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ASK THE EXPERTS

PES: Welcome to PES Solar/PV magazine. Thanks for talking with us. Would you like to begin by explaining a little about the background of your organisation and how you currently serve the solar industry?

Iain Garner & Ismael Bena: DMEGC was founded in 1980 and has developed to become the global No.1 magnetics manufacturer. Customers include Microsoft, Siemens, Samsung, HP, LG, Bosch, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, IBM, Phillips and Apple. DMEGC was listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 2006, and now has annual revenues over USD 1.3bn and 15,000 employees. It’s part of the Hengdian Group, which is one of the largest privately owned enterprises in China, with activities in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, tourism, media and entertainment.

The magnetics business ranges from permanent magnets for large scale generators and motors, to electronic components for a wide range of products including mobile phones and even solar PV inverters. DMEGC magnetic cores are used for various EMI filters, HF transformer coils and DC/DC converters by PV inverter manufacturers such as SMA, ABB, SolarEdge, Huawei and Sungrow.

DMEGC Solar was set up in 2009 as a vertically integrated PV manufacturer of silicon ingot/rods, wafers, solar cells and modules. There’s a strong focus on R&D to provide consistent high quality, reliable

products and the best cost-performance ratio, to ensure long term growth and business sustainability.

DMEGC is also one of very few solar PV manufacturers to be rated highly by the “Altman-Z Score” of financial stability, due to its diversified and balanced business.

PES: Is solar/PV a growing business area? How are you capitalising on this growth?

IG & IB: Yes, our solar PV business has grown quickly and we expect further sustainable growth in future. Currently DMEGC is making further investment of USD 1bn to expand capacity from 1GW to 1.6GW of solar cells and from 0.5GW to 1GW of modules for completion in 2016.

PES: Please tell us about DMEGC’s different cell and module offerings?

IG & IB: Based on p-type technology, DMEGC mono-Si cells are currently reaching the highest efficiency available in China. Good colour consistency has allowed us to solve the poor aesthetics’ issues that have often plagued inferior, so-called “all black” modules. Market response to these products has been very strong, particularly in residential markets.

Over the last 5 years, many PV cell manufacturers’ concentrated resources on production of poly-Si due to the lower material costs. DMEGC held the contrary view that mono-Si would be the future trend

Backing a winnerIain Garner, Business Development Director and Ismael Bena, Director UK & Ireland, DMEGC Solar, called in to PES to tell us how they went against the trend and backed mono-Si cells, we hear why that was the way to go. The company is rated by the Altman Z Score of financial stability, something to be proud of…

Iain Garner

Ismael Bena

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ASK THE EXPERTS

due to its greater potential for efficiency increase. Investments were therefore made in mono-Si cell technology innovation and cost control. Current market trends show high efficiency and uniform colour are now significant advantages and DMEGC is positioned as a mono-Si PV cell and module specialist.

In addition to high quality standard PV modules, DMEGC is manufacturing and developing specific PV module products to meet special market demands. Examples include double glass modules for BIPV, high salt resistant modules for projects in coastal areas, high temperature and stress resistant modules for desert areas, smart modules for premium customers, and bifacial cells in double glass modules for sound barrier projects. All provide a great variety of additional options for discerning customers.

PES: We are interested in DMEGC’s optimised processing; please can you explain this to us?

IG & IB: DMEGC has improved PV cell efficiency and colour with in-house proprietary technology in the production process. This is our own special know-how with years of R&D by our engineers, which is now yielding such good results.

Referring to PV module performance optimisation, we have entered a strategic partnership with SolarEdge as supplier of optimiser junction boxes to manufacture “embedded” smart modules. DMEGC smart

modules provide extra added-value to PV systems installers and end-customers. Benefits include real time module-level monitoring, additional safety features, power output optimisation under shade conditions and system cost savings through longer string configuration. The platform and applications provided by SolarEdge also bring the opportunity for future system upgrades with battery storage integration.

PES: We see that you are a vertically integrated manufacturer, how important is this?

IG & IB: DMEGC Solar is integrated across the PV value chain from silicon ingots and rods, to wafers, PV cells and PV modules. We also offer full project construction EPC services in China. This integrated chain provides better internal cost control and guaranteed raw materials delivery. When the PV market demand is high, we can provide the shortest delivery time for downstream products and better lead-times to distributors and end-customers. When market demand slows, our downstream projects can absorb internal surplus capacity.

Production of silicon ingots/rods and wafers is located in Henan Province in central China. Here DMEGC enjoys cost advantages due to low electricity prices in these less developed areas. The production of both PV cells and modules are co-located in Zhejiang Province with the

DMEGC headquarters. In these more economically developed areas of China, DMEGC is able to recruit, train and retain very high quality employees, in order to guarantee the complex needs for quality in PV cell and modules compared with the heavy industry nature of silicon ingots/rods and wafer production.

