Yingli inks PV module agreement
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Yingli Green Energy Holding Co said its US subsidiary signed an agreement with Borrego Solar Systems to supply photovoltaic (PV) modules to the San Diego-based company this year.
Under the terms of the agreement, the subsidiary, Yingli Green Energy Americas Inc, is expected to supply 20 megawatts of PV modules to Borrego Solar in 2011, according to the statement on Yingli's official website Thursday.
The Yingli modules are designated for commercial solar project use in the US.
"Yingli currently controls around 10 percent of the US solar project market," Liu Yaocheng, vice president of Yingli Green Energy Holding Co, said Thursday.
The company is based in Baoding, North China's Hebei Province.
Liu said "Yingli has a broad customer base, not only from US and Europe companies - which are Yingli's principal markets - but also from emerging markets in Asia and Africa."
Analyst said photovoltaic solar-power modules manufacturers who sell their products overseas face various challenges.
"Some European countries, for instance, believe (business with) Chinese companies doesn't create jobs in their home countries," Li Shengmao, a senior analyst with CIC Industry Research Center, told the Global Times.
More than 90 percent of domestic Chinese manufacturers sell their products overseas currently, especially in Europe, where the solar electricity industry is more mature, according to Li.
In December the French government imposed a three-month freeze on solar projects and crafted new investment rules partly designed to curb silicon solar cell imports from China.
The country's environmental policies must "create jobs in France, not subsidize Chinese industry," French Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in December.
But Yingli's Liu Yaocheng said, "We will not only bring clean electricity but also many green jobs."
Borrego Solar purchased 10 megawatts of Yingli Solar PV modules in 2010, which were used in several high-profile projects, including the San Diego Community Col-lege District.
In total, these projects created approximately 400 green jobs, and are expected to deliver enough clean solar energy to power approximately 8,500 homes, according to the company's estimates.
But "producing solar panels also (created) a questionable carbon footprint in China," Gan Deqiang, an electrical engineering professor with Zhejiang University, told the Global Times.
Gan said domestic manufacturers who currently export most of their products might look to their home market for future growth.
"At present, solar power is used on a small scale domestically, mainly because the cost of solar power is much higher than that of polluting energy sources," Gan said, "but it will be much more popular soon with more support from Chinese government subsidies."
"The potential is huge, so what we need to do is try our best to lower the cost of solar power via technological innovations," Liu Yaocheng with Yingli said.
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