Evocells changes its name to Belga Solar. The photovoltaic panel manufacturer, based in Marche-en-Famenne, invests around one million euros in equipment to increase its production capacity fivefold.
A drop in the ocean. That’s Belga Solar’ s share of the Belgian photovoltaic panel market. Less than one percent, say the company’s two directors. But they’re determined to grow and make their case in a sea of Chinese competition.
From installation to production
Evocells is unique in that its trajectory began in the 2000s with the installation of photovoltaic panels. It wasn’t until 2012 that its founder, dissatisfied with the quality of the components he received, turned his attention to assembly. Evocells became a panel producer in 2015, against the tide 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 assembling panels – mostly high-end, custom-built panels integrated into facades and buildings. Evocells is still there, the only Belgian player now active in the production of standard solar panels.
Thanks to its investment, Belga Solar is aiming for a capacity of 70 to 80,000 panels in 2024.
Evocells becomes Belga Solar
For L’Echo, the company announces its transformation into Belga Solar, and the ambitions of an investment of around one million euros made this summer, designed to increase production capacity fivefold. “We’re aiming for a capacity of 70,000 to 80,000 panels by 2024, with room to grow with SMEs, in particular by integrating our products into building materials (verandas, garden partitions, carports, etc.) and on the Flemish market”, explains co-director Sébastien Mahieu. Ambitions that can only be fulfilled by increasing production. In fact, the company’s 30-strong team has doubled in size since 2021.
Complicated context
Alone in Belgium, Belga Solar is not immune to the realities of the European market. For several months now, Chinese producers have been flooding Europe with panels at knock-down prices.
What’s happening at the moment is quite irrational,” says Frédéric Conrads, co-CEO of Belga Solar. In 2021-2022, the difference with our panels was around 10 to 15%, but now it’s more like 30%. This gap has suddenly widened, and if we hadn’t invested, it would be even wider.”
Belga Solar limits the damage thanks to its installation business. “If you take into account labor costs for residential installations (10 to 15 panels), the cost of installation is as high as the cost of producing the panels. This means that the difference on the final bill, even compared with cheap panels, is always less than 10%,” assures Sébastien Mahieu.
Belga Solar’s managers are both aware that playing on volume alone is not an option, and convinced that it is possible to be a small, competitive player.
Robustness, efficiency and local service
To differentiate itself, Belga Solar relies on a selection of components, “among the best on the market. We also measure the productivity of each panel as it leaves the production line, whereas on most large automated lines, tests are considered rather random”, adds Sébastien Mahieu. The company asserts that local assembly (transport reduced to a minimum) reduces the risk of cell cracking.
The pitch is well-tested: a robust solar panel with higher efficiency than the competition. That’s how Belga Solar bets on “a cost that’s certainly higher than Asian costs, but still defensible”, concludes Frédéric Conrads.
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