With prices of solar components drastically dropping throughout this year, as covered in our PV Price Watch series, economic pressure continues to increase on companies to remain competitive and keep market share as more capacity is added too.
“It will be largely the large companies that survive, but also some of the new entrants that pick the right technologies or pick the winning technology,” said Professor Martin Green, during an interview held with several media outlets – including PV Tech – last month in Chengdu, China, during the 6th China International Photovoltaic Industry Conference (CIPVIC).
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Another topic that was brought to the attention of Green was how Chinese companies have a high flow of talent moving around, which Green sees as a positive factor for the solar industry.
“There’s a lot of exchange of personnel between manufacturers in China. That’s one reason the industry is so strong. The manufacturers are able to access people with talent and attract them to their company with suitable incentives, and so on. The industry is very healthy in terms of exchange of talented people between companies.”
Green adds that in order to fill possible shortages at lower levels, with many companies hiring engineers straight out of university, there would be a need to train recent graduates in the PV field before they enter the industry.
For an extended version of Green’s interview which covers China’s strength in the solar industry as well as the industry as a whole, you can read it in this Premium article.
