The machines are busy underneath the watchful eye of staff anxious to detect the slightest defect. Production continues at each step. The photovoltaic cells, delivered by a provider positioned just a few dozen kilometers away, are fastidiously faraway from the bins. They are related by conductive metallic wires earlier than being welded, adopted by a sheet of particular glass, one other sheet of cell-encapsulating materials, the cells themselves, extra protecting materials and extra glass. And finally, a foil that, as soon as the product melts in a heat room, is the again of the panel. Production is generally automated with machines additionally made in China, however the course of have to be fastidiously checked – the place high quality management is available in. the bare eye or a scanner to assist.
The manufacturing unit, positioned in an industrial park in Nantong, reverse Shanghai on the mouth of the Yangtze River, is certainly one of many within the sector within the area. Solar panel manufacturing is now primarily accomplished in China. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2021, three quarters of jobs on this trade will likely be positioned there. Chinese corporations additionally moved a part of their remaining manufacturing to southeast Asia to keep away from boundaries erected by Washington in opposition to imports from China, in order that the remainder of Asia might recuperate 14% of the remaining jobs. . This leaves Europe with solely 3% and the United States with 1%, whereas photo voltaic power is introduced as one of many keys to the power transition, and subsequently within the 21St century.
China’s victory was a supply of nice pressure. The close to extinction of European manufacturing has left its mark on the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who has usually used it to name for a surge in European trade. “We haven’t forgotten how China’s unfair commerce practices have affected our photo voltaic trade,” he stated in September 2023. The matter additionally continuously comes up in American political discourse.
Meanwhile, China continues to fabricate. In Eco Green Energy, a warehouse illustrates the effectivity of the just-in-time provide chain: the storage room of supplies, which at all times stays empty. And for good purpose. The firm’s founder, Dalibor Nikolovski, defined that his suppliers ship supplies – photovoltaic cells, which account for 60% of the product’s worth, anodized aluminum bars and sheets of a selected glass – within the afternoon when ordered by morning, the subsequent day if not. “In Europe, as a result of the cells nonetheless come from China, we’d like two months with transport,” stated the French, who has been based mostly in China for 17 years.
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