Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu (Part 7)

Sramana: You are among the top six solar cell manufacturers. How do you compete? Is this market commoditizing, or is there still technical differentiation in the marketplace?

Shawn Qu: The market has grown very fast in the past few years. I think that we have come to a point where pure growth via manufacturing capacity is limited. In the next few years, consumers are going to be demanding a total solution with a single point of contact. People want a company that can deliver a quality product. They want a product that can support a 25-year lifetime of operation.

With such a wide installation base, local installation service is becoming increasingly important. The number one way for Canadian Solar to compete is to leverage our global service network. We have our offices throughout key markets, and we need to provide localized services. The second key is to maintain our competitiveness when it comes to costs. We are one of the lowest-cost producers in the world.

We are also introducing a new solar panel product that is more efficient and thus has a higher output. That higher level of output will allow us to differentiate ourselves from others.

Sramana: Is your service network integrated with other system providers, or is it your own organic service network?

Shawn Qu: It is our own service network. Our partners and distributors also have their own service networks. We have the technical engineers and service engineers placed locally. That allows us to respond to service calls directly and quickly. We have also contracted with local testing labs at universities for quick testing. We provide very quick turnarounds for our service calls.

Sramana: Are you familiar with a company called Sungevity in California?

Shawn Qu: I have heard of them. Our U.S. office has some contacts with them.

Sramana: They help residential users price solar installations and understand the installation process. On the back end they have lots of service providers and contractors to conduct the implementations for them. They also have a lot of relationships with solar cell manufacturers. They essentially provide the lead generation on solar projects and work with contractors and manufacturers to complete the projects. It is a very interesting company.

Shawn Qu: That is a much needed service. The installation grows so fast that this type of customer care is very important. We want to have a way to provide proactive customer services. We do have a network of installers and testing labs in some areas of Europe. Sometimes we ask our contractors to go out and do the site survey for us as well which allows us to be proactive.

Sramana: Thanks you for sharing your story with us. I look forward to following your continued success.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Building A Billion-Dollar Solar Company: Canadian Solar CEO Shawn Qu
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