The machines are busy under the watchful eye of employees anxious to identify the slightest defect. Production continues step by step. The photovoltaic cells, delivered by a supplier located just a few dozen kilometers away, are carefully removed from the boxes. They are connected by conductive metal wires before being welded together, followed by a sheet of special glass, another sheet of cell-encapsulating material, the cells themselves, more protective material and more glass. And eventually, a foil which, once melted onto the product in a scorching hot room, will be the back of the panel. Production is mostly automated on machines also made in China, but the process has to be meticulously checked – that’s where quality control comes in. The 30 or so workers on Eco Green Energy’s lines, rising to 45 when production peaks, check every stage, with the naked eye or a scanner to help.
The factory, located in an industrial park in Nantong, opposite Shanghai on the immense Yangtze River estuary, is one of many in the sector in the region. Solar panel production is now mainly carried out in China. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2021, three-quarters of jobs in this industry were located there. Chinese companies have also relocated part of their final production to southeast Asia to avoid the barriers erected by Washington against imports from China, so that the rest of Asia can recover 14% of the remaining jobs. This leaves Europe with just 3% and the United States with 1%, while solar energy is presented as one of the keys to the energy transition, and therefore to the 21st century.
China’s victory is a source of great tension. The near-extinction of production in Europe has left its mark on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who regularly uses it to call for an industrial surge in Europe. “We have not forgotten how China’s unfair trade practices have affected our solar industry,” she said in September 2023. The subject also comes up regularly in American political discourse.
Meanwhile, China continues producing. At Eco Green Energy, one warehouse illustrates the efficiency of the just-in-time supply chain: the materials storage room, which always remains empty. And with good reason. The company’s founder, Dalibor Nikolovski, explained that his suppliers deliver materials – photovoltaic cells, which account for 60% of the product’s value, anodized aluminum bars and sheets of a specific glass – in the afternoon if ordered in the morning, the next day if not. “In Europe, since the cells would still come from China, we’d need two months just with transport,” said the Frenchman, who has been based in China for 17 years.
You have 68.27% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title of this site
