BAODING, China, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has entered into a sales contract with GOLDBECK Solar GmbH ("GOLDBECK Solar"), a leading German PV system specialist company for PV applications on industrial buildings. Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply a minimum of 15 MW of PV modules to GOLDBECK Solar in 2009. In addition, the contract provides a framework for GOLDBECK Solar to purchase up to an additional 58 MW of PV modules from Yingli Green Energy in 2009.
"We are pleased to have Yingli as one of our key suppliers," said Joachim Goldbeck, General Manager of GOLDBECK Solar. "We aim to provide our customers maximum value with our products and services. Cooperating with top tier suppliers like Yingli is one of our principal strategies for achieving these goals in order to secure customers on a long-term basis."
"We look forward to working closely with GOLDBECK Solar in 2009," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "Given the cost advantage and quality control capability of our vertically integrated business model, we can provide reliable and high quality products at a reasonable and competitive price, in line with our strategy to continually enhance the value that we provide to our customers. We believe this will lead to a broader and deeper penetration of our products and brand awareness worldwide."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or operate on a stand-alone basis. With 400 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of a limited number of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted a vertically integrated business model. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Yingli Energy (China) Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy currently plans to expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 600 MW in the third quarter of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Belgium, France, China and the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.yinglisolar.com .
Showing posts with label PV system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PV system. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Suntech Opens Sales and Customer Service Office in Italy
SAN FRANCISCO and WUXI, China, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), the world's largest photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer, today announced the opening of a sales office in Milan, Italy to provide enhanced sales and service support to Suntech's Italian customer base.
Jerry Stokes, Suntech's President of Europe, said, "Our new office in Milan is another step towards the increasing globalization of Suntech's sales and service capabilities. To complement our core sales competency, we are building a multi-faceted team across Europe that is in tune with local market conditions and can respond to customer needs promptly. We believe our customers appreciate this commitment and see Suntech as a reliable, long term solar partner."
Mauro Sgherri, Suntech's Director of Sales, Italy, said, "Suntech's involvement in many of the highest profile solar projects in Europe combined with a deep dedication to quality and continuous technology improvement distinguishes Suntech's solar offering in the Italian market. Moreover, Suntech's industry leading scale, broad product portfolio and timely product delivery highlight our market leadership. We have established a top tier customer base of companies that have long term solar plans and have already built an order book in Italy of over 130 megawatts for 2009. We look forward to supporting the growth plans of our Italian customers through the stablesupply of high quality solar modules and responsive customer service."
The Italian market is set to grow rapidly in 2009 due to strong support from the Italian government in the form of solar subsidies that range from EUR0.36/kWh for large ground-mounted PV systems and up to EUR0.49/kWh for building integrated PV systems. The high solar irradiation provides excellent conditions for generating solar energy.
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is a world-leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech is passionate about improving the environment we live in and dedicated to developing advanced solar solutions that enable sustainable development. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high-quality, cost-effective and environmentally friendly solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of BIPV products under the MSK Solar Design Line(TM). Suntech hassales offices worldwide and is a market share leader in key global solar markets. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
Jerry Stokes, Suntech's President of Europe, said, "Our new office in Milan is another step towards the increasing globalization of Suntech's sales and service capabilities. To complement our core sales competency, we are building a multi-faceted team across Europe that is in tune with local market conditions and can respond to customer needs promptly. We believe our customers appreciate this commitment and see Suntech as a reliable, long term solar partner."
Mauro Sgherri, Suntech's Director of Sales, Italy, said, "Suntech's involvement in many of the highest profile solar projects in Europe combined with a deep dedication to quality and continuous technology improvement distinguishes Suntech's solar offering in the Italian market. Moreover, Suntech's industry leading scale, broad product portfolio and timely product delivery highlight our market leadership. We have established a top tier customer base of companies that have long term solar plans and have already built an order book in Italy of over 130 megawatts for 2009. We look forward to supporting the growth plans of our Italian customers through the stablesupply of high quality solar modules and responsive customer service."
The Italian market is set to grow rapidly in 2009 due to strong support from the Italian government in the form of solar subsidies that range from EUR0.36/kWh for large ground-mounted PV systems and up to EUR0.49/kWh for building integrated PV systems. The high solar irradiation provides excellent conditions for generating solar energy.
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is a world-leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech is passionate about improving the environment we live in and dedicated to developing advanced solar solutions that enable sustainable development. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high-quality, cost-effective and environmentally friendly solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of BIPV products under the MSK Solar Design Line(TM). Suntech hassales offices worldwide and is a market share leader in key global solar markets. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
Friday, December 5, 2008
Yingli Green Energy Signs New Sales Contracts with IBC Solar AG for Supply of 91 MW of PV Modules
BAODING, China, Dec 05, 2008 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has entered into two sales contracts with IBC Solar AG ("IBC Solar"), one of the leading specialists in PV systems worldwide, to supply a total of 91 MW of PV modules to IBC Solar.
Under the terms of these contracts, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 91 MW of PV modules to IBC Solar from December 2008 to December 2009. Supplies under these contracts are agreed to be made at fixed prices for December 2008 and for the period from January through October 2009, which will be adjusted by mutual agreement if the market price falls below the fixed prices.
"The performance, reliability and quality of Yingli's PV modules, their excellent customer service and their brand recognition among our customers form the foundation of our business relationship," commented Mr. Udo Moehrstedt, president and founder of IBC Solar. "We are currently working on a range of significant projects with a broad range of customers. We believe our business cooperation with Yingli will help us expand our business in the future."
"We are very pleased to announce these significant new contracts, which we believe provide more visibility for our sales in 2009," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "The majority of our customers are companies with an established track record of successful operations, just like IBC Solar. We expect that these new contracts will further strengthen our leading position in the German market and provide a solid foundation for our continued success there in the coming year. In addition, we believe our competitive PV module pricing and reliable product quality, which are supported by our vertically integrated business model and one of the lowest non-polysilicon manufacturing cost structures in the industry, will further enhance customer loyalty and extend our market share in this competitive environment."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or operate on a stand-alone basis. With 400 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of a limited number of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted a vertically integrated business model. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Yingli Energy (China) Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy currently plans to expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 600 MW in the third quarter of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Belgium, France, China and the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.yinglisolar.com .
About IBC SOLAR
Since it was established in 1982, IBC Solar has been exclusively active in the photovoltaics sector. The IBC Solar group with several subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and USA currently supplies the global market with high-performance systems of every magnitude, from single-family home roofs, to large-scale solar projects. To date more than 350 megawatts (MWp) of photovoltaic power have been delivered in more than 50,000 solar power systems around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.ibc-solar.com .
Under the terms of these contracts, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 91 MW of PV modules to IBC Solar from December 2008 to December 2009. Supplies under these contracts are agreed to be made at fixed prices for December 2008 and for the period from January through October 2009, which will be adjusted by mutual agreement if the market price falls below the fixed prices.
"The performance, reliability and quality of Yingli's PV modules, their excellent customer service and their brand recognition among our customers form the foundation of our business relationship," commented Mr. Udo Moehrstedt, president and founder of IBC Solar. "We are currently working on a range of significant projects with a broad range of customers. We believe our business cooperation with Yingli will help us expand our business in the future."
"We are very pleased to announce these significant new contracts, which we believe provide more visibility for our sales in 2009," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "The majority of our customers are companies with an established track record of successful operations, just like IBC Solar. We expect that these new contracts will further strengthen our leading position in the German market and provide a solid foundation for our continued success there in the coming year. In addition, we believe our competitive PV module pricing and reliable product quality, which are supported by our vertically integrated business model and one of the lowest non-polysilicon manufacturing cost structures in the industry, will further enhance customer loyalty and extend our market share in this competitive environment."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or operate on a stand-alone basis. With 400 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of a limited number of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted a vertically integrated business model. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Yingli Energy (China) Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy currently plans to expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 600 MW in the third quarter of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Belgium, France, China and the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.yinglisolar.com .
About IBC SOLAR
Since it was established in 1982, IBC Solar has been exclusively active in the photovoltaics sector. The IBC Solar group with several subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and USA currently supplies the global market with high-performance systems of every magnitude, from single-family home roofs, to large-scale solar projects. To date more than 350 megawatts (MWp) of photovoltaic power have been delivered in more than 50,000 solar power systems around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.ibc-solar.com .
Friday, June 6, 2008
Yingli Green Energy Signs a Sales Contract with EN-NEO
June 05, 2008
BAODING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has entered into a sales contract with EN-NEO NEUE ENERGIEN GmbH ("EN-NEO"), one of the leading specialists in PV energy projects worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 9.19 MW of PV modules to EN-NEO from October 2008 to December 2008. In addition, EN-NEO has an option to purchase another 9 MW of PV modules from Yingli Green Energy in 2009. The modules to be supplied will be installed in a solar power plant EN-NEO is constructing in Bad Sobernheim, Germany.
"Our well-recognized products and rich experience in cooperating with leading PV system specialists will provide effective support to EN-NEO in the construction of economical and environmentally friendly PV power plants," said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and CEO of Yingli Green Energy. "We are expecting further cooperation with EN-NEO in future."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited numbers of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 MW by mid-2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the United States. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com.
BAODING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has entered into a sales contract with EN-NEO NEUE ENERGIEN GmbH ("EN-NEO"), one of the leading specialists in PV energy projects worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply 9.19 MW of PV modules to EN-NEO from October 2008 to December 2008. In addition, EN-NEO has an option to purchase another 9 MW of PV modules from Yingli Green Energy in 2009. The modules to be supplied will be installed in a solar power plant EN-NEO is constructing in Bad Sobernheim, Germany.
"Our well-recognized products and rich experience in cooperating with leading PV system specialists will provide effective support to EN-NEO in the construction of economical and environmentally friendly PV power plants," said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and CEO of Yingli Green Energy. "We are expecting further cooperation with EN-NEO in future."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited numbers of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 MW by mid-2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the United States. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Yingli Green Energy Signs Sales Contract with IBC Solar AG
Thursday, May. 08, 2008
BAODING, China — Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has entered into a sales contract with IBC Solar AG ("IBC"), one of the leading specialists in PV systems worldwide. Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply a minimum of 35 MW of PV modules to IBC from May 2008 to December 2008. In addition, IBC has an option to purchase a maximum of another 45 MW of PV modules from Yingli Green Energy in 2009.
"I believe this contract will further support the cooperation and deepen the relationship between our two companies," commented Thomas C. Sauer, CEO of IBC. "Yingli Green Energy's top quality products, brand name and solid track record have been a major reason behind our purchases from them in the past, and now we are pleased to significantly expand our relationship in the future."
"I am very pleased to announce this important contract which represents another milestone in our ongoing relationship with IBC," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "I believe this sales contract marks our continued success in expanding in Germany, which is one of the most important PV markets in the world, and further demonstrates that our product quality and brand name have been recognized by one of the leading PV system specialists in the market. In addition, IBC's broad reach makes them a particularly desirable partner. We remain deeply committed to solidifying our established customer relationships and we continue our efforts to promote our quality products and brand name to both existing and potential customers. I believe our efforts will further strengthen our position as one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers."
About IBC SOLAR AG
IBC SOLAR AG was founded in 1982 and since then has been active exclusively in the photovoltaic sector. Headquartered in Bavaria, the company was recognised as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Bavaria in 2006. The IBC group and its subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and America provide markets worldwide with high performance photovoltaic systems of all sizes, from house roofs to major turnkey solar projects.
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited numbers of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 MW by the end of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the United States. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com.
BAODING, China — Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has entered into a sales contract with IBC Solar AG ("IBC"), one of the leading specialists in PV systems worldwide. Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply a minimum of 35 MW of PV modules to IBC from May 2008 to December 2008. In addition, IBC has an option to purchase a maximum of another 45 MW of PV modules from Yingli Green Energy in 2009.
