Astronergy CEO believes solar market will escalate against the backdrop of carbon neutrality – pv magazine International

By Pune Media On Nov 4, 2024 31

TOPCon is currently the most competitive of solar technologies, according to Astronergy CEO Dr. Chuan Lu. He says he believes that TOPCon will become the mainstream technology in the next two to three years and that the solar market will continue to grow over the long term.

November 4, 2024

Why has Astronergy focused on TOPCon solar technology and what advances have you made with it?

Dr. Lu: Astronergy successfully launched its n-type TOPCon cell into mass production in 2022, ahead of our major competitors, and we have quickly upgraded all our production lines from p-type to n-type. Our continued research on TOPCon and XBC technology make us stand out, and we have achieved the most competitive production costs along with premium cell efficiency. In the first half of this year, our worldwide TOPCon product shipments ranked in the top four in the industry, according to the financial reports disclosed by listed companies and our internal calculations.

And we have not stopped innovating. In our lab, we are researching advanced technologies such as HJT, XBC, and perovskite. We believe that TOPCon is currently still the most competitive technology and that the breakthrough for mass production will happen very soon. This will enable a lower LCOE, which will increase the potential global demand for solar.

Can you talk about your “Internet+Transparent” factory and what innovations are being used?

Dr. Lu: Starting in 2015, we entered into the residential business market, and we started to see that a lot of households were really interested in the production process. Once they placed their order, they wanted to know how long it would take to get their system and how their product was produced.

So we came up with this factory concept where we installed cameras that were directed at the production process and explained what is going on. When the customer places an order, they get an account so they can log in and choose which camera they want to see. And basically, they can watch the products that will be delivered to them, and they become very involved and interested in it.

This concept has helped us become much closer to our end customers, and we have seen a good outcome from it. We currently occupy more than 30% of China’s residential market. In 2023 alone, we installed over 12 GW, and this year, we are targeting 15 GW. The concept also helps us collect data about energy consumption, which helps us to pass the carbon-neutral factory test. Furthermore, we have made everything transparent and traceable, for value chain transparency, ESG performance, and EHS management.

As a senior in the photovoltaic industry, you have witnessed the ups and downs of the industry in the past 20 years. Can you share with us your views on the industry and predict its future development?

Dr. Lu: In the past two decades, solar has transformed from a niche technology to a mainstream energy source that has developed rapidly. I believe the technology, innovation, policy, and incentives, as well as the demand, have jointly driven this rapid growth of the PV industry. I also believe that solar demand will continue to grow, even despite challenges. As a highly competitive green energy, no one can stop the continued application of photovoltaics worldwide. It will certainly be a key part of the world’s energy transition process.

Astronergy CEO Dr. Chuan Lu

Image: Astronergy

How has Astronergy worked to differentiate itself from the competition in the solar industry?

Dr. Lu: For our business operations, we created a 3D strategy, which stands for Differentiation, Downstream, and Diversification. Differentiation means we continue to promote research and development with attention to the customer’s point of view. Downstream means Astronergy and the CHINT Group work together on project development, including centralized and distributed applications. And Diversification means that as a subsidiary of CHINT Group, we can leverage its diversified business alliances and use these strengths to mitigate the impact of the cyclical changes.

What is Astronergy’s globalization plan and how do you ensure successful implementation across diverse markets?

Dr. Lu: Our strategy focuses on three aspects: market globalization, manufacturing globalization, and supply chain globalization. At present, Astronergy has finished the development of market globalization. We have established sales offices in major markets, formed a global technical service team, and allocated dedicated marketing colleagues in these areas. The next step will be to synchronize the global expansion of manufacturing and the supply chain. Localization is a big part of our strategy, which we believe could bring us strong and sustainable competitiveness.

How does Astronergy balance the need for innovation with the demand for cost effective solutions in different markets?

Dr. Lu: We collaborate with an international team of talents, including many European institutions that worked on the original advances in solar, to make our products innovative and to deliver the most competitive cost for the products. Since the module itself has been significantly reduced as a percentage of the system cost, we now pay more attention to reducing costs for the whole system. We believe the current low price is a periodical mismatch between supply and demand and that the price could gradually recover in the next 2-3 years. Most solar manufacturers understand that below-cost prices will not expand the market.

The questions and responses in this sponsored interview article were provided by Astronergy.

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