Last March, you opened Voltage's first European office in Frankfurt am Main. Where do you see your USP in the market, and how can you score points with your customers?
For us, it's all about cabling large solar parks. However, we don't see ourselves as a pure cable supplier, but as an engineering and service company that optimises the entire cabling process. This results in three main advantages for our customers, who are EPCs and project developers: They can cable large solar parks in less time and with up to 50 percent less labour. They also need fewer cables and can therefore save up to 33 percent on materials. In my view, the most important thing for the European market is that our tailor-made plug & play solutions significantly increase the quality and reliability of the cabling and thus of the entire plant.
What exactly does your plug & play solution look like?
We deliver fully pre-assembled cable harnesses to the construction site, which only need to be rolled out and connected. This means that the cables no longer have to be cut to size on site, and there is no more crimping to do on the construction site. This also minimises the risk of cabling errors and thus of performance losses in the system. And these are even more significant than they were a few years ago, given the significantly more powerful photovoltaic modules and inverters with more inputs.
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But is it really still common practice for large solar parks to be wired manually on a large scale?
In regions such as the USA, Canada and Australia, plug & play is now standard for the cabling of solar parks. In Europe, this is still a novelty. Although well-known companies such as First Solar and Belectric have been working with suppliers of prefabricated cabling solutions on the European market for several years, the technology did not catch on here at the time and disappeared again. Now we are bringing the solution perfected in the USA back to Europe, where the market is now demanding it.
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Why is demand increasing right now?
Large solar projects are gaining significant momentum in Europe and pressure is growing on EPCs to build quickly and with few resources, i.e. with little personnel and reduced labour costs. In addition, reliability is becoming increasingly important. We offer a five-year warranty, including on the cabling structure, which has a major impact on reducing operating costs (OPEX) and increasing plant yields. This is because cabling is often one of the last weak points in solar parks. So we are in the right place at the right time with our product.
Can you quantify how much the investment costs (CAPEX) of large solar parks can be reduced through optimised cabling?
Although cable materials usually only account for a small proportion of the investment costs (around 1 percent), their influence increases when the costs for on-site assembly and installation are taken into account. In large solar power plants, cabling can account for up to 5% of the construction costs, which offers considerable savings potential.
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What other services do you offer?
We offer EPCs and project developers comprehensive project management for the optimised design of solar park cabling. In addition, every customer receives a 3D model for each design so that they can view the system in detail before construction begins. This means that the customer can see where the cables run and identify potential problems before they arrive on site. We also offer exclusive virtual reality training for the installation team. In addition, customers can track the status of their order on our Voltage Connect platform, from signature to delivery to the construction site.
Do you manufacture the cables and their components yourself?
We manufacture most of it ourselves at our main plant in China, which now has an annual capacity of 25 gigawatts. However, we purchase certain components such as connectors. The customer decides which connector they want to work with, as different connectors are used depending on the module.
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How far have you got with setting up your office in Frankfurt and your European sales team?
At the moment, we are still a small team of seven people, but we benefit greatly from our experience in the USA. The biggest challenge for us is finding the right people in a timely manner. We currently have a total of ten vacancies.
Interview by Hans-Christoph Neidlein
Voltage will be exhibiting at Intersolar Europe at stand A4.190.
