Hanwha Q Cells becomes the largest PV cell manufacturer in U.S.

Hanwha Q Cells, a photovoltaic module business of Hanwha Solutions, recorded the biggest market share both at the residential and commercial markets in the U.S. last year.

The global energy consultancy group Wood Mackenzie said on Sunday that Hanwha Q Cells became the largest manufacturer of both residential and commercial solar cells in the U.S. last year, overtaking its competitors including the American energy company SunPower. Hanwha Q Cells took up 25.2 percent in the residential PV market, 11.1 percentage points up from 2018, and 13.3 percent in the commercial market. The last time a company held the largest market share in both markets was 2013.

Hanwha Q Cells has been supplying PV modules to the U.S. market since February last year when it started operating its solar module manufacturing plant in Georgia, the United States. The facility can produce 1.7 GW of PV modules a year, which can power 600,000 households.

The key product of the South Korean company is the “Q.PEAK DUO” line. The Q.PEAK DUO line has “Q.ANTUM” technology that increases power generation efficiency by absorbing light reflected from PV modules. It also has “half cell” technology, which cuts a cell in half to improve output. Hanwha Q Cells received a great deal of attention in the local market when it supplied 350,000 PV modules to Facebook’s new data center in the state of Georgia.

Hanwha Q Cells plans to increase sales in the West first where the sunshine duration is long. In fact, the Californian government has mandated that all new homes be built with a PV system from this year. It is expected that California alone will need 1 GW of PV modules by 2024. Hanwha Q Cells is also paying attention to the Southern United States such as Texas and Florida where demand for photovoltaics and the Energy Storage System is growing as an alternate power source.

On the strength of its growth in the United States, Hanwha Q Cells successfully made a profit last year by recording 3.355 trillion won in sales, 41 percent up from 2018, and 223.5 billion won in operating profit. “Considering demand for photovoltaics is on the rise despite the spread of COVID-19, the operating profit for the first quarter of the year is expected to increase compared to the same period last year,” said a source from the company.


warum@donga.com