"I believe this contract will further support the cooperation and deepen the relationship between our two companies," commented Thomas C. Sauer, CEO of IBC. "Yingli Green Energy's top quality products, brand name and solid track record have been a major reason behind our purchases from them in the past, and now we are pleased to significantly expand our relationship in the future."
"I am very pleased to announce this important contract which represents another milestone in our ongoing relationship with IBC," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "I believe this sales contract marks our continued success in expanding in Germany, which is one of the most important PV markets in the world, and further demonstrates that our product quality and brand name have been recognized by one of the leading PV system specialists in the market. In addition, IBC's broad reach makes them a particularly desirable partner. We remain deeply committed to solidifying our established customer relationships and we continue our efforts to promote our quality products and brand name to both existing and potential customers. I believe our efforts will further strengthen our position as one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers."
About IBC SOLAR AG
IBC SOLAR AG was founded in 1982 and since then has been active exclusively in the photovoltaic sector. Headquartered in Bavaria, the company was recognised as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Bavaria in 2006. The IBC group and its subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and America provide markets worldwide with high performance photovoltaic systems of all sizes, from house roofs to major turnkey solar projects.
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited numbers of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 MW by the end of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the United States. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Yingli Green Energy Signs Sales Contract with Japanese PV System Integrator for Projects in Germany
BAODING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), one of the world's leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers, today announced that it has signed a sales contract with Eiko Trading Corporation JP ("EIKO"), which is engaged in the development and installation of PV systems in Japan and consulting, trading and investing in renewable energy projects with global partners.
Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy will supply 17.35 MW of PV modules to EIKO for planned projects in Germany. The shipment will be delivered between April and November 2008.
"We initiated our business cooperation with Yingli in mid-2007," commented Mr. Rui Chen, President of EIKO. "The performance, reliability and quality of Yingli's PV modules have impressed both us and our clients. These qualities, in addition to their excellent customer service, convinced us to deepen our business relationship with Yingli through 2008 and purchase a significant quantity of PV modules for projects in Germany. Our strategy is to provide reliable and flexible turnkey PV system solutions to our customers and Yingli shares our vision. We expect our cooperation with Yingli to develop into a more strategic, long-term relationship as we both continue to grow rapidly."
"After achieving much success in the Japanese market, EIKO is now looking to leverage its knowledge and experience to allow it to move into overseas markets, and obviously Germany stands out as one of the most important long term markets," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "Our solid market presence and well-regarded brand name were major factors that prompted EIKO to choose Yingli as one of its top-tier partners in Germany. Germany has been the major driver in turning the PV industry into the global business that it is today. We believe this partnership with EIKO will further strengthen our presence in the world's largest market and act as a springboard to allow us to move forward into the exciting future of the PV industry."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited numbers of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 MW by the end of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the United States. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com.
About EIKO
Eiko Trading Corporation JP is engaged in the development and installation of PV systems in Japan together with consulting, trading and investing in the renewable energy development sector with global partners. EIKO works as a strategic partner with pension funds in Germany and engages in a series of investment and management of photovoltaic projects mainly in Germany and throughout Europe.
Under the terms of the contract, Yingli Green Energy will supply 17.35 MW of PV modules to EIKO for planned projects in Germany. The shipment will be delivered between April and November 2008.
"We initiated our business cooperation with Yingli in mid-2007," commented Mr. Rui Chen, President of EIKO. "The performance, reliability and quality of Yingli's PV modules have impressed both us and our clients. These qualities, in addition to their excellent customer service, convinced us to deepen our business relationship with Yingli through 2008 and purchase a significant quantity of PV modules for projects in Germany. Our strategy is to provide reliable and flexible turnkey PV system solutions to our customers and Yingli shares our vision. We expect our cooperation with Yingli to develop into a more strategic, long-term relationship as we both continue to grow rapidly."
"After achieving much success in the Japanese market, EIKO is now looking to leverage its knowledge and experience to allow it to move into overseas markets, and obviously Germany stands out as one of the most important long term markets," commented Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy. "Our solid market presence and well-regarded brand name were major factors that prompted EIKO to choose Yingli as one of its top-tier partners in Germany. Germany has been the major driver in turning the PV industry into the global business that it is today. We believe this partnership with EIKO will further strengthen our presence in the world's largest market and act as a springboard to allow us to move forward into the exciting future of the PV industry."
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the world's leading vertically integrated PV product manufacturers. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in the world as measured by annual production capacity. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited numbers of large-scale PV companies in the world to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 MW by the end of 2009. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, Italy, China and the United States. For more information, please visit www.yinglisolar.com.
About EIKO
Eiko Trading Corporation JP is engaged in the development and installation of PV systems in Japan together with consulting, trading and investing in the renewable energy development sector with global partners. EIKO works as a strategic partner with pension funds in Germany and engages in a series of investment and management of photovoltaic projects mainly in Germany and throughout Europe.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Suntech to Supply 4MW of Modules to Leading Italian PV System Developer Enerray
SAN FRANCISCO, April 2, 2008, 2008 /Xinhua-PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic cells and modules, today announced a 4MW module supply agreement with Enerray, an Italian designer, developer and manager of photovoltaic systems. The Suntech modules will be installed by Enerray in PV systems for the rooftops of large Italian industrial complexes.
"The Italian government's proven commitment to renewable energy has fueled significant solar market growth in the region. Suntech is resolute in supporting utilization of renewable energy resources through the supply of high quality and reliable solar products to European PV system providers such as Enerray," said Jerry Stokes, President of Suntech Europe.
Italy is an avid supporter of the solar industry with attractive feed-in-tariffs of EUR0.36/kWh for ground-mounted PV systems and EUR0.44/kWh for buildings integrated PV systems. The current government regulations have set the total feed-in-tariff program cap to 1.2GW before a re-evaluation of the solar program.
"We are experiencing significant demand for the deployment of commercial rooftop solar systems," said Dr. Eng. Marco Ghirardello, Chief Executive Officer of Enerray. "As one of Italy's leading installers of photovoltaic systems, we have chosen to partner with the well respected Suntech brand to bring their superior quality solar products to key projects in high commerce cities across Italy."
Europe is currently the largest regional market for solar photovoltaic systems with countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy experiencing rapid annual growth. In order to better serve customers in the region, Suntech has recently established local sales and service centers in Germany and Spain and plans to continue to expand its European network by establishing offices in Italy and Greece over the next 12 months.
About Enerray
Enerray is a company that designs, develops and manages photovoltaic systems of medium and large size. Thanks to its design and business network located in the most important Italian cities, Enerray operates throughout the whole of the Italian territory. The economies of scale that Enerray has obtained with its projects make it competitive also in the supply of modules, inverters and other components to installers of photovoltaic systems. For more information, please visit http://www.enerray.com .
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a world leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech is passionate about improving the environment we live in and dedicated to developing advanced solar solutions that enable sustainable development. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of building integrated photovoltaic products under the MSK product line. Suntech has sales offices worldwide and is a market share leader in key global solar markets. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
"The Italian government's proven commitment to renewable energy has fueled significant solar market growth in the region. Suntech is resolute in supporting utilization of renewable energy resources through the supply of high quality and reliable solar products to European PV system providers such as Enerray," said Jerry Stokes, President of Suntech Europe.
Italy is an avid supporter of the solar industry with attractive feed-in-tariffs of EUR0.36/kWh for ground-mounted PV systems and EUR0.44/kWh for buildings integrated PV systems. The current government regulations have set the total feed-in-tariff program cap to 1.2GW before a re-evaluation of the solar program.
"We are experiencing significant demand for the deployment of commercial rooftop solar systems," said Dr. Eng. Marco Ghirardello, Chief Executive Officer of Enerray. "As one of Italy's leading installers of photovoltaic systems, we have chosen to partner with the well respected Suntech brand to bring their superior quality solar products to key projects in high commerce cities across Italy."
Europe is currently the largest regional market for solar photovoltaic systems with countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy experiencing rapid annual growth. In order to better serve customers in the region, Suntech has recently established local sales and service centers in Germany and Spain and plans to continue to expand its European network by establishing offices in Italy and Greece over the next 12 months.
About Enerray
Enerray is a company that designs, develops and manages photovoltaic systems of medium and large size. Thanks to its design and business network located in the most important Italian cities, Enerray operates throughout the whole of the Italian territory. The economies of scale that Enerray has obtained with its projects make it competitive also in the supply of modules, inverters and other components to installers of photovoltaic systems. For more information, please visit http://www.enerray.com .
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a world leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech is passionate about improving the environment we live in and dedicated to developing advanced solar solutions that enable sustainable development. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of building integrated photovoltaic products under the MSK product line. Suntech has sales offices worldwide and is a market share leader in key global solar markets. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com .
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Trina Solar and SolarAccess Announce Inauguration of 2007's Largest PV system installation in the Netherlands
January 29, 2008
CHANGZHOU, China, Jan. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trina Solar Limited ("Trina Solar" or the "Company") and SolarAccess announce the inauguration of 2007's largest PV system installation in the Netherlands, a roof integrated system at the new Amsterdam Library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam).
The project was carried out by SolarAccess, an international provider of PV installations with business in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France. Trina Solar, a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers, and cells to the assembly of PV modules, supplied over 450 units of their 180W solar modules needed for this key project to SolarAccess as part of the long-term relationship between both companies.
"We are very pleased to have supplied high quality modules of approximately 82kW in power for this landmark project that SolarAccess carried out for the new Amsterdam Library, representing the largest PV project installed in the Netherlands in 2007," remarked Jifan Gao, Trina Solar's Chairman and CEO. "We are delighted to work with SolarAccess to promote Trina Solar's brand in the Netherlands, a market we view as having great potential".
This PV system installation at the Amsterdam Library represents an important milestone for both Trina Solar and SolarAccess in Europe, as they continue their path to become leaders in the growing PV sector.
About Trina Solar Limited
Trina Solar Limited , through its wholly-owned subsidiary Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co. Ltd., is a well recognized manufacturer of high quality modules and has a long history as a solar PV pioneer since it was founded in 1997 as a system installation company. Trina Solar is currently one of the few PV manufacturers that has developed a vertically integrated business model from the production of monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of high quality modules. This integrated value chain helps to ensure that high quality products can be delivered to its end customers around the globe, including a number of European countries, such as Germany, Spain and Italy. Trina Solar's solar modules provide reliable and environmentally-friendly electric power for residential, commercial, industrial and other applications worldwide. Trina Solar successfully completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2006 and its ADSs are traded under the ticker symbol TSL. For further information, please visit Trina Solar's website at http://www.trinasolar.com .
About SolarAccess
SolarAccess is an international project developer, supplier, and operator of high quality photovoltaic solar systems. With presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain, its service offerings include system consultancy, supply, and turn key realisation. SolarAccess is part of the SolarTrust Holding group which has over twenty years of experience in the fast growing and dynamic field of photovoltaics. For further information, please visit the SolarAccess website at http://www.solaraccess.nl .
CHANGZHOU, China, Jan. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trina Solar Limited ("Trina Solar" or the "Company") and SolarAccess announce the inauguration of 2007's largest PV system installation in the Netherlands, a roof integrated system at the new Amsterdam Library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam).
The project was carried out by SolarAccess, an international provider of PV installations with business in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France. Trina Solar, a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products from the production of ingots, wafers, and cells to the assembly of PV modules, supplied over 450 units of their 180W solar modules needed for this key project to SolarAccess as part of the long-term relationship between both companies.
"We are very pleased to have supplied high quality modules of approximately 82kW in power for this landmark project that SolarAccess carried out for the new Amsterdam Library, representing the largest PV project installed in the Netherlands in 2007," remarked Jifan Gao, Trina Solar's Chairman and CEO. "We are delighted to work with SolarAccess to promote Trina Solar's brand in the Netherlands, a market we view as having great potential".
This PV system installation at the Amsterdam Library represents an important milestone for both Trina Solar and SolarAccess in Europe, as they continue their path to become leaders in the growing PV sector.