PES: What are the advantages, both in technological terms and for the end user?

IG & IB: From the technology perspective, DMEGC is a market leading company producing the highest efficiency mono-Si PV cells in China, with the additional and related benefit of excellent colour consistency, ideal for full black modules. This means better use of space and reduced overall installed system cost, plus stable and high energy yield with improved investment returns for the end-user.

We also receive reports from our European distributors that DMEGC black modules are really becoming an important choice for residential systems. It’s often a “deal closer” for installers to provide PV modules which are aesthetically pleasing. Delivering a system which really looks integrated on the customers’ property can add significant value compared to other PV modules. Often bright blue PV cell colours and silver anodised frames are seen as ugly by non-technical homeowners, or in worst cases inconsistent colour shades are seen

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as a faulty product by the end-consumer.

The efforts DMEGC takes to ensure homogenous black modules are strongly appreciated in the market, reducing complaints, customer service issues and overall enhancing returns through the value chain.

PES: The company places a strong focus on Technology Innovation. Tell us more.

IG & IB: DMEGC is striving for improved PV cell efficiency and product quality, using volume scaling to drive down costs. We’re spending around 3% of revenue each year to support R&D and new technology innovation.

Running large scale production at several locations requires constant vigilance, as even the smallest improvements can have large impacts. The potential for further PV cell enhancements is well defined in our technology road map.

As we add further capacity during 2016-17 there will be opportunities to bring online several new process steps and progressive changes to PV cell architecture. These will further improve production yield, efficiency and overall PV module product performance.

PES: How important is your R&D department, what are they currently working on?

IG & IB: The main technology road map targets for our research team are, first and foremost, to improve cell efficiency by 0.1-0.2% every quarter, both for poly and mono cells. This will include developing RIE poly and PERC mono with higher efficiency during 2016-17. R&D is also working on several interesting new concepts including HIT, MWT and EWT cell architectures. All are known across the PV industry, however applying these to GW scale cell production and achieving low costs is a challenging goal.

Module level R&D is in continuous development on a new generation of double glass modules. It’s becoming clear that

there is a need for these enhanced modules, as large scale PV power growth continues to accelerate, particularly in more challenging environments. This leads directly to our work on bi-facial modules and cells, another holy grail for the PV industry that has yet to be realised at scale. Combined with the novel cell concepts being investigated and new PV module configurations, the R&D team at DMEGC is an exciting place to be!

PES: Geographically speaking, where are the key markets for DMEGC and do you have any plans for expansion into other areas?

IG & IB: Over the last 4-5 years DMEGC has built up a sales network across Europe, with sales offices in The Netherlands, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The product enhancements available with DMEGC products have resulted in a strong market demand for both PV cells and modules. Our customers benefit from knowledgeable local contacts and efficient logistic services, building on DMEGC group experience with major OEM customers in automotive and electronics.

There is already a strong demand for DMEGC products in Japan, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australian regions which we hope to develop further with local based sales teams in the coming 1-2 years.

PES: Which aspect of the industry provides the most satisfaction for you right now?

IG & IB: It may not always seem this way in individual markets, but globally solar PV capacity is ramping up quickly and we can expect the industry to be at least three times its current size within 3-4 years. This means the solar PV business will become increasingly mainstream for investors, fund

managers, homeowners, construction companies, commercial business and power companies across the world.

There will be many special markets and niche opportunities where high quality, customer-orientated PV manufacturers and systems installers can thrive. DMEGC is laying a solid foundation for its development and we are confident about the future in solar PV.

PES: And conversely, what presents you with the biggest challenges?

Minimum import price (MIP) controls, on Chinese manufactured products in Europe and AD&CV tax in the USA, are artificially holding PV module and cell prices at a high level. Many PV manufacturers have stepped out of the MIP agreements and are now producing in other low cost regions to avoid price controls. Even the European and US manufacturers, who the controls were intended to protect, are able to sell at prices well below the MIP level. The situation needs to be resolved urgently, so consumers and investors can enjoy lower cost solar PV energy generation.

PES: What are your thoughts about prospects for the rest of 2016, moving on in to 2017, with regard to your organization and the solar industry in general?

IG & IB: Due to the fast increase in PV installations across China, with 20GW of new capacity added in 2016, PV cell/module costs will reduce before the year end. Meanwhile, new production capacity will be coming online during this period, leading to fierce competition. DMEGC is well positioned, ready to provide a strongly differentiated and high value-added range of products to customers, with higher efficiency and more competitive prices.

www.dmegcsolar.com

“There will be many special markets and niche opportunities where high quality, customer-

orientated PV manufacturers and systems installers can thrive”