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Article in L'Echo
October 21, 2023
Maxime PAQUAY
Evocells changes its name and becomes Belga Solar. The photovoltaic panel manufacturer, based in Marche-en-Famenne, is investing about one million euros in equipment to multiply its production capacity by five.
A drop in the ocean. That's what Belga Solar Belga Solar is on the Belgian photovoltaic panel market. Less than one percent, estimate the company's two leaders. However, this does not prevent them from wanting to grow and assert their arguments in a sea of Chinese competition.
The particularity ofEvocells is that its trajectory began in the 2000s with the installation of photovoltaic panels. It was only from 2012, dissatisfied with the quality of the components he received, that the founder became interested in assembly. Evocells became a panel producer in 2015, going against the current of a Belgian market where production players tend to go bankrupt one after the other.
It's 2023, and there are still a handful of Belgian companies that assemble panels, most often high-end custom-made products, integrated into facades and buildings. Evocells is still there, now the only Belgian player active in the production of standard solar panels.
Thanks to its investment, Belga Solar aims for a capacity of 70 to 80,000 panels in 2024.
For L'Echo, the company announces its transformation into Belga Solar, and the ambitions of an investment of about one million euros made this summer, aimed at multiplying the production capacity by five. "We are aiming for a capacity of 70 to 80,000 panels in 2024with room to develop among SMEs, particularly with the integration of our products into construction materials (verandas, garden walls, carports, etc.) and on the Flemish market," details Sébastien Mahieu, co-director. Ambitions that can only be satisfied by an increase in production. The company's team, about thirty people, has in fact doubled since 2021.
Although Belga Solar stands alone on Belgian soil, it does not escape the reality of the European market. In particular, Chinese producers have been flooding Europe with cheap panels for several months.
"What is happening right now is quite irrational," analyzes Frédéric Conrads, co-director of Belga Solar. "The difference with our panels was about 10 to 15% in 2021-2022, it is now more in the order of 30%. This gap has suddenly widened and if we hadn't invested, it would be even greater."
Belga Solar limits the damage thanks to its installation activity. "If we take into account the labor costs for residential installations (of 10 to 15 panels), the installation costs are as significant as the production costs of the panels. This means that the difference on the final bill, even compared to cheap panels, always remains less than 10%," assures Sébastien Mahieu.
The leaders of Belga Solar are both aware that playing on volume alone is not an option, and convinced that it is possible to be a small, competitive player.
To differentiate itself, Belga Solar focuses on selecting components, "among the best in the market. We also measure the productivity of each panel at the end of production, whereas in most large automated lines, tests are rather known to be random," continues Sébastien Mahieu. The company assures that local assembly (with minimal transport) reduces the risk of cell fractures.
The message is clear: a robust solar panel with a higher yield than the competition is how Belga Solar bets on "a cost that is certainly higher than the Asian cost, but still defensible," concludes Frédéric Conrads.