About Trina Solar Limited
Trina Solar Limited , through its wholly-owned subsidiary Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co. Ltd., is a well recognized manufacturer of high quality modules and has a long history as a solar PV pioneer since it was founded in 1997 as a system installation company. Trina Solar is currently one of the few PV manufacturers that has developed a vertically integrated business model from the production of monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots, wafers and cells to the assembly of high quality modules. This integrated value chain helps to ensure that high quality products can be delivered to its end customers around the globe, including a number of European countries, such as Germany, Spain and Italy. Trina Solar's solar modules provide reliable and environmentally-friendly electric power for residential, commercial, industrial and other applications worldwide. Trina Solar successfully completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2006 and its ADSs are traded under the ticker symbol TSL. For further information, please visit Trina Solar's website at http://www.trinasolar.com .
About SolarAccess
SolarAccess is an international project developer, supplier, and operator of high quality photovoltaic solar systems. With presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain, its service offerings include system consultancy, supply, and turn key realisation. SolarAccess is part of the SolarTrust Holding group which has over twenty years of experience in the fast growing and dynamic field of photovoltaics. For further information, please visit the SolarAccess website at http://www.solaraccess.nl .
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Yingli Green Energy Contributes Additional Capital to Its Joint Venture
BAODING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) ("Yingli Green Energy" or the "Company"), a leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturer in China, today announced that it further amended the joint venture contract (the "Amendment") with Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co., Ltd. ("Tianwei Baobian") under which Yingli Green Energy will contribute additional capital of RMB1,750,840,000 billion (equivalent of US$236.6 million at the exchange rate of RMB7.40 to US$1.00, as previously agreed upon by the Company and Tianwei Baobian) to its principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd. ("Tianwei Yingli").
As a result of the Amendment and Ying Green Energy's additional capital contribution upon approval of the relevant PRC governmental authorities:
1. The registered capital of Tianwei Yingli will increase from RMB1,624,380,000 to RMB3,375,220,000;
2. Yingli Green Energy's equity interest in Tianwei Yingli will increase from 70.11% to 74.01%; and
3. The equity interest of Tianwei Baobian in Tianwei Yingli will correspondingly decrease from 29.89% to 25.99%.
As an intermediary step in anticipation of this additional capital contribution, the Company had advanced part of the proceeds it received from its initial public offering completed in June 2007, in an aggregate amount of US$230.0 million, into Tianwei Yingli in the form of shareholder loans, which will be converted into part of the additional capital contribution contemplated under the Amendment as described above. The balance of the additional capital contribution will be made by the Company within 60 days of approval by the relevant PRC governmental authorities.
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli Green Energy") is one of the leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers in China. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in China. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited number of large-scale PV companies in China to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 megawatts by 2010. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, China and the United States.
As a result of the Amendment and Ying Green Energy's additional capital contribution upon approval of the relevant PRC governmental authorities:
1. The registered capital of Tianwei Yingli will increase from RMB1,624,380,000 to RMB3,375,220,000;
2. Yingli Green Energy's equity interest in Tianwei Yingli will increase from 70.11% to 74.01%; and
3. The equity interest of Tianwei Baobian in Tianwei Yingli will correspondingly decrease from 29.89% to 25.99%.
As an intermediary step in anticipation of this additional capital contribution, the Company had advanced part of the proceeds it received from its initial public offering completed in June 2007, in an aggregate amount of US$230.0 million, into Tianwei Yingli in the form of shareholder loans, which will be converted into part of the additional capital contribution contemplated under the Amendment as described above. The balance of the additional capital contribution will be made by the Company within 60 days of approval by the relevant PRC governmental authorities.
About Yingli Green Energy
Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited ("Yingli Green Energy") is one of the leading vertically integrated photovoltaic ("PV") product manufacturers in China. Through the Company's principal operating subsidiary in China, Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy designs, manufactures and sells PV modules and designs, assembles, sells and installs PV systems that are connected to an electricity transmission grid or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. With 200 MW of total annual production capacity in each of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules, Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in China. Additionally, Yingli Green Energy is one of the limited number of large-scale PV companies in China to have adopted vertical integration as its business model. Yingli Green Energy currently plans to gradually expand annual production capacity of polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells and PV modules to 400 MW by the end of 2008 and to 600 megawatts by 2010. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, China and the United States.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Solar power heads mainstream as costs drop - report
22 May 2007 21:53:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Timothy Gardner
NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - Solar power should become a mainstream energy choice in three or four years as companies raise output of a key ingredient used in solar panels and as China emerges as a producer of them, according to a report by an environmental research group.
"We are now seeing two major trends that will accelerate the growth of photovoltaics: the development of advanced technologies, and the emergence of China as a low-cost producer," Janet Sawin, a senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and an author of report, said in a statement.
Investors have flocked to solar and other renewable energy sources amid worries about the high costs of oil and natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions. Solar is the fastest growing energy source, but still provides less than 1 percent of the world's electricity, in part because its power can cost homeowners twice as much as power from the grid.
But costs could fall 40 percent in the next few years as polysilicon becomes more available, Sawin said.
More than a dozen companies in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States will boost production over the next few years of purified polysilicon, which helps panels convert sunlight into electricity, and is the main ingredient in semiconductor computer chips, according to the report.
Polysilicon's feedstock is abundantly available sand. But a downturn in silicon refining after the high-tech bubble collapse in the late 1990s has constrained the panel market.
In some of the world's sunniest places, like California, electricity from solar panels costs the same as power from the grid. A drop in solar panel prices could expand that to places that only get average sunlight, making solar more of a mainstream choice, Sawin said in an e-mail.
Last year, China passed the United States to become the world's third largest producer of solar panels, trailing only Germany and Japan.
"To say that Chinese PV producers plan to expand production rapidly in the year ahead would be an understatement," Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute, a Massachusetts-based group that promotes renewables, said in a release.
"They have raised billions from international IPOs to build capacity and increase scale with the goal of driving down costs," said Bradford, who helped write the report.
Many companies are producing thin-film solar technologies that cut the amount of silicon used in panels. Thin-film could grab a 20 percent share of the market by 2010, up from 7 percent of the market in 2006, the report said.
Source: Reuters
By Timothy Gardner
NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - Solar power should become a mainstream energy choice in three or four years as companies raise output of a key ingredient used in solar panels and as China emerges as a producer of them, according to a report by an environmental research group.
"We are now seeing two major trends that will accelerate the growth of photovoltaics: the development of advanced technologies, and the emergence of China as a low-cost producer," Janet Sawin, a senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and an author of report, said in a statement.
Investors have flocked to solar and other renewable energy sources amid worries about the high costs of oil and natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions. Solar is the fastest growing energy source, but still provides less than 1 percent of the world's electricity, in part because its power can cost homeowners twice as much as power from the grid.
But costs could fall 40 percent in the next few years as polysilicon becomes more available, Sawin said.
More than a dozen companies in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States will boost production over the next few years of purified polysilicon, which helps panels convert sunlight into electricity, and is the main ingredient in semiconductor computer chips, according to the report.
Polysilicon's feedstock is abundantly available sand. But a downturn in silicon refining after the high-tech bubble collapse in the late 1990s has constrained the panel market.
In some of the world's sunniest places, like California, electricity from solar panels costs the same as power from the grid. A drop in solar panel prices could expand that to places that only get average sunlight, making solar more of a mainstream choice, Sawin said in an e-mail.
Last year, China passed the United States to become the world's third largest producer of solar panels, trailing only Germany and Japan.
"To say that Chinese PV producers plan to expand production rapidly in the year ahead would be an understatement," Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute, a Massachusetts-based group that promotes renewables, said in a release.
"They have raised billions from international IPOs to build capacity and increase scale with the goal of driving down costs," said Bradford, who helped write the report.
Many companies are producing thin-film solar technologies that cut the amount of silicon used in panels. Thin-film could grab a 20 percent share of the market by 2010, up from 7 percent of the market in 2006, the report said.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The quest for clean energy: China's green revolution
The air in Beijing was classified as 'hazardous' this week as the city became choked with smog, but following dire warnings of rampant pollution, alternatives are emerging. By Clifford Coonan reports
Published: 23 November 2006
Desert winds drive the turbines in the vast wind farm on the outskirts of Urumqi, dusty capital of the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang, and day-trippers come from the city to photograph the spectacular sight in the barren wilderness.
Just down the road, white-domed houses in a village of Central Asian Uighurs use solar power to provide their energy. In the province of Gansu, officials have announced plans to build the world's largest solar power station, part of efforts to ease China's dependence on coal. In fast-moving, sophisticated Shanghai, China's biggest city and its financial hub, hundreds of thousands of householders are using solar panels to heat the water for their morning showers.
Meanwhile in the capital, Beijing, plans are well advanced to use renewable energy for a big chunk of the city's power needs by the time it hosts what China is billing as the first "green" Olympics in 2008. Beijing intends to build a "solar street" where buildings and streetlights will run entirely on energy from the sun. To be green is to be hip in China these days, and even the government is taking note.
But is this the same China, infamous for its dirty rivers and poisoned skies? Nearly all of the world's most polluted cities are in China, and other urban centres such as Los Angeles are suffering the effects of pollution from China's factories. Green China as a concept seems ridiculous, particularly when you look at other headlines coming out of China. Strong economic growth led to a major increase in the discharge of major pollutants in the first half of this year.
Indeed, Beijing's air pollution became so bad this week that it reached "hazardous" levels on a government air quality index. The city was blanketed in heavy fog, visibility was cut to a few hundred metres, 80 flights were delayed and some motorways were closed. From July to September, in Beijing and 15 other major cities, one out of every three days was classified as polluted.
Seventy per cent of China's energy needs are met by coal, and every week to 10 days another coal-fired power plant opens somewhere in China, adding to the country's environmental woes. Meanwhile, China is the world's second-largest consumer of oil, behind the United States.
But China is on a major drive to boost renewable energies and cut pollution - for sound financial and political reasons. Oil is too expensive and the government wants alternative energies to reduce China's dependence on it. People in the highly polluted cities often complain that their children have nowhere to go to escape the bad air, and that they are worried about what all this will mean for their health.
Farmers have rioted and held demonstrations over pollution damaging their crops, making environmental hazards a potential source of political instability, something the ruling Communist Party refuses to tolerate.
China's top environmental watchdog, the State Environment Protection Administration (Sepa), said in September that pollution cost China £34bn in 2004, about 3 per cent of the GDP that year. In true pragmatic style, Chinese leaders introduced laws this year that set a goal of doubling the use of alternative sources of energy. By 2020, 15 per cent of China's energy needs will be met from renewable sources, with the amount of green power produced rising to 10 gigawatts by 2010 and 30 gigawatts by 2020.
"I'm very optimistic about the outlook for renewable energy here. In China, introducing renewables is good industrial development strategy, it's not part of the climate-change argument," says Dr Eric Martinot, a senior research fellow with the US-based Worldwatch Institute and a senior visiting scholar at Tsinghua University.
China invested £3.3bn in renewable energy last year, making it one of the biggest investors in renewables in the world, and Dr Martinot believes the spending was based on sound reasoning. "In other countries it's a question of 'a' or 'b', but here people say 'Let's develop everything - 'a' and 'b' and 'c', we need it all'," he says. "Local air pollution is playing a big factor in driving many of these arguments, as ordinary people don't accept this kind of pollution." There are 30 million solar households in China, which account for nearly 60 per cent of global solar capacity. Wen Jiabao, the Prime Minister, says solar power is central to his government's efforts to cut the use of fossil fuels by 20 per cent as a percentage of gross domestic product over the next five years.
Industry leaders all over the world are watching what is happening in China. The scale of the country makes it prime testing ground for new technologies - if something works in a country of 1.3 billion people, then it is likely to be viable the world over.
The Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) was set up in 2000 to promote the industrialisation of the use of green energy in China. "Using renewable energy can promote economic development in an environment-friendly way, which would be the key method to balance China's economic development and its environment protection," says Li Junfeng, CREIA's secretary general.
