Ecoprogetti installs the biggest fully Glass-Glass PV Module line in North Africa with Bifacial capacity of up to 250MW
July 17, 2018
Leaps forward in PV manufacturing technology
August 16, 2018
Published: 19/07/2018
How to be competitive today for “new comers” in solar market against big module manufacturers
The European landscape for PV looks at present dominated by very big and mostly Chinese module manufacturers which own a large market share and generate a very tough competition against European module producers.
The real challenge for European and small-medium sized module manufacturing companies and for new comers in the solar business it is to understand how to be competitive against those Chinese module suppliers and to achieve not only good price levels to be attractive for the market but also keep high quality European standard product.
What has to be considered as milestone for Solar PV companies and new comers to solar modules manufacturing is to maintain reasonable and mid-low company overhead costs and fixed costs and aim to be efficient in the production by keeping operating costs of the manufacturing plant as low as possible. The Italian company, Ecoprogetti, for 20 years has been designing, developing and assembling solutions for photovoltaic module manufacturing with innovative materials and high-quality standards. The company does not only produce complete turnkey production lines with great manufacturing equipment but also share its experience in the solar industry with new comers to the market and a deep understanding and transfer of the production process in order to allow new comers to reduce the entrance costs to the business of manufacturing PV modules.
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Take a look at our new article on Ecoprogetti’s new “machine production facility”
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To be a new comer with no experience in this business can be very challenging,
as solar PV becomes more accessible and affordable across the globe, more nations are turning to local PV manufacturing in a bid to stimulate the development of their renewable energy markets, indeed many governments around the world are looking for new ways to avoid a complete reliance on energy imports and to increase renewable local content for their countries.
New companies in emerging markets, joining the PV module production sector at a later stage, have the opportunity to immediately invest in optimal and state-of-the-art solutions, although critical risks such as overhead costs, bad quality products and resulting low selling prices can jeopardize the business. Ecoprogetti has great experience in the PV process and PV business and has been transferring technical know-how to new comers in order for them to start with the right foot, avoiding critical risks for the company management and optimizing the production efficiency to its fullest from the earliest stage, avoiding entrance costs, normally typical when entering in a new high technological business.
The raw materials used to manufacture a photovoltaic module doesn’t involve any warranty on the final panel, this means that the 25 years warranty of the modules, which is the standard today, must be guaranteed by the PV module producer. This commitment requires state of the art tools to test the quality throughout the production, starting from the single cells and finishing with the complete module. Ecoprogetti has a range of machinery for controlling the quality of the photovoltaic modules, able to carry out the tests that are required for certification according to market standards. These tests guarantee the endurance of the modules, protecting the end user. The testing machines are supplied to specialized laboratories or to whoever requires them for testing their modules to obtain certification.
Next generation module concepts such as Bifacial, dual glass, flexible Glass-less modules, BIPV, Busbar-less cell interconnection, half-cut or shingled cells are all highly demanded among new market entrants, the goal is to provide a module assembly line of optimal flexibility that can keep pace with the technological changes. Among other factors, for Ecoprogetti to get a higher efficiency of the line, meaning fewer minutes per completed module, can be obtained by laying the production line in the right configuration. The Italian firm provides clients with a complete production line analysis, simulation and process optimization.
At present many new comers in the PV industry choose to enter with a “long history” partner, like the company Ecoprogetti, that is capable to support them not only with the latest equipment technologies but also in the manufacturing process and in the knowledge of the full PV chain and PV market approach. This choice allows the new comers in the PV market to be competitive with the newest solutions and products, without bearing directly the learning costs and entrance times to a new market, but cutting down the operating risks on the newco and speeding up extremely the time-to-market of the new comer in the Solar market, and of course increasing the possibilities of short-term success of the new investment.
