Saint-Gobain: based on China's actual commitment to the development of photovoltaic globalization

With the doubling of the export volume of solar modules in the past two years, China has firmly established its leading position in the global photovoltaic manufacturing industry. However, such rapid growth has also brought about serious overcapacity, oversupply of module production, and continuous decline in sales prices.

In such a tough industry background, if you want to occupy a place in the market, the only way to continue to innovate, improve technology, and reduce product costs is the way to win. Especially in such an environment, it is even more difficult to take a heel in the Chinese market.

Since Saint-Gobain's entry into the Chinese PV market, Saint-Gobain has been working to help PV companies maintain their competitive advantage by launching numerous new materials, products and technologies by reducing production costs and increasing production efficiency.

On May 16, during the just-concluded sixth SNEC International Solar Energy Industry and Photovoltaic Exhibition, OFweek invited the Geoffrey King, Marketing Manager of the Renewable Energy Department of Saint-Gobain, to discuss issues related to corporate development and industry prospects. Interview.

OFweek Solar PV Network: Saint-Gobain Group has been in the Chinese market since 1985 and has set up about 50 companies and companies in China. It is active in various fields. Many industry players and PV companies have predicted that China's PV installed capacity will reach 5-7 GW in 2012, and that the next decade is a golden decade for PV. How does Saint-Gobain have its layout in China?

Geoffrey King: Saint-Gobain has introduced different products in many different markets in China. We are always ready to serve the solar market. Saint-Gobain has always been committed to the development of globalization, but will formulate development plans based on the development of local industries. For example, in China, Saint Gobain has established a production base in Shanghai. Many products can be manufactured directly in China and can directly serve the Chinese market. So that our products are more competitive, especially our border technology has also won a large market share in China. We brought various advanced technologies from the United States, Asia, South Korea, Japan and other places to Shanghai. As we have shown here, in fact, we have already shown some of them last year, but this time we hope that our colleagues can see this. In the course of one year, we have made progress and brought more technical support to the development of the Chinese market through our global development strategy. In short, Saint-Gobain is very optimistic about the Chinese market's market in the next decade.

OFweek Solar PV Network: In the last 4 years, Saint-Gobain Group's sales growth in China has reached an average of 54% per year. Saint-Gobain’s latest plan is to maintain growth at least 50% over the next three years. Nowadays, the rapid growth of the photovoltaic industry has brought about serious overcapacity, the production of modules has exceeded supply, and the sales price has continued to decline. Does Saint-Gobain Solar have such a good performance?

Geoffrey King: We are still optimistic about this year's good performance. The serious surplus in the market is mainly due to the rush of Chinese manufacturers. However, the good news is that it is due to so many competitors in the industry that it has caused the cost of component products to drop. This is exactly what Saint-Gobain has been trying to do. Saint-Gobain has always been very competitive, mainly because of its three advantages. First, it takes a long time for any product to enter the market, and we will increase production efficiency and shorten the time for the product to enter the market. The second is that the product guarantees the service life of the product. For example, the component needs to be guaranteed for 25 years. The third is to combine the needs of customers and design more reasonable products. Only by maintaining these three advantages will we be able to maintain our competitive advantage in the over-market environment and achieve the top spot.

OFweek solar photovoltaic network: Saint-Gobain's annual investment in scientific research and development is huge. There are many research centers and small-scale development departments. Does Saint-Gobain Solar have an R&D center in China? Can you briefly introduce us to the scale of your research and development?

Geoffrey King: In terms of the entire development history, Saint-Gobain Group has been investing heavily in scientific research. Even though the company suffered financial crisis in 2008, it did not reduce research funding, so we said that we attach great importance to research and development. Saint-Gobain has a relatively large research and development center in Shanghai, China. It mainly develops new types of materials and has a research and development center in Europe and North America. Through these three research and development centers, new technologies and products are continuously brought to the solar industry.

OFweek Solar PV Network: Saint Gobain combines its traditional residential and architectural technologies with its technology in the solar field to provide component manufacturers with solutions to increase production speed, reduce downtime and maximize output. We know that Saint-Gobain Group is also the third largest in the world in the flat glass industry and the leading position in Europe. In the future, as the market demand for the photovoltaic industry picks up, the demand for ultra-white glass will also grow stronger. Does Saint-Gobain intend to enter this field? To play a greater synergy?

Geoffrey King: Saint-Gobain has always focused on high-performance materials. It is mainly used in the solar energy industry. As far as I am concerned, I am not very familiar with the ultra-white glass industry and I do not comment too much on the glass industry. But as a group company, Saint-Gobain Group owns many different products and each serves different fields such as glass and plastic. In reality, they will collaborate to develop new products. At some exhibitions, they will also exhibit at the same time. At the same time, different products are sold to customers, such as components and plastics. Like at this exhibition, there is a good example. There is a new product on the side of the flat glass. There is a film on the outside of the module. This kind of film will replace the flat panel afterwards. Saint-Gobain developed it by itself. New products will also replace the previous traditional technology products.

OFweek Solar PV Network: In 2011, Saint-Gobain Solar launched the “SolarBond” global support project to help reduce waste, ensure the production of the plant, and ultimately achieve cost savings. Can we describe this project in detail for us? What impact and significance does this project have for solar module manufacturers' production?

Geoffrey King: Saint-Gobain has many different products that will be sold to customers with different needs. “SolarBond” sells more than products, but more technical support for the products. We will systematically train the professional knowledge of the sales staff, and dispatch experts to each region to guide customers on the spot, select suitable products for customers, make them better understand our products, and understand how to use the products better. In the global market, Saint Gobain will provide such technical support, so there will also be technical experts from the United States, Germany and other places to come to China to provide support.

OFweek Solar PV Network: Saint-Gobain NOV Innovation Competition has been held until the fourth session. Saint Gobain has extensive experience in recognizing and assessing the suitability of start-up companies for establishing strategic partnerships with themselves. Do you think there is such a company in China's photovoltaic industry? Will Saint-Gobain Solar cooperate with Chinese PV companies?

Geoffrey King: The Saint-Gobain NOV Innovation Contest has been successfully held for four times. Actually, we actually have a lot of innovative ideas and technologies from this competition. There are many Saint-Gobain partners from the NOV Innovation Contest. For me personally, These aspects of China are not very well understood, but I am convinced that China and other countries have many innovative ideas. If we find some innovative companies, we will consider working with them in the future.

OFweek solar photovoltaic network: Although solar module manufacturers are committed to global business development, but the search for closer suppliers is becoming increasingly important. Because they need to continuously reduce costs and improve production efficiency, so as to maintain the competitiveness of enterprises. Does Saint-Gobain have special products and services for Chinese consumers?

Geoffrey King: Of course, there is definitely a certain market strategy for the Chinese market. For example, Saint-Gobain announced its cooperation with China's PV module manufacturer Jinchen Machinery last year to develop the solar energy market together. We will develop new materials to replace silicon wafers and work with them to develop upstream products. Therefore, we can cooperate with local Chinese companies to better serve local customers more directly, produce new materials locally, apply our products to production through Chinese manufacturers, and set up factories in Shanghai. We have our own sales team, all of which we do personally, and send someone from the United States to take charge of the Chinese market and better serve our customers in China.