China still has vast coal reserves, but officials are examining the potential of renewable energy to resolve a potential bottleneck to faster economic growth. The experts say the challenges facing China's environment require a multi-faceted response - wind power in particular is especially suitable for remote, economically underdeveloped regions, such as Xinjiang and other barren provinces such as Inner Mongolia. Meanwhile, the CREIA is developing solar energy and biomass energy in several other provinces, including Hebei and Jiangsu.
Local government officials in Dunhuang in Gansu province said they would build the world's biggest solar plant there, a 100-megawatt project costing £400m that will take five years to build. Dunhuang is sunny, with 3,362 hours of sunshine every year, making it a prime spot for solar energy development.
The world's biggest solar plant is at Arnstein, near Wuerzburg in southern Germany, with a 12-megawatt capacity. Beijing is also examining the potential of ethanol and biodiesel. China produced one billion litres of ethanol last year - a small proportion of global production (which hit 33 billion litres) but one that is growing.
China is also getting help from some significant global players, including the World Bank and General Electric. British companies such as BP are also getting involved - the Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy Research and Education Centre was launched by Tony Blair three years ago and receives more than £500,000 a year from BP. It aims to develop clean energy technologies and advise China's National Development and Reform Commission on the use of clean energy. In May, the World Bank said it would work with China to look at how to optimise energy use.
"As the 2008 Beijing Olympics approaches, we are also conducting several related projects, such as the sustainable urban energy system," says the centre's administrative director, Jiang Ning. Ah, yes, the Olympics. With less than two years to go, Beijing is working hard to meet its pledge to make the 2008 Games a "green Olympics" and provide a platform for China to show itself as a modern, progressive country.
It's hard to overstate the importance of the Games as a symbol of national pride and as a motor for change. A pilot project is up and running in Xuanwu Park with solar power for lighting, heating and refrigeration. The goal is that by 2008, up to 90 per cent of the city's street lamps will use solar power, which will also heat 90 per cent of the water used for bathing, according to Tian Maijiu, the deputy director of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress.
Wind power will generate 20 per cent of the electricity for the Olympic venues, and the city will provide direct investment or interest-free loans to key projects. Solar power, biomass and wind power development will be the three main projects in Beijing's rural ecological park, and the city is also planning to build a series of recycling projects that will include refuse incineration, processing plants and a disposal centre for dangerous waste.
Then there is hydroelectric power. The redirecting of rivers and relocating of millions of people for giant dam projects has caused consternation among environmentalists and human rights activists. But the government sees it as a viable alternative to coal, and the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest, which partially opened in May, will produce 22.4 million kilowatts when it is fully operational by 2009. The government is also sensitive to criticism: after Fu Xiancai gave an interview to a German television station in June 2006 to complain about insufficient compensation for relocation, he was beaten so badly that he will be paralysed for the rest of his life.
Another controversial power source is nuclear energy. Six nuclear power plants are due to be built in the south-eastern province of Fujian, part of China's goal of having 40 gigawatts of nuclear power on line by 2020.
It would be naive to think that China is planning to become a green superpower. Coal will continue to provide the lion's share of its energy needs. But crucially, renewable energy will form a more important part of the overall jigsaw of energy provision and that can only be good news for China, and the planet.
The world's economic powerhouse
While China is stepping up its efforts to promote renewable energies for hard-headed pragmatic reasons, there is no question that the environmental picture remains grim.
A relentless drive to boost the country's gross domestic product (GDP) - the economy grew 10.9 per cent in the first six months of the year) led to an increase in the discharge of major pollutants in the first half of this year, according to the State Environment Protection Administration (Sepa).
Over half of all finished industrial goods are made in China these days, and the reason why so many Western companies are turning to China to manufacture their products is because of cheap production costs. But pressure to keep manufacturing costs down generally bodes ill for the environment as companies use the cheapest means of production available, which is often not the most environmentally friendly means. And growing domestic demand for everything from cars to washing machines to double-glazing, all products long denied the vast majority of Chinese people, has also put pressure on the environment and on energy use.
"It is almost impossible to reduce energy consumption within a short period while experiencing such a high economic growth rate," Lu Zhongwu, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the China Daily newspaper.
* Coal output grew by 12.8 per cent in the first half of this year. Coal-fired power plants emit greenhouse gases and a new plant opens in China every week to 10 days.
* Local governments in one-third of Chinese cities have banned increasingly popular electric bicycles, even though they are less polluting than cars. And bicycle lanes for regular bikes are being trimmed back in nearly every city in China to make way for cars.
* China produced 12 billion tons of industrial waste-water in the first half, up 2.4 per cent from the same period last year.
* China is the world's second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and is expected to overtake the United States as the biggest, bringing acid rain to roughly one-third of the country and poisoning nearly three-quarters of rivers and lakes.
* Sepa said that under 40 per cent of public projects had undergone environmental evaluations before receiving approval.
* Air pollution in Beijing was "hazardous", the highest category in the China Environmental Monitoring Centre's index, for the 24-hour period ending at noon on Tuesday this week, Xinhua news agency reported.
* Chemical oxygen demand (COD), a common index of water pollution, increased by 3.7 per cent, while emissions of sulphur dioxide increased by 4.2 per cent in the first half of this year.
Published: 23 November 2006
Desert winds drive the turbines in the vast wind farm on the outskirts of Urumqi, dusty capital of the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang, and day-trippers come from the city to photograph the spectacular sight in the barren wilderness.
Just down the road, white-domed houses in a village of Central Asian Uighurs use solar power to provide their energy. In the province of Gansu, officials have announced plans to build the world's largest solar power station, part of efforts to ease China's dependence on coal. In fast-moving, sophisticated Shanghai, China's biggest city and its financial hub, hundreds of thousands of householders are using solar panels to heat the water for their morning showers.
Meanwhile in the capital, Beijing, plans are well advanced to use renewable energy for a big chunk of the city's power needs by the time it hosts what China is billing as the first "green" Olympics in 2008. Beijing intends to build a "solar street" where buildings and streetlights will run entirely on energy from the sun. To be green is to be hip in China these days, and even the government is taking note.
But is this the same China, infamous for its dirty rivers and poisoned skies? Nearly all of the world's most polluted cities are in China, and other urban centres such as Los Angeles are suffering the effects of pollution from China's factories. Green China as a concept seems ridiculous, particularly when you look at other headlines coming out of China. Strong economic growth led to a major increase in the discharge of major pollutants in the first half of this year.
Indeed, Beijing's air pollution became so bad this week that it reached "hazardous" levels on a government air quality index. The city was blanketed in heavy fog, visibility was cut to a few hundred metres, 80 flights were delayed and some motorways were closed. From July to September, in Beijing and 15 other major cities, one out of every three days was classified as polluted.
Seventy per cent of China's energy needs are met by coal, and every week to 10 days another coal-fired power plant opens somewhere in China, adding to the country's environmental woes. Meanwhile, China is the world's second-largest consumer of oil, behind the United States.
But China is on a major drive to boost renewable energies and cut pollution - for sound financial and political reasons. Oil is too expensive and the government wants alternative energies to reduce China's dependence on it. People in the highly polluted cities often complain that their children have nowhere to go to escape the bad air, and that they are worried about what all this will mean for their health.
Farmers have rioted and held demonstrations over pollution damaging their crops, making environmental hazards a potential source of political instability, something the ruling Communist Party refuses to tolerate.
China's top environmental watchdog, the State Environment Protection Administration (Sepa), said in September that pollution cost China £34bn in 2004, about 3 per cent of the GDP that year. In true pragmatic style, Chinese leaders introduced laws this year that set a goal of doubling the use of alternative sources of energy. By 2020, 15 per cent of China's energy needs will be met from renewable sources, with the amount of green power produced rising to 10 gigawatts by 2010 and 30 gigawatts by 2020.
"I'm very optimistic about the outlook for renewable energy here. In China, introducing renewables is good industrial development strategy, it's not part of the climate-change argument," says Dr Eric Martinot, a senior research fellow with the US-based Worldwatch Institute and a senior visiting scholar at Tsinghua University.
China invested £3.3bn in renewable energy last year, making it one of the biggest investors in renewables in the world, and Dr Martinot believes the spending was based on sound reasoning. "In other countries it's a question of 'a' or 'b', but here people say 'Let's develop everything - 'a' and 'b' and 'c', we need it all'," he says. "Local air pollution is playing a big factor in driving many of these arguments, as ordinary people don't accept this kind of pollution." There are 30 million solar households in China, which account for nearly 60 per cent of global solar capacity. Wen Jiabao, the Prime Minister, says solar power is central to his government's efforts to cut the use of fossil fuels by 20 per cent as a percentage of gross domestic product over the next five years.
Industry leaders all over the world are watching what is happening in China. The scale of the country makes it prime testing ground for new technologies - if something works in a country of 1.3 billion people, then it is likely to be viable the world over.
The Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) was set up in 2000 to promote the industrialisation of the use of green energy in China. "Using renewable energy can promote economic development in an environment-friendly way, which would be the key method to balance China's economic development and its environment protection," says Li Junfeng, CREIA's secretary general.
China still has vast coal reserves, but officials are examining the potential of renewable energy to resolve a potential bottleneck to faster economic growth. The experts say the challenges facing China's environment require a multi-faceted response - wind power in particular is especially suitable for remote, economically underdeveloped regions, such as Xinjiang and other barren provinces such as Inner Mongolia. Meanwhile, the CREIA is developing solar energy and biomass energy in several other provinces, including Hebei and Jiangsu.
Local government officials in Dunhuang in Gansu province said they would build the world's biggest solar plant there, a 100-megawatt project costing £400m that will take five years to build. Dunhuang is sunny, with 3,362 hours of sunshine every year, making it a prime spot for solar energy development.
The world's biggest solar plant is at Arnstein, near Wuerzburg in southern Germany, with a 12-megawatt capacity. Beijing is also examining the potential of ethanol and biodiesel. China produced one billion litres of ethanol last year - a small proportion of global production (which hit 33 billion litres) but one that is growing.
China is also getting help from some significant global players, including the World Bank and General Electric. British companies such as BP are also getting involved - the Tsinghua-BP Clean Energy Research and Education Centre was launched by Tony Blair three years ago and receives more than £500,000 a year from BP. It aims to develop clean energy technologies and advise China's National Development and Reform Commission on the use of clean energy. In May, the World Bank said it would work with China to look at how to optimise energy use.
"As the 2008 Beijing Olympics approaches, we are also conducting several related projects, such as the sustainable urban energy system," says the centre's administrative director, Jiang Ning. Ah, yes, the Olympics. With less than two years to go, Beijing is working hard to meet its pledge to make the 2008 Games a "green Olympics" and provide a platform for China to show itself as a modern, progressive country.
It's hard to overstate the importance of the Games as a symbol of national pride and as a motor for change. A pilot project is up and running in Xuanwu Park with solar power for lighting, heating and refrigeration. The goal is that by 2008, up to 90 per cent of the city's street lamps will use solar power, which will also heat 90 per cent of the water used for bathing, according to Tian Maijiu, the deputy director of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress.
Wind power will generate 20 per cent of the electricity for the Olympic venues, and the city will provide direct investment or interest-free loans to key projects. Solar power, biomass and wind power development will be the three main projects in Beijing's rural ecological park, and the city is also planning to build a series of recycling projects that will include refuse incineration, processing plants and a disposal centre for dangerous waste.
Then there is hydroelectric power. The redirecting of rivers and relocating of millions of people for giant dam projects has caused consternation among environmentalists and human rights activists. But the government sees it as a viable alternative to coal, and the Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest, which partially opened in May, will produce 22.4 million kilowatts when it is fully operational by 2009. The government is also sensitive to criticism: after Fu Xiancai gave an interview to a German television station in June 2006 to complain about insufficient compensation for relocation, he was beaten so badly that he will be paralysed for the rest of his life.
