RSS
Solar panels made in a factory in Buzau county successfully competes against products from western Europe
The young entrepreneur Silviu Iordache, single shareholder of a Buzau company for solar panels aims with the help of the programme ‘ Casa Verde’ (the green house) a turnover of one million euro for 2014, up by 2.5 times against the sum of 400,000 euro obtained in 2013.
With a share estimated of 40%, the solar panels made in the factory in Sapoca in Buzau county go for export to the European countries, at competitive prices with those coming from China, which represent the real competition for the Romanian producer.
The solar panel factory is a ‘start-up’ made out of European funds for rural development on a project worth 300,000 euro, without VAT out of which 70%, almost 200,000 euro respectively came from the EU, the project being presented on 312 article ‘ Support for the creation and development of micro-entreprises’ of PNDR.
The company produces two types of installations, solar collectors, which function during the whole period of time, irrespective of the temperature and compact pressurized solar panels which produce hot water for nine months per year, as long as there is no freezing temperature outside. Such an investment helps those who install such panels to reduce their costs with heating water by 90%.
‘In Romania there are no other producers for such products, and in Europe there are fewer than 30, but the real competition comes from the Chinese market which come with very cheap products, of doubtful quality and not from Europe, where the prices for such products are higher by 50-60%. Unfortunately, there is no regulation and no antidumping taxation. We import a part of the necessary raw material, glass for solar panels, we bring it from China as it is not produced anywhere in Europe and the Chinese partners told us that they get subsidies for the exports they give us, and this is what changes the European market. We managed, however, last year, through direct partnership on the part of raw materials to bring our products to competitive prices with those on the Chinese market. I estimate we own a market share of 40% and we work at 50% of the capacity, namely 300 units per shift’ the Buzau entrepreneur said.