In his report on the third quarter 2023, the BNEF (BloombergNEF) classified the Sunova Solar as a module manufacturer Tier 1. The listing is based on eight accepted projects, which met criteria of being greater than 1,5 MW and financed by at least six different non-recourse banks.
“Becoming a Tier 1 is an important milestone for Sunova. We work carefully with our partners to find the right projects and help them convince their banks about the quality of our modules,” he said William Sheng, co-founder and CEO of Sunova Solar.
“With the compilation of the necessary projects, we have also started to improve our business model, from distributed rooftop solar to utility-scale applications. The Tier 1 listing will help us fully cover this segment and open doors for participation in the biggest projects”, he highlighted.
Second Mike Song, president of Sunova Solar, with 4,2 GW of panel production capacity in operation and a further 6 GW under construction, the manufacturer is already preparing to increase demand as Tier 1.
“Political uncertainty has brought great challenges to production chains, requiring flexibility and multilateral cooperation for success in this market. The iterative updating of cellular technology and the need to develop products for multiple applications continues to be a constant challenge”, reported the executive.
“Therefore, we at Sunova decided to integrate our production processes around the cellular technology supply chain, which is the main influencing factor that allows us to combine cost reduction with increased efficiency,” he emphasized.
According to Song, they have also invested in a silicon wafer production site with a production capacity of 20 GW, which is under construction. “This will help us control the quality and costs of the cells produced and allows direct control of the entire supply chain by purchasing polysilicon material directly.”
“Such a factor will further help ensure compliance with all non-forced labor traceability issues and regulations already established in the US and which will come into force next year in Europe. At the same time, we are diversifying our cooperation in different areas to expand market access, which will help us gain more advantages from economies of scale,” he added.
Other benefits for Tier 1 listing
William Sheng commented that full traceability is not the only benefit customers will have from Sunova being a Tier 1 listed by Bloomberg, it will also facilitate access to financing for all project sizes.
“We are already rated CC+ according to the PV Tech Module bankability report, which emphasizes our complete financial management. The Tier 1 listing will help us move up this scale even further, as its classification is strongly linked to shipments, which we expect to increase now with the ability to serve public service scale projects”, pointed out the CEO.
“Together with our continued focus on affordable, high-efficiency and quality modules, all of these components increase confidence in our company and products by EPC, developers, investors and financial institutions,” he concluded.