Another controversial power source is nuclear energy. Six nuclear power plants are due to be built in the south-eastern province of Fujian, part of China's goal of having 40 gigawatts of nuclear power on line by 2020.
It would be naive to think that China is planning to become a green superpower. Coal will continue to provide the lion's share of its energy needs. But crucially, renewable energy will form a more important part of the overall jigsaw of energy provision and that can only be good news for China, and the planet.
The world's economic powerhouse
While China is stepping up its efforts to promote renewable energies for hard-headed pragmatic reasons, there is no question that the environmental picture remains grim.
A relentless drive to boost the country's gross domestic product (GDP) - the economy grew 10.9 per cent in the first six months of the year) led to an increase in the discharge of major pollutants in the first half of this year, according to the State Environment Protection Administration (Sepa).
Over half of all finished industrial goods are made in China these days, and the reason why so many Western companies are turning to China to manufacture their products is because of cheap production costs. But pressure to keep manufacturing costs down generally bodes ill for the environment as companies use the cheapest means of production available, which is often not the most environmentally friendly means. And growing domestic demand for everything from cars to washing machines to double-glazing, all products long denied the vast majority of Chinese people, has also put pressure on the environment and on energy use.
"It is almost impossible to reduce energy consumption within a short period while experiencing such a high economic growth rate," Lu Zhongwu, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told the China Daily newspaper.
* Coal output grew by 12.8 per cent in the first half of this year. Coal-fired power plants emit greenhouse gases and a new plant opens in China every week to 10 days.
* Local governments in one-third of Chinese cities have banned increasingly popular electric bicycles, even though they are less polluting than cars. And bicycle lanes for regular bikes are being trimmed back in nearly every city in China to make way for cars.
* China produced 12 billion tons of industrial waste-water in the first half, up 2.4 per cent from the same period last year.
* China is the world's second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and is expected to overtake the United States as the biggest, bringing acid rain to roughly one-third of the country and poisoning nearly three-quarters of rivers and lakes.
* Sepa said that under 40 per cent of public projects had undergone environmental evaluations before receiving approval.
* Air pollution in Beijing was "hazardous", the highest category in the China Environmental Monitoring Centre's index, for the 24-hour period ending at noon on Tuesday this week, Xinhua news agency reported.
* Chemical oxygen demand (COD), a common index of water pollution, increased by 3.7 per cent, while emissions of sulphur dioxide increased by 4.2 per cent in the first half of this year.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Chinese scientist finds wealth in solar
Chinadaily, Shanghai - Physicist Shi Zhengrong spent the 1990s in an Australian lab studying solar power, a field he picked by chance. He expected to devote his life to science.
Still, Shi saw signs of a blossoming industry as Germany, Japan and other countries invested in cleaner power. Excited by a trip home that showed him China's rapid development, he startled friends by abruptly moving his wife and two Australian-born sons to his homeland in 2001 to launch a solar equipment company.
Four years later, Shi's confidence paid off when his Suntech Power Holdings Ltd. went public on the New York Stock Exchange and investors snapped up shares, turning him into a billionaire. Last year, Shi ranked No. 7 on the Forbes magazine list of China's richest tycoons, with a US$1.4 billion fortune.
Today, he has traded his research smock for blue business suits, a CEO's 63rd-floor corner office and a role advising the Chinese government on renewable energy policy.
"We believed the share price would go up, but not so quickly," said Shi, a 43-year-old with a boyish face, chuckling at what he says was a rise marked by lucky breaks and timing. "I never thought I would be a rich guy."
Shi is the leader of an emerging group of Chinese entrepreneurs who are striking it rich by meeting fast-growing demand in China and abroad for cleaner power.
They are getting a boost from China's efforts to curb environmental damage after two decades of fast economic growth that have left it with badly polluted air and water. Chinese leaders also are promoting renewable energy in hopes of reducing mounting dependence on imported oil.
"The technological prowess of China is growing a lot faster than people in the West reckon," said Andrew Wilkinson, co-manager of a fund at investment bank CLSA Emerging Markets that invests in Asian clean-energy industries.
Suntech's 3,500-strong work force at four sites in China produces photovoltaic cells, the delicate, hand-size black silicon panels that can transform sunlight into electricity.
At a time when Chinese leaders are trying to turn state enterprises into nimble global competitors, Suntech already goes head-to-head with Japanese and European rivals in foreign markets. Shi says all its technology comes from its own labs.
By last year, Suntech had risen to be the world's fourth-largest solar cell maker, according to an annual ranking by Photon International, an industry magazine. Japan's Sharp Corp. is the market leader and other competitors include Q-Cells AG of Germany, Kyocera Corp. of Japan and BP Solar, owned by British oil company BP PLC.
Worldwide, experts expect the industry's sales to grow by 20 percent to 40 percent annually in coming years.
Suntech's key markets are Germany, Japan and Spain, which subsidize renewable energy by requiring utilities to buy solar-generated power and to pay more for it than they would for electricity from oil or gas.
China accounted for just 10 percent of Suntech's 2006 sales of US$599 million. The equipment is expensive enough that its use in the company's home market is limited to lighthouses, remote military posts and other sites far from power plants.
But Shi says the Chinese, US and other markets will grow quickly as governments respond to concern about global warming by rolling out clean-energy initiatives. Beijing has ordered Chinese utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their power from solar, wind, hydroelectric and other renewable sources by 2010, with the target rising after that.
Despite his science background, Shi talks like a tough-minded businessman, and people in the industry say he is an able entrepreneur who moves between East and West and the worlds of technology and finance. He shifts easily between English and Chinese, and broke off twice during a 30-minute interview to take rapid-fire calls on his cell phone, first in the Shanghainese dialect, then in Mandarin.
"He comes across as a strong CEO who has a strong vision for his company and the future of his industry," said David Edwards, an industry analyst for ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco.
Shi is part of a generation who left China by the tens of thousands in the 1980s to study or work. They're now trickling back, lured by its booming economy's new opportunities.
He is part of a growing group of returnees who are benefiting from government support for technology and new protections for private business. A few, like Shi, have become super wealthy by selling shares in their ventures on foreign stock exchanges.
Shi works 10- to 12-hour days and spends eight months a year on the road in Europe, the United States or China. But he said he wants to devote more time to charity work, including an environmental education program that he launched with his wife.
Shi said he has little time to enjoy his wealth.
"I'm a scientist," Shi said. "My hobby is solving technical problems."
Shi arrived in Australia in 1988 to spend a year at the University of New South Wales after getting his Ph.D. in physics in China.
Shi's fellowship ended, he hunted for a new post in Australia. A friend sent him to see Martin Green, a New South Wales professor and solar pioneer. With no background in the field, Shi talked his way into a job.
"I really got into solar power by chance," he said.
Shi took a job at a company formed to commercialize advances made by New South Wales researchers. He and his Chinese-born wife bought a house in Sydney. He became an Australian citizen in 1993, with no plans to return to China.
"I never thought this solar business could take off or become commercially viable," he said. "I thought I just needed to concentrate on my research and publish papers to do my job as a scientist."
But in the mid-1990s, Shi started visiting China regularly to lecture on solar power. Friends lobbied him to return to China.
At the same time, Shi was getting restless in Australia and wanted a new challenge. He made a snap decision after a two-week visit to China left him "really excited" about its potential.
"My life was too easy over there," he said. "I thought if I came back I could do something really good."
The government of Wuxi, a city on Shanghai's western outskirts with ambitions as a high-tech center, put up US$6 million to finance Suntech, which started with 20 employees, and helped to land US$5 million in research grants.
"A lot of scholars aren't successful (in business) because they don't have a sense of marketing and sales," Shi said. "From the beginning, we had a very strong sense, whatever we do we have to make money as soon as possible, because there is no money for us to burn."
Suntech's main 120,000-square-foot factory is still in Wuxi, though Shi bought out his state backers before the IPO with the help of private investors led by Goldman Sachs.
At the Wuxi factory, technicians in green Suntech uniforms, surgical masks and hair nets turn 4-inch silicon discs into solar cells.
The cells are coated with power-producing films and sandwiched between sheets of glass in groups of 72 to form solar panels, each capable of generating 175 watts of power. That is too little to power three typical 60-watt light bulbs, but Suntech notes that it will light many more energy-saving bulbs.
Production is growing so fast that just two years after the factory opened in a special high-tech zone, Suntech is building a new one the same size a block away.
Shi said Suntech's goal is to develop superior technology, not just rely on China's low labor costs. But he said lower prices for skills and equipment will give the company an edge by making its US$20 million annual research budget go further. A technical college graduate can be hired for 2,000 yuan (US$250) a month.
Shi said that as technology improves, Suntech hopes to be able to cut prices within five years from the current US$3.50 per solar panel to US$2.50 -- a level that he said would compete with traditional power in California, a big potential market.
Other Chinese companies are springing up to supply solar equipment, wind turbines and pollution-control technology. A Chinese law that took effect Jan. 1 -- Shi helped to draft it -- requires local authorities to favor renewable energy. The government has ordered power plants and factories to start complying with long-ignored emissions standards.
Those initiatives will create opportunities in industries ranging from wind turbines and nuclear power plants to pollution control and raising crops needed to produce ethanol and other clean-burning fuels, said Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities for JP Morgan.
"It's so huge," Ulrich said, "no one can estimate the scale."
Still, Shi saw signs of a blossoming industry as Germany, Japan and other countries invested in cleaner power. Excited by a trip home that showed him China's rapid development, he startled friends by abruptly moving his wife and two Australian-born sons to his homeland in 2001 to launch a solar equipment company.
Four years later, Shi's confidence paid off when his Suntech Power Holdings Ltd. went public on the New York Stock Exchange and investors snapped up shares, turning him into a billionaire. Last year, Shi ranked No. 7 on the Forbes magazine list of China's richest tycoons, with a US$1.4 billion fortune.
Today, he has traded his research smock for blue business suits, a CEO's 63rd-floor corner office and a role advising the Chinese government on renewable energy policy.
"We believed the share price would go up, but not so quickly," said Shi, a 43-year-old with a boyish face, chuckling at what he says was a rise marked by lucky breaks and timing. "I never thought I would be a rich guy."
Shi is the leader of an emerging group of Chinese entrepreneurs who are striking it rich by meeting fast-growing demand in China and abroad for cleaner power.
They are getting a boost from China's efforts to curb environmental damage after two decades of fast economic growth that have left it with badly polluted air and water. Chinese leaders also are promoting renewable energy in hopes of reducing mounting dependence on imported oil.
"The technological prowess of China is growing a lot faster than people in the West reckon," said Andrew Wilkinson, co-manager of a fund at investment bank CLSA Emerging Markets that invests in Asian clean-energy industries.
Suntech's 3,500-strong work force at four sites in China produces photovoltaic cells, the delicate, hand-size black silicon panels that can transform sunlight into electricity.
At a time when Chinese leaders are trying to turn state enterprises into nimble global competitors, Suntech already goes head-to-head with Japanese and European rivals in foreign markets. Shi says all its technology comes from its own labs.
By last year, Suntech had risen to be the world's fourth-largest solar cell maker, according to an annual ranking by Photon International, an industry magazine. Japan's Sharp Corp. is the market leader and other competitors include Q-Cells AG of Germany, Kyocera Corp. of Japan and BP Solar, owned by British oil company BP PLC.
Worldwide, experts expect the industry's sales to grow by 20 percent to 40 percent annually in coming years.
Suntech's key markets are Germany, Japan and Spain, which subsidize renewable energy by requiring utilities to buy solar-generated power and to pay more for it than they would for electricity from oil or gas.
China accounted for just 10 percent of Suntech's 2006 sales of US$599 million. The equipment is expensive enough that its use in the company's home market is limited to lighthouses, remote military posts and other sites far from power plants.
