位，然後為他們的建設和交付提供資金在 2021 年年中的下半年對抗 COD。因此，我們第四季度的交易量確實是我們對這些東西的最大曝光量。在第二季度，第三季度，沒有那麼多。再說一次，如果有的話，它更直接地與公用事業擁有的發電相關聯，其中一部分是 - 在這個時間點，該數量的風險較小。我沒有確切的百分比，但我可以把你放在每個桶裡，但我可以給你一些曝光位置周圍的顏色。

Yes. And I do think we'll see some impact to Q2 and Q3, but those are going to be more related to logistics than they are the financing. It's going to be a function of ability to ship and ability to receive relative to the plan versus financing, which for those projects are typically already in place. As Mark said, the financing challenges are more likely for later in the year deliveries or deliveries out in 2021.

是的。而且我確實認為我們會看到對第二季度和第三季度的一些影響，但這些與物流的關係將比融資更重要。這將是相對於計劃與融資的發貨能力和接收能力的函數，對於這些項目，融資通常已經到位。正如馬克所說，融資挑戰更有可能在今年晚些時候交付或在 2021 年交付。

And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。