Qcells has its eye on the US with a number of not too long ago introduced plans for giant investments in manufacturing, however it’s also rebranding away from pure module manufacturing to additionally provide holistic residence vitality options with a push within the UK market.
PV Tech Premium caught up with Ian Clover, specialist company communications Qcells, at Photo voltaic & Storage Dwell 2022 to debate the massive urge for food for residential photo voltaic and storage, the corporate’s new module expertise choices and the burgeoning US market.
Qcells has made plenty of manufacturing bulletins primarily based within the US together with photo voltaic glass with Canadian Premium Sand and a 1.4GW module manufacturing facility. What’s driving these actions?
Ian Clover: A lot of our focus is within the US in the intervening time. That’s the place we see giant alternatives by way of market progress and the prospect to satisfy excessive demand with Made in America merchandise. That’s why we’ve made these nice commitments to the availability chain not too long ago. I believe that we’re not going to cease there if the alternatives proceed to current themselves.
We’ve now been owned by Hanwha for ten years so we not too long ago celebrated that with some huge bulletins.
The corporate is engaged on plenty of totally different next-generation module applied sciences together with n-type and even perovskite tandem. May you element what stage the corporate is at with these?
We have now our Q.TRON BLK-G2+, which has a TopCON-type cell construction. It’s accessible within the UK market imminently. that’s the N-type. Simply the primary of the brand new technology of photo voltaic modules made with Q.ANTUM Neo cell expertise, which supply larger efficiencies and decrease degradation charges than typical PERC-type modules.
We don’t want to put a timeline on perovskite tandem expertise, however it’s the case that Qcells’ R&D groups in each Germany and Korea are invested in creating this expertise as a pillar of Qcells’ next-generation suite of photo voltaic parts.
So we’re totally embracing this next-generation module expertise roadmap, while additionally rebranding ourselves not too long ago to incorporate choices of fully clear vitality and holistic end-to-end options. However Qcells has nonetheless bought photo voltaic DNA. Clearly, we’ve been a large pioneer within the photo voltaic vitality house because the starting.
Qcells is exhibiting a brand new scalable battery system for photo voltaic households within the UK. What are the important thing options?
Within the UK, we’re main with the Q.HOME CORE H4 vitality storage system, which is accessible as a hybrid model and an AC-coupled model.
The hybrid is for brand spanking new techniques. So, in the event you’re putting in a photo voltaic system in your roof with Qcells modules you should utilize the Q.House CORE H4, which is manufactured with Samsung battery cells inside. It gives a 15-year guarantee and is scalable as much as 20.5kWh, making it appropriate for all sorts of personal households.
You may cowl all your family vitality wants. And now we have the Q.OMMAND app, which is a typical good software program resolution to allow folks to have a higher overview and management of their vitality consumption patterns.
The AC model is for present photo voltaic installations so we are able to simply add on the batteries. So in the event you’ve bought a photo voltaic system in your roof already, even when it’s not Qcells modules, you’ll be able to nonetheless add the brand new storage system. We’re seeing big demand already and though we are able to provide sufficient storage to satisfy that demand, installers are discovering it tough to maintain up.
What coverage helps would you wish to see within the UK with the intention to scale up your operations, and the way enticing is Europe?
It will be nice to have some consistency in policymaking. That has been very tough not too long ago although partly due to self-inflicted harm. Maybe the UK wouldn’t essentially be the correct of location for upstream manufacturing however on the continent actually. We’re all in favour of discussions being had between the EU and varied photo voltaic our bodies. We’re at all times open to alternatives and we want to diversify our provide chain.
ASPs are coming down now as properly. Photo voltaic expertise at all times turns into low cost, so we’re assured that, left alone to its personal units, photo voltaic will elbow its technique to the entrance of the UK vitality system.
Again when photo voltaic first started its journey within the UK in 2010, folks noticed it as costly. That’s why the feed-in tariffs had been so beneficiant however the prices have come down dramatically. Photo voltaic and storage are the longer term. They’re so properly favored and understood by the general public. There’s additionally the pliability we’re seeing with sector coupling underway too with renewable vitality industries speaking to and dealing with one another.
We not too long ago launched Q ENERGY as an organisation to analyze such coupling alternatives co-locating photo voltaic, storage, wind and even different new applied sciences like hydrogen as properly. So, we see the longer term is a little bit of a combination, however one which’s going to be solar-led.
Has UK demand soared considerably because the vitality disaster or was it at all times constructing?
The vitality disaster has had an affect, however we’ve seen excessive demand within the UK all year long. The gross sales groups are telling me that it’s actually insane in the intervening time. Persons are simply determined to put in photo voltaic and storage.
