Chinese solar shares jump on reports of Musk-linked visits, some firms deny cooperation

By Lewis Jackson and Nichola Groom

BEIJING/LOS ANGELES, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Chinese solar shares jumped on Wednesday after local media reported that delegations sent by Elon Musk had visited various companies in the sector, days after he announced plans to build large-scale solar cell capacity in the U.S., though some firms later denied having any cooperation or agreement was in place.

The CSI All Share Solar Power Equipment Sub-Industry Index rose 3.61% on Wednesday, while the CSI SH-HK-SZ Solar Power 50 Index was up 3.22%.

A team sent by Musk recently visited several photovoltaic firms in China, including companies involved in equipment, silicon wafers, battery modules and perovskite technology, according to a story published on Tuesday by private media outlet Sina Finance that cited sources in the Chinese solar industry. The report did not identify the companies visited.

Later on Wednesday, state media Securities Times reported that Chinese solar panel maker GCL Group had confirmed a visit from a team sent by Musk.

In a separate report, solar giant JinkoSolar 688223.SS also told Securities Times it had recently been in contact with a visiting team associated with Musk.

JinkoSolar shares soared 20% on Wednesday to their daily limit. Trina Solar 688599.SS shares rose 9%.

In a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday night, JinkoSolar said it had not engaged in any cooperation with Musk's team and had not signed any framework or formal agreements and had no orders on hand.

Chinese solar manufacturing equipment supplier Gaoce Technology issued a similar filing on Wednesday, denying cooperation or any agreements with Musk's team.

Musk's Tesla TSLA.O has not responded to requests for comment.

Musk announced plans to build 100 gigawatts of solar cell capacity in the U.S. during a Tesla earnings call last week. Days earlier he had said the U.S. could meet all its electricity needs from solar power.

"The solar opportunity is underestimated," he said on the earnings call.

"We're going to work towards getting 100 gigawatts a year of solar cell production, integrating across the entire supply chain from raw materials to already finished solar panels," Musk said.

Musk also praised China's solar manufacturing prowess in a post on X this week.

"China is an amazing powerhouse of manufacturing and understands very well that solar is the future," he wrote. "It’s just a fact!"

Tesla last week unveiled a new residential solar panel it is producing at its factory in Buffalo, New York. The company began delivering the product, Tesla's first in-house residential panel, to customers last month. It will continue to produce the solar roof tiles that are also made in Buffalo.

The U.S. solar market is heavily protected by tariffs aimed at curbing imports of cheaper panels and cells from China and Southeast Asia, where many Chinese producers operate subsidiaries. However many U.S. domestic producers still maintain links to Chinese manufacturers.

The U.S. installed 11.7 GW of solar capacity in the third quarter of last year, with more than 30 GW installed across the first three quarters.