Longi surpasses 7 GW of monocrystalline solar panel shipments to India

Longi Solar, the world’s largest supplier of solar panels, has surpassed 7 GW of shipments. The company, which established a presence in India in 2016, recorded surging sales after 2019, as it hired a local team to work closely with customers. It has shipped more than 6.5 GW in India since 2020.

“In 2021, India accounted for around 10% of Longi Solar’s global business, with around 3.8 GW of Longi modules shipped to the nation against our worldwide sales of around 38 GW,” Pradeep Kumar, managing director at Longi Solar India, told pv magazine.

Longi’s focused approach in India has been instrumental in driving customers away from poly to mono technology.

“Technology is always accepted globally first and a little later in India. We have seen in the past that it took a lot of time for customers to shift from poly to mono technology,” he said. “But since we have been working very closely with customers and educating them on technology perspective, there is a change in terms of attitude and approach of Indian customers. Whatever we have been telling them, they have accepted it in a very right spirit. Nowadays, technology acceptance among Indian customers has become much faster.”

Longi is gearing up to continue to grow its India sales under the new duty regime. India imposed a basic customs duty of 40% on foreign-made solar modules and 25% on cells from April, as it looks to promote domestic PV manufacturing. To steer through these times, it has opened up all its books.

The company is also aligning itself with the Indian government’s goal to boost domestic manufacturing.

“Longi is committed to the Indian market, and we would be keenly exploring the possible synergies bringing our technical expertise to the thriving Indian manufacturing segment in the near future,” said Luke Lu, vice president and head of the Asia-Pacific region for Longi Solar.