Interview

 

Why do you consider active participation in standardization as a strategic advantage for your company?

 

Shi: 11 years ago, when I started Suntech Power, there was already an IEC PV Standard and I made sure that all of the products we produced fully complied with it. Suntech Power was the first company in China to test its products and obtain certification based on IEC PV Standards.

 

Knowing about the IEC is a quality requirement that clearly must be fulfilled before one even enters this business. It’s a kind of endorsement that is needed before you can start selling your product.

 

Chinese companies are export-oriented and to be successful, they need to demonstrate that they fulfil all basic quality requirements. Participation in the IEC, the use of IEC Standards in the design and development processes simplifies certification and makes it easier to market products.

 

Does active involvement make it easier for your products to get certified?

 

Shi: There is a difference between being involved in standardization and obtaining certification. We participate in the standard development process for technical reasons, for example to improve product design, a production process or new material testing. Certification is a final judgement on how we managed this. To achieve certification, we need to be very strict in how we design the product; which components and materials we select (in our case we also work with suppliers who comply with state-of-the art standards) and finally how we produce the product. At the end of the day, the product only achieves certification, if all of these steps are quality controlled from the start; otherwise it’s hit and miss.

 

I believe that CEOs and executives in all start-up companies should pay great attention to the standards that are needed to obtain certification. This directly determines the quality level of the product and service and in turn makes it easier to access markets and sell products, gradually building market share. Because customers and consumers like your product better, when it is quality assured.

 

How do you assure quality to obtain certification?

 

Shi: Companies who don’t understand quality assurance try to obtain certification at the very end of the production process, when the product is ready to be delivered. But certification is not just a rubber stamp; compliance with a standard has to be realized through procurement, through production and through quality assurance from the start and all along the way. This way it becomes much easier to achieve certification: because quality is part of the design; it is built in. When you try to assure the quality of your products at the end it’s much too late and can be way more expensive.

 

Being involved in standardization makes it easier to achieve certification. It becomes a more efficient and actually a cost-saving process for any company that designs and builds its products.

 

You are proud of the pioneering role of Suntech Power in China. Tell us why.

 

Shi: Many PV companies in China had to improve their production practice to achieve certification. This helped raise the quality of PV products in the whole country. Because of Suntech’s international success most companies in China in this industry followed our example. As a pioneer for the adoption of IEC Standards in China, we were able to provide a model that improved the overall quality of products in this industry.

 

How did you get involved with the IEC?

 

Shi: Because of my background as a scientist and engineer I was trained to understand the importance of standardization. I was involved in the IEC for 14 years when I was in Australia. That’s where I learned that IEC International Standards are an absolute necessity for the certification of the quality of PV modules. It’s the very, very basic requirement before a PV module can be deployed in the field. When I founded Suntech Power it was self-evident that we would continue on this path.

 

In our industry there is constantly innovation, new processes, new materials and the standards also need to be improved and changed with time. We have a lot of interaction among different industry players. Our access to this global knowledge and experience allows us to design better products and this in turn influences the standards. That’s why I am continuing to be involved in the IEC.

 

What are some of the challenges you are facing?

 

Shi: For solar to be more broadly applicable, we need to improve the efficiency, the power output while guaranteeing reliability. We also need to further reduce cost while improving technologies. Our engineers are constantly looking for new alternatives because PV has more and more applications. Previously, PV was mainly used in low-voltage applications, such as roof-top systems; today we build big power plants of 200 to 300 MW, and those are high voltage systems. This means that frames and components now need to be able to resist 1000 volts and in the future maybe 1 500 volts. We need to make certain that these new technologies pass all the necessary tests. To do so, we need to have the standards in place that include the methodology and measurement methods that are comparable across the globe, because we want to sell our products globally.

 

In your view has standardization helped the solar industry to grow?

 

Shi: Absolutely. By continuously improving its standards, the IEC has helped the PV industry to develop and expand. IEC standards provide guidance in terms of product design – how to process, how to test – and they deliver robust and reliability to the consumer. IEC is very well recognized in this industry and also it continues to improve with time. So I think it really help a lot. All solar product consumers I know care about the fact that we work with IEC Standards.

 

It seems that participation in IEC work really helped Suntech Power to take off. What message would you like to deliver to start-ups and CEOs of technology companies?

 

Shi: I think CEOs and executives of technology companies should pay great attention to IEC standardization work. Because this is how you can build quality right into the product. You will find it easier to market and sell your product, because certification is easier. I encourage you to participate actively in the IEC.

 

When a start-up company wants to manufacture an electronic product, they need to start at a very high level, this allows them to position the company. That’s how we did it at Suntech; that’s how Suntech became the number one brand name in the PV industry. Because we care about the quality of our products, we started to certify them according to IEC Standards. We were the first company in China to take this approach, and all the others have imitated us.

 

Does Suntech Power source components for its products from outside suppliers?

 

Shi: Yes, we buy our components from suppliers all over the world. Our suppliers get regularly audited. They have to comply with a set of standards, including IEC Standards. Of course price is important, but we also verify their approach to manufacturing, environment, health and safety issues. When we buy components, for example the junction box of a solar panel, the whole device needs to be certified to IEC International Standards, otherwise we will not buy it.

 

PV doesn’t have the reputation of being a very efficient power generation technology. What would you reply?

 

Shi: The cost for solar energy has been driven down dramatically in the past 10 years. Before I started the company, solar electricity cost about 80 US cents per kilowatt hour. Today it is 6 times cheaper. Solar already has reached grid parity in 120 countries across the world. By 2015, 50% of countries will reach grid parity. In India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa, solar is already cheaper than diesel. For traditional energy the price will continue to go up. I believe in the next five years, in many places in the world solar will be cheaper than conventional electricity.

 

In the future we will need a combination of different power sources to cover global energy needs. Solar is part of this mix. People need to think inclusive, not exclusive. For China, because of rapid economic development over the last 30 years, there is an energy supply issue. ..shortage of energy, environmental protection issue. China wants to continue to develop the economy and renewable energy is like a new industry which also provides green economic growth. I think for those reasons the Chinese government promotes very much this renewable energy industry in China.