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From upstream to downstream, solar manufacturers are trying to extend their positions in the competitive solar PV market. Jiangsu Zeversolar New Energy Co., Ltd., (Zeversolar) uses its inverter technology to penetrate into the global solar market. EnergyTrend interviewed Sven Schreiber, who is responsible to market, sales and global services, to discuss Zeversolar’s integration with SMA, product lines and market outlook.
A New Brand Image after the Integration to SMA
In March 2013, Zeversolar was acquired by SMA, the world’s biggest inverter company from Germany, and became a part of the SMA Group. With SMA’s prestigious reliability and Zeversolar’s production/position advantages in China, Zeversolar is able to provide their customers with more reliable products and better cost/performance ratio.
Zeversolar has been developing and manufacturing inverters for both small-scale and utility-scale PV projects. Residential, commercial installations and ground-mounted large PV power plants are all targets to Zeversolar’s business. Massive production in China brings manufacturing experience and cost advantage; integrated procurement and supply chain from SMA’s acquisition further strength the group’s development.
“The positive results of the restructuring and improvement that we did in 2013 are gradually coming out,” said Sven.
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SMA’s acquisition helped Zeversolar to tremendously improve its R&D, quality control, production management and service. Sven noted, “We ultimately set up new international and experienced management and sale teams for both Chinese and global markets. In addition, we have been working to upgrade all product lines of Zeversolar.”
Zeversolar currently employs more than 450 people around the world. The headquarters and R&D center are located in Suzhou, China; the manufacturing center is located in Yangzhong, Jiangsu. Furthermore, sale and services offices have been extended to Beijing, Lanzhou, Australia and Germany. In 2014, the integration has made a big progress for overseas markets. Zeversolar entered into cooperation agreement with solar PV projects in Australia, UK and New Zealand.
“We redefined Zeversolar,” said Sven. “From company website, datasheet, brochure to product design, we established new brand position and image for Zeversolar with our new slogan –‘Energy for Everybody!’”
“Energy for everybody,” Zeversolar’s Product Lines and Market Strategies
In 2014, Zeversolar has successfully entered into the European market and convinced more end-users to opt for Zeversolar’s products. Zeversolar launched the newly improved product in the first half of 2014, offering its customers a more reliable, stable and economical choice.
Products that are already published/to be published recently are:
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In addition to inverters, Zeversolar upgrades its monitoring systems by connecting its new PMU Residential through Wi-Fi, making it possible to control the system simultaneously via the internet. Furthermore, Zeversolar launched a PV installation designing & planning tool called “Zeverplan” for users to design their own solar project depending on worldwide environmental database and datasheets of module manufacturers. It’s completely free and is extremely prized among the users.
With the firmer foundation, Zeversolar hopes to enter into Taiwanese market as well. Sven regarded Taiwan as a stable and fast-growing market. The company has already shipped about 20MW of inverters to the market and has got positive feedback from Taiwanese customers. The newly upgraded products are especially appreciated for their stability and efficiency.
“We hope to introduce Zeversolar to more Taiwanese customers,” commented Sven. “We also will try our best to take more contribution to Taiwan’s green energy development.”
In terms of the future strategies, Zeversolar plans to unveil even newer solar products in 2015’s exhibitions. Moreover, the R&D teams will develop more products between string inverters ad central inverters for a larger range of application.
“Zeversolar will continue to roll out the solar revolution with product portfolio updates,” concluded Sven.