But Shi says the Chinese, US and other markets will grow quickly as governments respond to concern about global warming by rolling out clean-energy initiatives. Beijing has ordered Chinese utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their power from solar, wind, hydroelectric and other renewable sources by 2010, with the target rising after that.
Despite his science background, Shi talks like a tough-minded businessman, and people in the industry say he is an able entrepreneur who moves between East and West and the worlds of technology and finance. He shifts easily between English and Chinese, and broke off twice during a 30-minute interview to take rapid-fire calls on his cell phone, first in the Shanghainese dialect, then in Mandarin.
"He comes across as a strong CEO who has a strong vision for his company and the future of his industry," said David Edwards, an industry analyst for ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco.
Shi is part of a generation who left China by the tens of thousands in the 1980s to study or work. They're now trickling back, lured by its booming economy's new opportunities.
He is part of a growing group of returnees who are benefiting from government support for technology and new protections for private business. A few, like Shi, have become super wealthy by selling shares in their ventures on foreign stock exchanges.
Shi works 10- to 12-hour days and spends eight months a year on the road in Europe, the United States or China. But he said he wants to devote more time to charity work, including an environmental education program that he launched with his wife.
Shi said he has little time to enjoy his wealth.
"I'm a scientist," Shi said. "My hobby is solving technical problems."
Shi arrived in Australia in 1988 to spend a year at the University of New South Wales after getting his Ph.D. in physics in China.
Shi's fellowship ended, he hunted for a new post in Australia. A friend sent him to see Martin Green, a New South Wales professor and solar pioneer. With no background in the field, Shi talked his way into a job.
"I really got into solar power by chance," he said.
Shi took a job at a company formed to commercialize advances made by New South Wales researchers. He and his Chinese-born wife bought a house in Sydney. He became an Australian citizen in 1993, with no plans to return to China.
"I never thought this solar business could take off or become commercially viable," he said. "I thought I just needed to concentrate on my research and publish papers to do my job as a scientist."
But in the mid-1990s, Shi started visiting China regularly to lecture on solar power. Friends lobbied him to return to China.
At the same time, Shi was getting restless in Australia and wanted a new challenge. He made a snap decision after a two-week visit to China left him "really excited" about its potential.
"My life was too easy over there," he said. "I thought if I came back I could do something really good."
The government of Wuxi, a city on Shanghai's western outskirts with ambitions as a high-tech center, put up US$6 million to finance Suntech, which started with 20 employees, and helped to land US$5 million in research grants.
"A lot of scholars aren't successful (in business) because they don't have a sense of marketing and sales," Shi said. "From the beginning, we had a very strong sense, whatever we do we have to make money as soon as possible, because there is no money for us to burn."
Suntech's main 120,000-square-foot factory is still in Wuxi, though Shi bought out his state backers before the IPO with the help of private investors led by Goldman Sachs.
At the Wuxi factory, technicians in green Suntech uniforms, surgical masks and hair nets turn 4-inch silicon discs into solar cells.
The cells are coated with power-producing films and sandwiched between sheets of glass in groups of 72 to form solar panels, each capable of generating 175 watts of power. That is too little to power three typical 60-watt light bulbs, but Suntech notes that it will light many more energy-saving bulbs.
Production is growing so fast that just two years after the factory opened in a special high-tech zone, Suntech is building a new one the same size a block away.
Shi said Suntech's goal is to develop superior technology, not just rely on China's low labor costs. But he said lower prices for skills and equipment will give the company an edge by making its US$20 million annual research budget go further. A technical college graduate can be hired for 2,000 yuan (US$250) a month.
Shi said that as technology improves, Suntech hopes to be able to cut prices within five years from the current US$3.50 per solar panel to US$2.50 -- a level that he said would compete with traditional power in California, a big potential market.
Other Chinese companies are springing up to supply solar equipment, wind turbines and pollution-control technology. A Chinese law that took effect Jan. 1 -- Shi helped to draft it -- requires local authorities to favor renewable energy. The government has ordered power plants and factories to start complying with long-ignored emissions standards.
Those initiatives will create opportunities in industries ranging from wind turbines and nuclear power plants to pollution control and raising crops needed to produce ethanol and other clean-burning fuels, said Jing Ulrich, chairwoman of China equities for JP Morgan.
"It's so huge," Ulrich said, "no one can estimate the scale."
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Sixty-Seven Percent of China Solar Panel Manufacturers Plan to Raise Prices in 2007
HONG KONG, Feb. 8 Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall
Sixty-seven percent of China's solar panel manufacturers plan to raise export prices in 2007, according to Global Sources' China Sourcing Report.
"Solar cell prices, which have increased by about US$0.30 per watt in the past two years, are expected to rise further, driving the cost of solar panels higher," said Global Sources general manager of Content Development, Michael Kleist.
"With margins at about five percent for many manufacturers, the market is expected to continue to be challenging in the months ahead."
Among surveyed solar panel manufacturers' top concerns and primary challenges for the next 12 months:
-- 56 percent cited higher raw material costs;
-- 20 percent said price competition;
-- 14 percent cited design copying/piracy; and
-- 10 percent said power and labor shortages.
Sixty-seven percent of China's solar panel manufacturers plan to raise export prices in 2007, according to Global Sources' China Sourcing Report.
"Solar cell prices, which have increased by about US$0.30 per watt in the past two years, are expected to rise further, driving the cost of solar panels higher," said Global Sources general manager of Content Development, Michael Kleist.
"With margins at about five percent for many manufacturers, the market is expected to continue to be challenging in the months ahead."
Among surveyed solar panel manufacturers' top concerns and primary challenges for the next 12 months:
-- 56 percent cited higher raw material costs;
-- 20 percent said price competition;
-- 14 percent cited design copying/piracy; and
-- 10 percent said power and labor shortages.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
2006 Solar Cell Production Output
The global solar cell production output in 2006 is 2500 megawatt with 42% increase from 2005. The biggest producer is Japan: 928 megawatt, followed by Germany 657 megawatt, China 369.5 mega watt, and America 202 megawatt.
China's Yingli Green Energy files for IPO worth up to $350M
The Associated Press Published: May 11, 2007
WASHINGTON: Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd., a Chinese maker of solar cells, filed Friday for an initial public offering of up to $350 million (€259.53 million) in American Depositary Shares.
The company would become the sixth Chinese solar-power company to be listed in the United States.
The company said it plans to list its ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "YGE."
Details about the number of ADSs to be offered or an estimated price range for the offering weren't disclosed in the company's prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the IPO to fund a planned expansion of manufacturing capacity, to buy raw materials, repay debt and for other general corporate purposes.
WASHINGTON: Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd., a Chinese maker of solar cells, filed Friday for an initial public offering of up to $350 million (€259.53 million) in American Depositary Shares.
The company would become the sixth Chinese solar-power company to be listed in the United States.
The company said it plans to list its ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "YGE."
Details about the number of ADSs to be offered or an estimated price range for the offering weren't disclosed in the company's prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the IPO to fund a planned expansion of manufacturing capacity, to buy raw materials, repay debt and for other general corporate purposes.
Friday, May 11, 2007
2007 Sino-German International Solar Energy & PV Projects ( Shanghai) Exhibition
Come to visit 2007 Sino-German International Solar Energy & PV Projects ( Shanghai) Exhibition on May 11-13, 2007!
This show covers every sector in the solar energy industry: solar material, solar cell, solar panel, PV system, solar applications (solar lamp, solar recharger, solar bag, solar torch ) , the production and testing equipments.
You may find some information about the wind power, and some other green energy here also.
This show covers every sector in the solar energy industry: solar material, solar cell, solar panel, PV system, solar applications (solar lamp, solar recharger, solar bag, solar torch ) , the production and testing equipments.
You may find some information about the wind power, and some other green energy here also.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Solar power pays off for Chinese entrepreneur
By Joe McDonald The Associated Press Published: April 23, 2007
SHANGHAI: Shi Zhengrong, a physicist, spent the 1990s in an Australian lab studying solar power, a field he picked by chance. He expected to devote his life to science.
Still, Shi saw signs of a blossoming industry as Germany, Japan and other countries invested in cleaner power. Excited by a trip home that showed him China's rapid development, he startled friends by abruptly moving his wife and two Australian-born sons to his homeland in 2001 to launch a solar equipment company.
Four years later, Shi's confidence paid off when his Suntech Power Holdings went public on the New York Stock Exchange and investors snapped up shares, turning him into a billionaire. Last year, Shi ranked No.7 on the Forbes magazine list of China's richest tycoons, with a $1.4 billion fortune.
Today, he has traded his research smock for blue business suits, a chief executive's 63rd-floor corner office and a role advising the Chinese government on renewable energy policy.
"We believed the share price would go up, but not so quickly," said Shi, a 43-year-old with a boyish face, chuckling at what he says was a rise marked by lucky breaks and timing. "I never thought I would be a rich guy."
Shi is the leader of an emerging group of Chinese entrepreneurs who are striking it rich by meeting fast-growing demand in China and abroad for cleaner power.
They are getting a boost from China's efforts to curb environmental damage after two decades of breakneck growth that have left it with some of the world's most badly polluted air and water. Chinese leaders also are promoting renewable energy in hopes of reducing mounting dependence on imported oil, which they see as a strategic weakness.
"The technological prowess of China is growing a lot faster than people in the West reckon," said Andrew Wilkinson, co-manager of a fund at the investment bank CLSA Emerging Markets that invests in Asian clean-energy industries.
Suntech's 3,500-strong work force at four sites in China produces photovoltaic cells, the delicate, hand-sized black silicon panels that can transform sunlight into electricity.
At a time when China's Communist leaders are trying to turn lumbering state companies into nimble global competitors, Suntech already goes head-to-head with Japanese and European rivals in foreign markets. Shi says that all of Suntech's technology comes from its own labs.
As of last year, Suntech had risen to be the world's fourth-largest maker of solar cells, according to an annual ranking by Photon International, an industry magazine. Sharp Corp. of Japan is the market leader and other competitors include Q-Cells of Germany, Kyocera of Japan and BP Solar.
Worldwide, experts expect industry sales to grow by 20 percent to 40 percent annually in coming years.
Suntech's key markets are Germany, Japan and Spain, which subsidize renewable energy by requiring utilities to buy solar-generated power and to pay more for it than they would for electricity from oil or gas.
China accounted for just 10 percent of Suntech's 2006 sales of $599 million. The equipment is expensive enough that its use in the company's home market is limited to lighthouses, remote military posts and other sites far from power plants.
But Shi says that the Chinese, U.S. and other markets will grow quickly as governments respond to concern about global warming by rolling out clean-energy initiatives. Beijing has ordered Chinese utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their power from solar, wind, hydroelectric and other renewable sources by 2010, with the target rising after that.
Despite his science background, Shi talks like a tough-minded businessman, and people in the industry say he is an able entrepreneur who moves between East and West and the worlds of technology and finance. He shifts easily between English and Chinese, and broke off twice during a 30-minute interview to take rapid-fire calls on his cellphone, first in the Shanghainese dialect, then in Mandarin.
David Edwards, an industry analyst for ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco, said that Shi "comes across as a strong CEO who has a strong vision for his company and the future of his industry."
Shi is part of a generation that left China by the tens of thousands in the drab 1980s to study or work. They are now trickling back, lured by the booming Chinese economy's new opportunities.
He is also part of a growing group of returnees who are benefiting from government support for technology and new protections for private business. A few, like Shi, have become very wealthy by selling shares in their ventures on foreign stock exchanges.
Shi works 10- to 12-hour days and spends eight months a year on the road in Europe, the United States or China. But he said that he wants to devote more time to charity work, including an environmental education program that he launched with his wife.
Shi said he has little time to enjoy his wealth. "I'm a scientist," Shi said. "My hobby is solving technical problems."
"I never thought this solar business could take off or become commercially viable," Shi said. "I thought I just needed to concentrate on my research and publish papers to do my job as a scientist."
In the mid-1990s, Shi started visiting China regularly from Australia, where he was working for Martin Green, the New South Wales professor and solar pioneer, to lecture on solar power. Friends lobbied him to return to China. Shi acceded.
