Q: What are the company’s achievements in Mexico and what are the goals moving forward?

SP:  Our projects in Mexico total 1.5GW, with 800MW installed by Soltec. Half of our total installations were accomplished in 2019, which was a good year for us. This year is looking relatively good for the company as well, despite the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the country’s political situation and the fact that many projects have been stalled. Small projects seem to be completely halted. We are aiming for large projects by large utilities. Small projects are finding it hard to close financing. Our goal is to supply 700MW and install at least half of that. In 2019, we supplied 973MW and installed 400MW.

We are one of the few companies that can install its own product. Our competitors often rely on a third parties for installation. Our clients appreciate that we can offer this service. We have a solid engineering team in the country as well. We have seven engineers and 18 people working in our offices. Added to this, we provide a bifacial tracker, the most profitable solution for bifacial modules. Of our 1.5GW, 520MW use bifacial modules.

IM: Having a relatively large amount of fixed staff has a certain cost attached to it but it also allows us to provide clients with a fast response time, which is crucial. Our employees are divided in several highly balanced Construction and Administration areas. Clients often give us short time frames to complete a job, so it is important to have a strong HR department that is able to mobilize that many people quickly. They need training and receive good salaries, and the entire process needs to be held up to the highest legal standards. It is a big help for our sales department because clients can trust in our quality standards. We also have a storage facility in Queretaro, which allows to speed up services for our clients and maintain stock of critical components. All this ensures that we remain very competitive in the market.

Q: How have your operations been affected by COVID-19 and the disruption of the global supply chain?

SP: We have been lucky because our manufacturing facilities are not located in the Chinese provinces most affected by the virus. Therefore, we have had no impact in our factories and they continue to work at 100 percent. We experienced some delays at ports that stopped functioning, but this was a minor issue. As a Spanish company, we did have some issues with the lockdown there that started in March. We manufacture a large part of our electronics and crucial tracker components in Spain. Toward the end of February, we ramped up the factories to create some extra inventory to avoid delays, a clear example of how we are fully committed to maintaining our client’s expectations and extremely adaptable to unforeseen circumstances. We have been functioning fully in Spain since mid-April.

Q: What are the main characteristics of your 2019 projects in Durango, Tlaxcala, Jalisco and Aguascalientes?

SP: We have had four major projects in these states. The projects in Tlaxcala and Jalisco together account for 520MW that include bifacial trackers. The first bifacial project we completed from start to finish was in Tlaxcala, with a total of 220MW.

IM: Another important project was in Sonora. Additionally, this proves we can operate all over Mexico without any issue. We have been active in many states and deliver the same quality wherever we go.

Q: Why do you manufacture in Spain and Brazil and how do you maintain demand in Mexico while keeping costs low?

SP: Our factories are indeed located there, but we have had providers for over a decade in China, Korea, France, Argentina and Mexico. Our supply chain is strong for this reason. The largest parts needed to supply energy, such as trackers, come from Korea, China and Spain. We do have Mexican content from time to time, although infrequently. In Mexico, the price of the components we work with are high, and we do not have a volume here that justifies lower costs from providers. So far, we have been able to receive lower prices in China. But we are planning to start manufacturing in Mexico by 2021. The objective is to tend to our sizeable national and international market.

IM: Indeed, Mexican providers are more focused on the automotive market, making it harder for us to negotiate lower prices. Our purchasing team is working to reach deals with potential partners toward the end of 2020. This would save us a lot of time by sourcing equipment directly in the country. It is not a simple process but the milestone of producing in Mexico has great advantages. There is a bright future ahead in renewables, yet it does cost money to shift a manufacturing setup. Toward 3Q20, we expect to see progress in this area.

Q: What are the business opportunities Soltec has identified in Mexico?

IM: The uncertainty in the sector and the impact from COVID-19 are indeed a risk for every industry in every part of the world. It is hard to imagine anything worse that could happen. Despite this, the company is healthy and ready to continue.

Q: What role do R&D and automatization play in the company’s global operation?

SP: R&D is crucial for Soltec. One example is our Bifacial Tracker Evaluation Center (BiTEC) in California. We took thousands of bifacial modules from different providers and did a test comparison. We built Soltec’s 2P tracker and a 1P tracker simulating our competitor’s technology. BiTEC has delivered four White Papers in the US and was validated by NREL. This has given us the certainty that we can produce up to 2.2 percent more than our competitors with our technology. It is one of the main components that has allowed for our success with bifacial modules.

Soltec is a global company based in Spain and specialized in manufacturing bifacial modules and trackers. It has over 12 years of experience in PV energy and projects totaling 1.5GW in Mexico and over 10GW worldwide.