“Symbolically, we signed agreements with the US company on the eve of the COP26 summit, in which the President of the United States confirmed that he had stepped up US action on climate change and promised to gradually reduce carbon emissions by 2050. Obviously, the US is looking for partners in Europe as an alternative to Chinese production, and we are an interesting and promising partner for the US market because we can offer exceptional quality, no environmentally hazardous materials are used in their production process and they are fully recyclable after a 30-year warranty period,” says Solitek’s head Julius Sakalauskas.
Now export orders generate more than 80 per cent of Solitek’s income, as Europe are increasingly focused on the quality of the solar module components, the origin of the components and production quality while being uninclined to purchase modules from Asian manufacturers. This is particularly evident in the Scandinavian region, where exports increased significantly this summer: Solitek’s sales in Sweden rose by a quarter, and exports to Norway rose by almost 13 per cent. In addition, sales in Finland jumped 2.3-fold, which is 133 per cent. Having seen the growing demand, Solitek plans to invest in new equipment and increase it capacity from 100 MW to 170 MW next year.
Reduced dependency on Asia
Cooperation agreements with Convalt PowerGen LLC include not only the export of Solitek products to the US market, but also the possibility for Solitek to buy semiconductors and solar cells in the United States, which will allow the company to diversify its essential elements and reduce its dependency on the Asian market.
See also: Bifacial panels made in Lithuania and produced using renewable energies
Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of solar power projects in Lithuania has also been signed. Convalt and Solitek together intend to develop renewable energy projects in Lithuania, which includes not only remote solar power projects, but also wind farms, which together will generate up to 1 GW of energy per year.
Time for the public sector to step in
“As Europe faces the pressure of rapidly rising energy costs, experts and officials are once again emphasizing the important role of renewables in the EU energy market. This shows that clients view renewables as a legitimate solution to the EU energy problems. Lithuania is no exception - we now have a historic opportunity to change our energy structure if we ensure consistent and even development of producing consumers in Lithuania. In this regard, it is very important for the public sector to step in and support the transition. In Lithuania, households can use the government support for the installation of solar panels - but in 2021 the financing mechanism was very unstable. This obviously needs to be fixed if we want to increase the speed of transition to the renewable energy sources. The demand is there - all we need is stable support from the public sector,” says Mr. Sakalauskas.
Also interesting: Lithuania: Innovative project combines PV and geothermal
Founded in 2011, Convalt Energy, Inc. is a portfolio company of ACO Investment Group. Convalt Energy is gearing towards becoming a global independent renewable power company. The company’s power generation sector develops, operates, and maintains solar power plants and waste-to-power plants. The company not only invests in solar energy projects, but also develops its production: The company plans to vertically integrate production in America from silicon wafers to solar modules. (mfo)
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