Soon afterward, the government of Wuxi, a city on Shanghai's western outskirts with ambitions to become a high-tech center, put up $6 million to finance Suntech, which started with 20 employees, and helped to land $5 million in research grants.
Suntech's main 11,000-square-meter, or 120,000-square-foot, factory is still in Wuxi, though Shi bought out his state backers before the IPO with the help of private investors led by Goldman Sachs.
At the Wuxi factory, technicians in green Suntech uniforms, surgical masks and hairnets turn 10-centimeter, or four-inch, silicon discs into solar cells.
Suntech cells are coated with power-producing films and sandwiched between sheets of glass in groups of 72 to form solar panels, each capable of generating 175 watts of power. That is too little to power three typical 60-watt light bulbs, but Suntech notes that it will light many more energy-saving bulbs.
Production is growing so fast that just two years after the factory opened in a special high-tech zone, Suntech is building a new one the same size a block away.
Shi said that Suntech's goal is to develop superior technology, and not just rely on China's low labor costs. But he said lower prices for skills and equipment will give the company an edge by making its $20 million annual research budget go further.
Shi said that as technology improves, Suntech hopes to be able to cut prices within five years from the current $3.50 per solar panel to $2.50 — a level that he said would compete with traditional power in California, a big potential market.
A Chinese law that took effect Jan. 1 — Shi helped to draft it — requires local authorities to favor renewable energy. The government has ordered power plants and factories to start complying with long-ignored emissions standards.
Those initiatives will create opportunities in industries ranging from wind turbines and nuclear power plants to pollution control and raising crops needed to produce ethanol and other clean-burning fuels, said Jing Ulrich, the chairwoman of China equities for JPMorgan Chase.
"It's so huge," Ulrich said, "no one can estimate the scale."
SHANGHAI: Shi Zhengrong, a physicist, spent the 1990s in an Australian lab studying solar power, a field he picked by chance. He expected to devote his life to science.
Still, Shi saw signs of a blossoming industry as Germany, Japan and other countries invested in cleaner power. Excited by a trip home that showed him China's rapid development, he startled friends by abruptly moving his wife and two Australian-born sons to his homeland in 2001 to launch a solar equipment company.
Four years later, Shi's confidence paid off when his Suntech Power Holdings went public on the New York Stock Exchange and investors snapped up shares, turning him into a billionaire. Last year, Shi ranked No.7 on the Forbes magazine list of China's richest tycoons, with a $1.4 billion fortune.
Today, he has traded his research smock for blue business suits, a chief executive's 63rd-floor corner office and a role advising the Chinese government on renewable energy policy.
"We believed the share price would go up, but not so quickly," said Shi, a 43-year-old with a boyish face, chuckling at what he says was a rise marked by lucky breaks and timing. "I never thought I would be a rich guy."
Shi is the leader of an emerging group of Chinese entrepreneurs who are striking it rich by meeting fast-growing demand in China and abroad for cleaner power.
They are getting a boost from China's efforts to curb environmental damage after two decades of breakneck growth that have left it with some of the world's most badly polluted air and water. Chinese leaders also are promoting renewable energy in hopes of reducing mounting dependence on imported oil, which they see as a strategic weakness.
"The technological prowess of China is growing a lot faster than people in the West reckon," said Andrew Wilkinson, co-manager of a fund at the investment bank CLSA Emerging Markets that invests in Asian clean-energy industries.
Suntech's 3,500-strong work force at four sites in China produces photovoltaic cells, the delicate, hand-sized black silicon panels that can transform sunlight into electricity.
At a time when China's Communist leaders are trying to turn lumbering state companies into nimble global competitors, Suntech already goes head-to-head with Japanese and European rivals in foreign markets. Shi says that all of Suntech's technology comes from its own labs.
As of last year, Suntech had risen to be the world's fourth-largest maker of solar cells, according to an annual ranking by Photon International, an industry magazine. Sharp Corp. of Japan is the market leader and other competitors include Q-Cells of Germany, Kyocera of Japan and BP Solar.
Worldwide, experts expect industry sales to grow by 20 percent to 40 percent annually in coming years.
Suntech's key markets are Germany, Japan and Spain, which subsidize renewable energy by requiring utilities to buy solar-generated power and to pay more for it than they would for electricity from oil or gas.
China accounted for just 10 percent of Suntech's 2006 sales of $599 million. The equipment is expensive enough that its use in the company's home market is limited to lighthouses, remote military posts and other sites far from power plants.
But Shi says that the Chinese, U.S. and other markets will grow quickly as governments respond to concern about global warming by rolling out clean-energy initiatives. Beijing has ordered Chinese utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their power from solar, wind, hydroelectric and other renewable sources by 2010, with the target rising after that.
Despite his science background, Shi talks like a tough-minded businessman, and people in the industry say he is an able entrepreneur who moves between East and West and the worlds of technology and finance. He shifts easily between English and Chinese, and broke off twice during a 30-minute interview to take rapid-fire calls on his cellphone, first in the Shanghainese dialect, then in Mandarin.
David Edwards, an industry analyst for ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco, said that Shi "comes across as a strong CEO who has a strong vision for his company and the future of his industry."
Shi is part of a generation that left China by the tens of thousands in the drab 1980s to study or work. They are now trickling back, lured by the booming Chinese economy's new opportunities.
He is also part of a growing group of returnees who are benefiting from government support for technology and new protections for private business. A few, like Shi, have become very wealthy by selling shares in their ventures on foreign stock exchanges.
Shi works 10- to 12-hour days and spends eight months a year on the road in Europe, the United States or China. But he said that he wants to devote more time to charity work, including an environmental education program that he launched with his wife.
Shi said he has little time to enjoy his wealth. "I'm a scientist," Shi said. "My hobby is solving technical problems."
"I never thought this solar business could take off or become commercially viable," Shi said. "I thought I just needed to concentrate on my research and publish papers to do my job as a scientist."
In the mid-1990s, Shi started visiting China regularly from Australia, where he was working for Martin Green, the New South Wales professor and solar pioneer, to lecture on solar power. Friends lobbied him to return to China. Shi acceded.
Soon afterward, the government of Wuxi, a city on Shanghai's western outskirts with ambitions to become a high-tech center, put up $6 million to finance Suntech, which started with 20 employees, and helped to land $5 million in research grants.
Suntech's main 11,000-square-meter, or 120,000-square-foot, factory is still in Wuxi, though Shi bought out his state backers before the IPO with the help of private investors led by Goldman Sachs.
At the Wuxi factory, technicians in green Suntech uniforms, surgical masks and hairnets turn 10-centimeter, or four-inch, silicon discs into solar cells.
Suntech cells are coated with power-producing films and sandwiched between sheets of glass in groups of 72 to form solar panels, each capable of generating 175 watts of power. That is too little to power three typical 60-watt light bulbs, but Suntech notes that it will light many more energy-saving bulbs.
Production is growing so fast that just two years after the factory opened in a special high-tech zone, Suntech is building a new one the same size a block away.
Shi said that Suntech's goal is to develop superior technology, and not just rely on China's low labor costs. But he said lower prices for skills and equipment will give the company an edge by making its $20 million annual research budget go further.
Shi said that as technology improves, Suntech hopes to be able to cut prices within five years from the current $3.50 per solar panel to $2.50 — a level that he said would compete with traditional power in California, a big potential market.
A Chinese law that took effect Jan. 1 — Shi helped to draft it — requires local authorities to favor renewable energy. The government has ordered power plants and factories to start complying with long-ignored emissions standards.
Those initiatives will create opportunities in industries ranging from wind turbines and nuclear power plants to pollution control and raising crops needed to produce ethanol and other clean-burning fuels, said Jing Ulrich, the chairwoman of China equities for JPMorgan Chase.
"It's so huge," Ulrich said, "no one can estimate the scale."
China Aims to Clean Up in Solar Power
Its environment is a world-class mess, but the mainland has ambitious plans to use and produce solar power cells and panels
by Chi-Chu Tschang
China is home to some of the most polluted cities on the planet and likely will overtake the U.S. as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases by the end of the decade. Yet while China's "dirty dragon" image is well-deserved, Beijing officials are also deadly serious about investing in solar power capacity at home and eventually becoming a dominant player in this rapidly-emerging, clean energy technology.
Consider that some 1,100 solar panels are being installed over the curved roof of Beijing's National Indoor Stadium, ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics. In October, SunTech Power (STP), based in the old industrial city of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province will begin installing a 130 kilowatt solar energy system in the main venue of the games—Bird's Nest Stadium. Beijing has also been installing solar powered streetlights throughout the Olympic Village as well as in less urbanized areas of the Chinese capital's suburbs.
This isn't just environmental posturing, but a serious and sustained push to diversify China's energy mix, local officials contend. Beijing has pledged to install three megawatts of solar power for the 2008 Olympics. However, "If you add up all the solar energy investment in the Olympic Village, National Indoor Stadium, Bird's Nest, and rural villages, it is entirely possible that Beijing could have six megawatts by 2008," says Zhu Wei Gang, a vice-president with Beijing Corona Science & Technology, the company which is installing the solar panels in the National Indoor Stadium.
Ambitious Goals
China's worsening environmental mess (acid rain and water pollution are rampant, too) and an alarming dependence on imported oil have prompted Chinese President Hu Jintao's government to set some ambitious goals for solar power. Last year, China's solar power consumption was less than 10 megawatts, a tiny fraction of the country's total electricity consumption of 2.83 billion megawatts. By 2010, though, China hopes to be generating and consuming about 300 megawatts of solar energy, roughly equivalent to what Japan, the world's second largest consumer of solar energy, used last year.
Getting there, however, will be a stretch. China's domestic solar power industry is a work in progress. There are more than 150 Chinese companies that make photovoltaic cells that convert light into electricity, accounting for a third of the world's solar cell production. Yet the industry is heavily reliant on overseas supplies of polycrystalline silicon, or polysilicon, a key material used in solar cell production. And since demand for alternative energy has been low at home until recently, Chinese solar cell makers export 90% of their products to Germany, Japan, the U.S. and other countries.
There are compelling reasons for China to build up its own industrial solar energy capacity. The global market for solar panels and cells has been growing at a 38% compound annual growth rate since 2001. Demand is so brisk that there is now a serious shortage of polysilicon. In fact, prices for the material have jumped tenfold, to $200 to $300 per kilogram, since 2003.
"Foreigners Have Power"
If China developed a robust domestic market for solar power, it could shift the solar industry's balance of power, from the West and Japan to the Middle Kingdom. Just as the focal point of global TV and personal computer manufacturing has shifted to China, solar panel and cell production could be next, some argue. "If the domestic Chinese PV (photovoltaic cell) market starts to develop that would pretty much be the nail in the coffin for other countries because then not only will the cluster be here, but the [lower] manufacturing cost will be here," figures Timothy Chang, managing director of Citigroup Venture Capital China.
Still, given the anxiety other countries already have about Chinese export prowess, some governments may want to keep mainland-made solar cells out of their markets.
"Right now, China's solar industry relies on foreign imports for its raw materials and exports most of its finished products overseas," said Meng Xiangan, secretary general of the China Solar Energy Society. "The foreigners have, in their hands, the power to direct which way our solar industry is heading."
For instance, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is steering her country toward a policy of reducing its reliance on imported energy—and that includes "made in China" solar cells. "The German market continues to be the largest market in Europe. Its growth, however, appears to be slowing down over time," said Kevin Wei, chief financial officer of Shanghai-based SolarFun Power Holdings (SOLF).
Polysilicon Monopolists
Another huge obstacle to China's solar power industrial ambitions is the current shortage of polysilicon. Seven companies—including Germany's Wacker Chemie (WKCMF), Mitsubishi Materials (MIMTF), Sumitomo Titanium (SMOEF), and Renewable Energy Corporation ASA—hold a monopoly over the world's polysilicon supply.
