Tesla sourcing Chinese photovoltaic equipment? Multiple manufacturers respond: "Follow the disclosures."

Securities Times reporter Liu Canbang

Musk’s space solar story is still taking off. On the morning of March 20, rumors said that Tesla plans to purchase solar photovoltaic manufacturing equipment from China with a total value of $2.9 billion (about RMB 20 billion). The Chinese companies negotiating with Tesla solar projects include Laplace and others. Subsequently, some media contacted a photovoltaic company to verify the report, and the response they received showed that the contract size is on the gigawatt scale.

At noon on March 20, Securities Times reporter called multiple photovoltaic equipment companies to ask whether they have related cooperation with Tesla. Most manufacturers responded that they should rely on publicly disclosed information.

“Regarding Tesla and space solar, both the market and regulators are paying close attention.” A person from a photovoltaic equipment manufacturer told the reporter that the company had indeed received orders from a North American customer, but due to requirements such as commercial confidentiality, it had not disclosed the customer’s specific name. “If the order reaches the disclosure standard, we will definitely fulfill our disclosure obligations. We will comply with relevant regulations, and we hope investors will understand more.”

In addition, the reporter learned from relevant sources that Tesla supplies space energy to commercial rockets and has indeed conducted research on domestic photovoltaic equipment suppliers. The confirmed research suppliers earlier included a polysilicon reduction furnace supplier and an HJT battery equipment manufacturer.

Based on Musk’s remarks at the Davos Forum earlier this year, Tesla and SpaceX will build 100GW of photovoltaic production capacity in the United States within three years. Against the backdrop of these remarks, the A-share market saw a wave of “space solar” hype at the beginning of the year.

From the end of last year to now, multiple listed companies have accelerated their layouts in the space solar sector. For example, Junda Co., Ltd. and Shangyi Optoelectronics reached a strategic cooperation. As a strategic shareholder, Junda plans to make an equity investment in Shangyi Optoelectronics. The two sides will deeply integrate industrial and scenario resources and cooperate around the application of perovskite battery technology in space energy, establishing coordinated mechanisms in areas such as technology R&D, in-orbit validation, industrialization implementation, and expansion of application scenarios.

In addition, Junda also signed a “capital increase agreement” and a “shareholders’ agreement” with Xingyi Xineng and its founding team, as well as other relevant parties such as the original shareholders. Junda plans to contribute RMB 30 million in cash to subscribe for an additional registered capital of RMB 4.61539 million of the target company, obtaining 16.6667% equity of the target company. In the future, the company plans to further establish a joint venture production and manufacturing entity with Xingyi Xineng for CPI film combined products with silicon-based batteries. Moreover, the above matters are exclusive.

In the related research, Junda stated that the space energy solution is currently in a stage of rapid iteration and evolution and has not formed a fixed technical and structural model. At present, most solutions in the industry are small-scale, low-power, and individualized. The company’s core plan is to be the first to promote the formulation of national standards and industry standards in the fields of perovskite/silicon tandem technology. Once the standards are established, it will achieve applications on a global scale. At the current stage, solving the battery power and cost issues is the core and key. The company will rely on its deep technical accumulation and core technical advantages to provide support and safeguards for the subsequent large-scale deployment and commercial promotion of the overall space energy solutions.

ST Jingji said in its research that regarding space photovoltaics, the company believes this is an important and forward-looking application direction for perovskite technology. Its core needs lie in making batteries “lightweight, thin, flexible,” and in their ability to cope with extreme space environments. The company has made technical preparations for this direction, such as developing winding-type equipment for flexible production and vertical deposition equipment suitable for coating ultrathin glass, to meet the special future requirements of space photovoltaics for weight, foldability, and reliability.

ST Jingji also revealed that the company has successfully delivered photovoltaic module equipment to multiple customers in the North American market. Customers include both China-based enterprises that set up factories in the U.S. and Fortune 500 companies as well as well-known local photovoltaic manufacturers.

However, it should be reminded that while photovoltaic manufacturers are competing to board the space solar express, regulators are also trying to cool down the concept. They do not allow investors to chase after space solar hot topics for stock price manipulation. The reporter confirmed this information with relevant manufacturer sources. In fact, Liangpi Energy Conservation has already been put on file for investigation due to violations in information disclosure related to the relevant matters.

（责任编辑：王治强 HF013）

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