Chinese solar manufacturing giant LONGi has announced a “strategic shift” in the Australian solar PV market through a new partnership with PV distributor Raystech Group.
Signed in LONGI’s headquarters in Xi’an, central China, the deal will see Raystech become the sole distributor of LONGI’s solar modules in Australia. This represents what has been described as a “transformative shift” in LONGI’s distribution strategy in the residential and small C&I sectors.
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The partnership will officially begin in 2025, and Raystech will exclusively feature LONGi products in its solar module portfolio.
Raystech, formed in 2017 and active in the Australian and New Zealand markets, has an extensive distribution and warehousing network across the two countries, with offices and warehouses in each of Australia’s states alongside a sole warehouse in Auckland, New Zealand.
In October 2024, the organisation signed a similar deal with inverter manufacturer Sungrow that would see the distributor deliver 800MW of Sungrow PV inverters, 150MWh of residential battery energy storage systems (BESS) and 350MWh of C&I BESS across Australia and New Zealand.
According to LONGI chairman Zhong Baoshen, the partnership with Raystech will help the company deliver a “consistent quality and service to the Australian market”.
“Together, we will set new benchmarks for innovation, reliability, and customer satisfaction,” Baoshen said.
LONGi posts Q3 2024 losses as it braces for difficult market conditions
As reported by PV Tech in November, LONGi posted RMB1.26 billion (US$174.8 million) in losses in its Q3 2024 financial results, with the manufacturer bracing for difficult market conditions in 2025.
The biggest solar manufacturers have all posted negative financial results in the last year as average selling prices (ASP) across the supply chain have plummeted to near or below-cost levels. This has gone hand in hand with ongoing oversupply in China, which can reportedly produce over two times the global demand for solar PV products.
In March 2024, LONGi’s chairman Zhong Baoshen publicly urged the Chinese government to act to combat low PV module prices, which he said had become “unsunstainable”. Later that month, the company was reported to be laying off around 30% of its workforce.
Despite this situation, major players like LONGi, JinkoSolar and Canadian Solar have all increased their shipment volumes so far this year.
Earlier this year, PV Tech head of research Finlay Colville updated his predictions of a solar market downturn – where capital expenditure drops off and companies face finances in the red. Colville predicts that this market situation will extend into 2026.
