DEK Solar Blog

Will solar expos dig their own grave? Darren Brown’s final thought.

So my title might be a little dramatic and I’m certainly not one for scare-mongering. But, as I prepare to say goodbye to our stand at Photon Expo in Stuttgart, I thought I’d follow-up the thoughts I published on tuesday with a final one.

All in all, visitors in Stuttgart were extremely light on the ground. Our team did pick up some good quality leads and we certainly registered a fair bit of interest in our PV metallization solutions.

Following on from what I said a few days ago, I’m now absolutely convinced that there are too many shows on the global PV calendar. Or at least, that there are two many shows too close together to be individually viable. From my perspective as an exhibitor, the result is that we’re seeing lower visitor numbers.

Ultimately, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy and the risk is that if fewer visitors go to shows, exhibitor numbers will fall. If exhibitor numbers fall, even less visitors will attend. Today’s visitor numbers made me think that I would almost have better spent my time soaking up some of the Stuttgart sun outside, than promoting solar commercialisation, inside!

So what’s the solution? Well, the bottom line is that solar is a global business. Exhibition organisers need to take a holistic view of their market. Whether they’re running events in Asia, Europe, the US or beyond, organisers must consider the needs of an international marketplace, international customers and devise their schedule with this in mind.

But these are just my thoughts. I’d like to hear yours! Please let me know what you think…

- Darren Brown, Alternative Energy Business Manager.

Too many cooks or false spectres? Reflecting on Photon Expo Day One…

We’ve been in Stuttgart all week now gearing up for, and then participating in, the Photon Expo. There’s still another two days to go, but I thought I’d pen my thoughts on the show so far. In case you’re interested! First thing’s first; it has been a key show previously – highly accessible and we’ve received some good quality leads up to now.

And now for the small print… If I’m honest, day one visitor traffic was slightly lighter than we’d hoped for. Although we had some key customers present and plenty of interest to keep us busy, I was also surprised at the lack of Asian visitors. So, were they too busy or put off by the spectre of volcanic ash?  I suspect it’s most likely a combination of the two.

As a highly important solar marketplace, Asia has its own shows now. And, these shows represent valuable platforms. We’ve just got back from AsiaSolar PV Forum in Shanghai (where traffic was also very light) and we’re returning there next week for SNEC. Which brings me on to an altogether different issue.

Now more than ever before, solar is a global business. So, I think exhibition organisers need to be more aware of exhibition schedules to avoid clashes or intensive event periods. Don’t get me wrong, we’re happy to travel everywhere our customers may want to meet us. But how many of them will continue to globe-trot on a near monthly basis?

Ultimately, exhibitions are about quality not quantity – which is why we’re happy with progress at Photon so far. However, this show has raised an important issue which is only going to become more relevant as time goes on. As the industry ponders this, I’ll get back to the stand and look forward to basking in some of this fantastic Stuttgart sunshine later!

- Darren Brown, Alternative Energy Business Manager.

P.S. See the photo below for how our team looked at the close of day one - we wore our suits but were all in agreement that shorts and flip flops would have been a better choice!

 

An elephant in the room; the problem with support.

Equipment, price, capabilities. What drives you in your choice of solar supplier? Personally, I think there’s an important differentiator that is too often overlooked. Support. Yes, I said it! And it feels good to get that off my chest. That’s right; one of the biggest taboos in the sales conversation is actually what should be sealing the deal.

Ok, so I may have my tongue firmly in my cheek right now, and I might even have told a white lie when I implied there was an actual elephant in the room. But, it’s true that support is a subject that people are happy to avoid. In fact, I hope there are actually a few people left reading this!

The salesperson doesn’t like to talk about support because they don’t want to admit the possibility that something could go wrong. The customer doesn’t like to talk about support because they don’t want to think about that either. Hmmm – let’s hope something doesn’t go wrong then eh?

Like it or not, complex equipment needs to be supported. When it comes to solar manufacturing equipment, we are not dealing with toasters. And, let’s face it; even Boeings can fall out of the sky. Hopefully, they won’t; but they do need to be well maintained in order to perform as they should.

The problem in today’s solar industry is that suppliers and customers alike think of support as a cost when it’s actually an investment that should come as standard. If your line stalls and you have to wait days for help to arrive, then that’s a cost.

Thanks to our 40+ years’ history in the SMT industry, we already have the infrastructure and experience to deliver the level of after sales and process support our customers need to stay competitive.

If you need a two-hour response, we’ll deliver a two-hour response. We can even put service guys on site – whatever it takes to keep you up and running. We’re also always working to continually improve your operation and have founded our reputation on technical and process leadership.

Lost days of production are lost forever. Most manufacturers can’t afford that scenario. That’s why I think it’s time to recognise and deal with the figurative elephant in the room!

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this issue; what are your experiences in the area of solar support? Let me know by posting your comments below – I’m all ears!!

- Gene Bartzsch, Customer Support Coordinator.

I've just returned from an extended trip to China and Singapore...

I woke on the first morning in Beijing to heavy snow – I was staying close to Tiananmen Square – all roped off with massive security for the Chinese Premier's state of the union address.

Down to our plant in Shenzhen – at capacity following the rapid and I have to say unexpected ramp in Surface Mount and Solar orders.  Short lead-times are our watchword so no time for slacking!  What a great job our guys are doing to manage the ramp without overlong lead-time delays.

To Singapore for an industry meeting with senior executives from the Solar Industry – everyone very buoyant about the future – met and discussed with many of the leaders in the industry.  Round table discussions voiced concern about the imbalance between solar panel manufacture in China and installation in Europe.  The German representatives were particularly concerned about this.

An expected cut in the German feed in tariff was of concern but the anti-dumping thoughts circulating in the EU posed a far greater threat.  Those supporting such a move apparently fail to understand that a large percentage of the capital equipment required to manufacture solar cells is actually made in Europe.  Any move to impose import tariffs on panels from China will damage the European industry significantly.  We should oppose any such move with all our effort – my letter to Gordon Brown is in the post!

Back to Shanghai for the Semi roundtable where similar topics were voiced.  Dr Wang from China’s National Development and Reform Commission gave a very informative presentation on China’s plans for internal solar consumption offering some hope that this will begin to increase before too long.  Grid distribution represents the biggest obstacle to growth together with an agreement on tariff which he indicated might be settled in the next 3 years.  He anticipated 100GW by 2020.

It is clear that the real volume drivers for our industry need to come from the USA and China.

- John Knowles, DEK Chairman