Photovoltaic lighting can destroy light

Despite the company's top management and top pressure, Huang Ming, chairman of the Huangming Group, believes that “everything is solar energy” has made it clear that “never enter the PV module industry,” but he chose a brand new market segment— - Photovoltaic terminal applications. Because he firmly believes that "commercialization and terminal utilization are the only way for sustainable development of photovoltaics."

However, the cruel reality tells him that "things are counterproductive." According to the current development trend, photovoltaic terminal application industry may "self-destruction."

“The solar street lights installed during the Beijing Olympics were demolished in 1 year. The failure rate of thousands of solar street lights installed in the Changping District of Beijing reached 21% after half a year. The solar-powered lighting waste project in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province was replaced by the government into an ordinary city. Electric lighting." Speaking of the use of photovoltaic terminals to "lose Maicheng," Huang Ming is worried about the prospects for the development of the entire industry.

Lack of national standard caused confusion in the industry

It is understood that solar street lighting is a market segment of the photovoltaic industry because it can directly use solar energy to generate electricity without the need for complicated and expensive long-distance transmission cables. It also has many advantages such as automatic operation, voltage security, etc., over the past few years. It is widely and quickly used to replace traditional street lamps.

However, this segment of the market is experiencing the pain of a "flash in the pan."

“This is a sunrise industry that has not yet developed. It is filled with countless unspoken rules.” On May 11, Huang Ming denounced the unregulated market and some of his peers in an interview with reporters. “This new emerging application in photovoltaic terminals In the industrial field, national standards, quality inspections, and after-sales systems lag behind the industrial development, leading to a large number of garbage projects across the country, and the national quality supervision authorities are unable to effectively supervise small-scale industries."

“What’s worse is that after construction of a lot of small enterprises, human and financial resources are not able to keep up, there is no after-sales service, and the replacement and cancellation of corporate brands are frequent, resulting in more and more solar street lamps’ orphans’ products, which have spoiled the image of the industry. Damaged the interests of Party A." Huang Ming said.

In his view, solar street lighting market and the solar water heater industry compared to "low quality and low price" compared to nothing, "maybe this is already the biggest feature of many industries in China."

According to industry sources, at present most of the solar street lighting products of enterprises are mainly patchwork, rather than independent R&D and production, and some of the factoryless lighting companies are the “spoilers” in this industry. Cutting corners and shoddy work makes product quality impossible to guarantee. "Some street lamps have failed to illuminate for three days; some lamps have rapidly decayed brightness and can no longer be illuminated in just one year; there are also serious rusted lamp poles and even dumping accidents."

In the tendering process of local government for the installation and management of solar street lamps, the phenomenon of “bad money expelling good money” that competes purely on prices often appears, and even a large number of “short-lived companies” disrupt the bidding of solar street lights.

“Each region will have some temporary registered companies when they bid. Once the project is completed, it will be disbanded after getting the project money. In the end, these problems become roadblocks for the government.” According to insiders, these companies often implement Low-price bids and black-box operations have caused the industry to continue to produce low-quality, low-cost garbage projects, forcing local governments to conduct maintenance tenders each year, resulting in a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial waste.

“Because there is no industry standard, many units are referring to the implementation of urban road standards in the bidding process. As a result, solar street lighting systems are only warranted for one year.” Huang Ming said, “Many local governments have launched solar street lighting projects. In fact, it is hoped that the electricity cost will be recovered year by year by relying on the electricity cost saved by later use. If it is only for one year, it means that government investment is impossible to recover."

Consumer warnings point to the government

Faced with the chaos that the photovoltaic lighting industry has grown up with, the Ming Group, which entered this field early, appears to be extremely embarrassed. The reason for this is that “the industry has not yet developed and its reputation has become worse and worse”.

According to Huang Ming, “In the early stages of choosing whether or not to implement PV modules, the domestic PV market has just begun to sprout, and the earliest companies such as Suntech and Suntech have just been established. However, after 10 years, the PV industry has experienced ups and downs and has not yet achieved sustainable development. development of."

In an interview, Huang Ming re-emphasized the viewpoint of “industry correction”: “Policy guidance will not develop the photovoltaic market and will only mislead the direction. What the government should do is to improve standards and quality inspection systems, strengthen supervision, and standardize the market. As for industrial development, we should not rely on the tangible hand of the government but hand it over to the market as an invisible hand."

Therefore, Huang Ming wrote in the "Consumer Warning Letter to the Mayor of the Whole Country" that if local governments raise the bidding requirements for solar street lamps, the quality of the products will be changed to five years and enforced; the strict qualification examination of bidders will be greatly improved. The status of the solar street light “become bad for years” has also promoted the healthy development of solar street lights.

"For solar photovoltaic terminal manufacturers, only the first self-discipline before they can be promoted." Huang Ming said that through more than 10 years of exploration, Huang Ming Group has concluded a relatively complete set of internal control testing standards, even though it is confidential The document, but for the healthy development of the photovoltaic terminal application industry, in order to avoid greater economic losses of the local government, he is willing to openly own internal standards of intellectual property to promote the development of the entire industry.

At the same time, Huang Ming also put forward his hope for the role and construction of the industry association. “The industry association should not be based on the survival of the enterprise, but should be built on the protection of the interests of consumers. The role of the industry association is to regulate the industry. , Formulate strict industrial standards, rather than become an accomplice to bad companies and damage the development of the industry."

“Manufacturing is the foundation of the country. Even if it is archery, China needs to nurture its own 'manufacturing spirit'.” Huang Ming said, “The product is good or bad, perhaps the proportion of technology content is less than 10%. The conscience of entrepreneurs must account for more than 90%."

Reality seems to be true.

Nowadays, people are immersed in a living environment without “security”. If more Chinese entrepreneurs dare to expose the unspoken rules and family ugliness of the industry and rebuild a safe consumer environment, the industry will naturally win the difficult “tug-of-war” competition. There are many good people, and good and natural will win.

As Huang Ming put it, “Rescuing the industry is focused on saving consumer confidence.”