Chinese solar cell makers have to pay dearly for the stuff, which has somewhat undercut their huge labor cost advantage. "Access to polysilicon serves as barrier to growth and entry for many Chinese companies," says Sanjeev Chaurasia, vice-president with the Credit Suisse's Energy Group. "If they have unfettered access to polysilicon, they'll be able to compete on cost and not necessarily on access to raw materials," she adds.
China is now trying to level the playing field by developing its own polysilicon supply. At least 11 new polysilicon projects are in the pipeline. China hopes to be able to produce 12,660 tons of polysilicon and break its dependence on foreign supplies by 2011, according to THT Research.
Little Incentive to Invest
However, whether these Chinese polysilicon suppliers can actually produce so much polysilicon remains to be seen. "It can be a problem to obtain the technology. Foreign technology suppliers are not so willing to sell them know-how and technology," points out Frank Haugwitz, a technical consultant with German Agency for Technical Cooperation. Chinese polysilicon suppliers have been using Russian technology to make polysilicon but have yet to replicate their German and Japanese rivals' scale of production.
Then there is the fact that Chinese power companies, which rely heavily on coal, have little incentive to invest in more expensive solar energy capacity given that electricity prices are fixed and they can't pass along the cost to consumers.
China's Renewable Energy Law, which went into effect January, 2006, ordered power companies to use a certain amount of renewable energy but failed to provide any financial incentives to do so. Beijing Corona Science & Technology's Zhu points out "The government needs to have a good policy to allow the solar industry to develop because the cost of solar power is too high right now."
Subsidies Not a Given
Chinese solar power companies have been lobbying the government to adopt a "feed-in tariff" system modeled after Germany's. Power companies would be forced to buy solar-generated electricity at a fixed rate and the government would kick in a subsidy to encourage them to use clean energy.
"There's not a big chance of such a policy coming out in the short-term," said Li Junfeng, secretary general of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Assn. He added that it would be difficult for the Chinese government to provide as much in subsidies as their German counterparts.
If these problems can be worked out, there is certainly plenty of demand for cleaner energy sources in the world's second biggest energy consumer behind the U.S.
So far, most of China's demand for solar power has come from government rural electrification projects in sparsely populated areas in Tibet, Qinghai, or Xinjiang provinces, where it does not make economic sense to build power stations.
Roof Panel Push
However the real growth in China's solar power market will continue to come primarily from these rural, off-grid, solar projects. China still has 30 million people—30,000 villages—with no access to electricity. German government official Haugwitz predicts that 180 megawatts of the new solar power in the coming years will be set up in these rural areas.
In addition, some local governments in high-power-consuming urban cities in coastal China are starting to encourage the use of solar energy. Right across the border from Hong Kong, the southern metropolis of Shenzhen now requires all new buildings 12 floors or higher to install solar water heaters on their rooftops. Experts predict that one-fifth of all rooftops in Shenzhen will be covered with solar panels by 2010.
Shanghai has announced plans to invest 10.5 billion yuan to install solar panels on top of 100,000 rooftops by 2015. The Shanghai municipal government will start by subsidizing half of the cost and gradually reduce subsidies as the price of solar panels drops.
Chi-Chu Tschang contributed this article to BusinessWeek Online from Beijing.
by Chi-Chu Tschang
China is home to some of the most polluted cities on the planet and likely will overtake the U.S. as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases by the end of the decade. Yet while China's "dirty dragon" image is well-deserved, Beijing officials are also deadly serious about investing in solar power capacity at home and eventually becoming a dominant player in this rapidly-emerging, clean energy technology.
Consider that some 1,100 solar panels are being installed over the curved roof of Beijing's National Indoor Stadium, ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics. In October, SunTech Power (STP), based in the old industrial city of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province will begin installing a 130 kilowatt solar energy system in the main venue of the games—Bird's Nest Stadium. Beijing has also been installing solar powered streetlights throughout the Olympic Village as well as in less urbanized areas of the Chinese capital's suburbs.
This isn't just environmental posturing, but a serious and sustained push to diversify China's energy mix, local officials contend. Beijing has pledged to install three megawatts of solar power for the 2008 Olympics. However, "If you add up all the solar energy investment in the Olympic Village, National Indoor Stadium, Bird's Nest, and rural villages, it is entirely possible that Beijing could have six megawatts by 2008," says Zhu Wei Gang, a vice-president with Beijing Corona Science & Technology, the company which is installing the solar panels in the National Indoor Stadium.
Ambitious Goals
China's worsening environmental mess (acid rain and water pollution are rampant, too) and an alarming dependence on imported oil have prompted Chinese President Hu Jintao's government to set some ambitious goals for solar power. Last year, China's solar power consumption was less than 10 megawatts, a tiny fraction of the country's total electricity consumption of 2.83 billion megawatts. By 2010, though, China hopes to be generating and consuming about 300 megawatts of solar energy, roughly equivalent to what Japan, the world's second largest consumer of solar energy, used last year.
Getting there, however, will be a stretch. China's domestic solar power industry is a work in progress. There are more than 150 Chinese companies that make photovoltaic cells that convert light into electricity, accounting for a third of the world's solar cell production. Yet the industry is heavily reliant on overseas supplies of polycrystalline silicon, or polysilicon, a key material used in solar cell production. And since demand for alternative energy has been low at home until recently, Chinese solar cell makers export 90% of their products to Germany, Japan, the U.S. and other countries.
There are compelling reasons for China to build up its own industrial solar energy capacity. The global market for solar panels and cells has been growing at a 38% compound annual growth rate since 2001. Demand is so brisk that there is now a serious shortage of polysilicon. In fact, prices for the material have jumped tenfold, to $200 to $300 per kilogram, since 2003.
"Foreigners Have Power"
If China developed a robust domestic market for solar power, it could shift the solar industry's balance of power, from the West and Japan to the Middle Kingdom. Just as the focal point of global TV and personal computer manufacturing has shifted to China, solar panel and cell production could be next, some argue. "If the domestic Chinese PV (photovoltaic cell) market starts to develop that would pretty much be the nail in the coffin for other countries because then not only will the cluster be here, but the [lower] manufacturing cost will be here," figures Timothy Chang, managing director of Citigroup Venture Capital China.
Still, given the anxiety other countries already have about Chinese export prowess, some governments may want to keep mainland-made solar cells out of their markets.
"Right now, China's solar industry relies on foreign imports for its raw materials and exports most of its finished products overseas," said Meng Xiangan, secretary general of the China Solar Energy Society. "The foreigners have, in their hands, the power to direct which way our solar industry is heading."
For instance, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is steering her country toward a policy of reducing its reliance on imported energy—and that includes "made in China" solar cells. "The German market continues to be the largest market in Europe. Its growth, however, appears to be slowing down over time," said Kevin Wei, chief financial officer of Shanghai-based SolarFun Power Holdings (SOLF).
Polysilicon Monopolists
Another huge obstacle to China's solar power industrial ambitions is the current shortage of polysilicon. Seven companies—including Germany's Wacker Chemie (WKCMF), Mitsubishi Materials (MIMTF), Sumitomo Titanium (SMOEF), and Renewable Energy Corporation ASA—hold a monopoly over the world's polysilicon supply.
Chinese solar cell makers have to pay dearly for the stuff, which has somewhat undercut their huge labor cost advantage. "Access to polysilicon serves as barrier to growth and entry for many Chinese companies," says Sanjeev Chaurasia, vice-president with the Credit Suisse's Energy Group. "If they have unfettered access to polysilicon, they'll be able to compete on cost and not necessarily on access to raw materials," she adds.
China is now trying to level the playing field by developing its own polysilicon supply. At least 11 new polysilicon projects are in the pipeline. China hopes to be able to produce 12,660 tons of polysilicon and break its dependence on foreign supplies by 2011, according to THT Research.
Little Incentive to Invest
However, whether these Chinese polysilicon suppliers can actually produce so much polysilicon remains to be seen. "It can be a problem to obtain the technology. Foreign technology suppliers are not so willing to sell them know-how and technology," points out Frank Haugwitz, a technical consultant with German Agency for Technical Cooperation. Chinese polysilicon suppliers have been using Russian technology to make polysilicon but have yet to replicate their German and Japanese rivals' scale of production.
Then there is the fact that Chinese power companies, which rely heavily on coal, have little incentive to invest in more expensive solar energy capacity given that electricity prices are fixed and they can't pass along the cost to consumers.
China's Renewable Energy Law, which went into effect January, 2006, ordered power companies to use a certain amount of renewable energy but failed to provide any financial incentives to do so. Beijing Corona Science & Technology's Zhu points out "The government needs to have a good policy to allow the solar industry to develop because the cost of solar power is too high right now."
Subsidies Not a Given
Chinese solar power companies have been lobbying the government to adopt a "feed-in tariff" system modeled after Germany's. Power companies would be forced to buy solar-generated electricity at a fixed rate and the government would kick in a subsidy to encourage them to use clean energy.
"There's not a big chance of such a policy coming out in the short-term," said Li Junfeng, secretary general of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Assn. He added that it would be difficult for the Chinese government to provide as much in subsidies as their German counterparts.
If these problems can be worked out, there is certainly plenty of demand for cleaner energy sources in the world's second biggest energy consumer behind the U.S.
So far, most of China's demand for solar power has come from government rural electrification projects in sparsely populated areas in Tibet, Qinghai, or Xinjiang provinces, where it does not make economic sense to build power stations.
Roof Panel Push
However the real growth in China's solar power market will continue to come primarily from these rural, off-grid, solar projects. China still has 30 million people—30,000 villages—with no access to electricity. German government official Haugwitz predicts that 180 megawatts of the new solar power in the coming years will be set up in these rural areas.
In addition, some local governments in high-power-consuming urban cities in coastal China are starting to encourage the use of solar energy. Right across the border from Hong Kong, the southern metropolis of Shenzhen now requires all new buildings 12 floors or higher to install solar water heaters on their rooftops. Experts predict that one-fifth of all rooftops in Shenzhen will be covered with solar panels by 2010.
Shanghai has announced plans to invest 10.5 billion yuan to install solar panels on top of 100,000 rooftops by 2015. The Shanghai municipal government will start by subsidizing half of the cost and gradually reduce subsidies as the price of solar panels drops.
Chi-Chu Tschang contributed this article to BusinessWeek Online from Beijing.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Feedstock Shortages Constrain the Development of China's PV Industry
The growth in production capacity in China's PV industry seems unstoppable; however, actual production is limited by the availability of solar grade silicon (SGS) and wafers on the world market. Since things move and grow fast in China, these international shortages have inspired several new Chinese companies and have resulted in new initiatives for silicon and wafer production. Despite these new silicon manufacturers and a production capacity covering about 20% of the world's production of solar ingots and wafers, China's PV industry is still heavily dependent on the import of solar feedstock. And yet, as a result of worldwide shortages and attractive market prices, part of China's current production of silicon and cells is being exported. Taking into consideration the ambitions of the companies known at present to be involved in the production of solar grade silicon (SGS), wafers, cells and modules, it is anticipated that even by 2010 China will still need to import feedstock to maximise its production of cells and modules.
China is No.3 in the PV Production Industry
China is a country of big numbers. And it seems the growth virus has infected the Chinese PV industry as well. Growth over the past few years has been impressive and shows even more ambition. In the 30 major companies involved at present, total available production capacity for cell and module production already exceeds 20% of the world’s total. 5 years ago, it was less than 1%. China is now the world's third country (just after Japan and Germany) in terms of solar cell production capacity, and this industry is still growing at more than 50% per annum. Based on the ambitions of the 20 cell manufacturers already active in this market, production capacity is expected to grow to 820 MW per annum in 2006. Several new cell and module manufacturers have started production over the past 4 years and are now growing towards the top-ten ranking of the world’s largest manufacturers. Currently, over 90% of all PV products produced (cells, modules) are being exported to Western countries, such as Germany, as well as to Japan and the rest of the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
