(1) Trina Solar and Aiko issued statements through their WeChat official accounts, reminding customers to identify officially authorized channels and prevent sales through non-authorized channels;

(2) Module prices change rapidly during the rush installation window, and in order to lock in the policy dividends of "stock projects", the distributed market has entered a "100-day sprint", which is an important reason for the emergence of unauthorized "fakes".

Finance Associated Press, March 19 (Reporter Liu Mengran) When the "315" heat has not dissipated, the photovoltaic industry has ushered in a wave of disputes between real and fake modules. On March 18, Trina Solar (688599. SH) and Aiko Co., Ltd. (600732.SH) respectively issued statements through their WeChat public accounts, reminding customers to identify officially authorized channels and prevent sales through non-authorized channels.

Trina Solar said in a statement that it found that some businesses in the market were selling suspected company-branded solar module products through informal channels without the company's authorization. Aiko also mentioned in the statement that there may be risks in purchasing goods through unofficially authorized channels, and reminded that if you find suspected counterfeit goods or infringements, you are welcome to report through official channels.

Why did the two leading module companies issue "anti-counterfeiting" statements together? Some industry insiders told the Financial Associated Press reporter that it may be related to disputes between module manufacturers, OEMs and dealers. At present, the price of photovoltaic modules is rising, the supply of popular version products of mainstream brands is in short supply, and all aspects of the industry are trying to get a "piece of the pie".

Two first-line brands "cracked down" on unauthorized products

Trina Solar said in the statement that the sale of suspected products through informal channels has seriously disrupted the market order, harmed the legitimate rights and interests of authorized dealers and consumers, and may pose significant risks to product quality, after-sales service and user rights.

In the statement letter, Aiko Co., Ltd. made a number of risk warnings for the purchase of goods through unofficial channels, including product quality insursurance, lack of after-sales service, difficulties in rights protection, abnormal price risks and infringement risks. It mentions that the source of goods from unofficial authorized channels (such as personal purchasing, non-certified e-commerce stores, second-hand platforms, etc.) is unknown, and there may be problems such as counterfeiting, refurbishment, modification or replacement of accessories, and it is impossible to enjoy our genuine quality commitment and standard after-sales service.

As for the "unauthorized products" mentioned by the leading companies in the statement letter, there are rumors that these products may come from the foundry.

However, a person from Aiko Co., Ltd. told the Financial Associated Press reporter today that the company's ABC module products do not have a foundry. The new policy stimulus may lead to chaos in some distribution channels, and the purpose of the company's statement is to remind customers to guarantee their rights and interests.

Trina Solar did not have a specific response to the foundry situation, but a business person in charge told the Financial Associated Press reporter that the main purpose of issuing the statement is to regulate the channel market. Recently, under the "rush to install" in China, module sales are in short supply, resulting in a chaotic market. This rush is expected to continue until the end of the policy window, after which it will tend to be rational.

In fact, module foundry is a very common way of working together in the industry. A person from a leading module company told the Financial Associated Press that after taking over the order, if the brand module has limited production capacity or faster delivery time, it will transfer part of the order to other module companies for production. "It is equivalent to renting other people's production capacity, the foundry earns processing fees, and the final delivery to customers is still their own brand components."

In addition, before the Spring Festival, due to the continuous decline in the price of the industrial chain, in order to avoid the loss of impairment of falling prices, the inventory of manufacturers was generally maintained at a low level. At the same time, demand in the distributed market has increased sharply since late February, resulting in a short-term shortage of module products and increasing foundry demand.

Taking a photovoltaic company that claims to only be OEM as an example, it proposes the concept of "shared production capacity" and advocates the construction of a flexible industrial chain, that is, the manufacturer itself does not have a brand, and provides OEM services for other brand enterprises through OEM and ODM models, and the final product is delivered to the customer under the entrusting brand.

It is reported that this kind of cooperation is also more common among the head enterprises, and the entrusted processing fee is negotiated by the two parties according to market conditions. In the OEM cooperation model, the customer will lead the product design and technical standards, and the OEM will be responsible for on-demand production to ensure product quality and delivery efficiency; In the ODM model, the foundry is responsible for the whole process solution.

"OEM products cannot be considered 'fake', but for unauthorized products, the entrusting party usually believes that it has not carried out quality inspection and other procedures, and will not provide after-sales and warranty services for non-certified products." There are component companies introduced.

The policy window period triggered a rush to load and grab goods

"A month ago, it was hard to imagine that there would be a shortage of components." In the exchange, more than one photovoltaic practitioner said that the recent rush to install and rush in the photovoltaic market was unexpected. In fact, according to the statistics of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, as early as the end of 2023, the global module production capacity has exceeded 1,000GW, and China is the focus of global PV module manufacturing, accounting for more than 80% of the global total in terms of production capacity and output.

In terms of module prices, after a sharp rise across the entire industry chain due to the polysilicon shortage in the last cycle, the price per watt has dropped from a high of RMB 1.8 to around RMB 0.6 due to a phased supply-demand imbalance in the fourth quarter of 2023. Some analysts said that changes in supply and demand have led to a reversal of ups and downs, but modules, as the most downstream link of the manufacturing end, are relatively surplus in production capacity, and compared with upstream (wafer-cell) and downstream (power plant customers), the voice is not high.

In February this year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) issued the Notice on Deepening the Market-oriented Reform of Feed-in Tariffs for New Energy and Promoting the High-Quality Development of New Energy. The document stipulates that June 1 this year is the node, and the scale of electricity included in the mechanism of grid-connected projects will be dynamically adjusted according to the completion of new energy development goals defined by the state, and the electricity price of the mechanism will be determined by various localities through market-based bidding.

According to the agency's calculations, if the original level of development expenses is maintained, the return rate of investors may drop significantly under the new policy environment. According to the latest news from Infolink, there has been a slight increase in orders recently, mainly concentrated in distributed projects, especially industrial and commercial projects, indicating that the issuance of the "Notice" has promoted the rush to install in the distributed market.

There is still a window period of less than three months before the key node of the replacement of the old and new policies, and some module dealers and EPC investors told the Financial Associated Press reporter that at present, all the focus is on the rush to install the two time nodes of 430 and 531, and in order to lock in the policy dividend of "stock projects", the distributed market has entered the "100-day sprint".

Some analysts said that under the cyclical characteristics of "low inventory - high volatility", the ability of photovoltaic companies to respond to changes in demand still needs to be improved. However, from the perspective of protecting the rights and interests of customers, there may be other brand module manufacturers that remind customers to pay attention to purchasing PV products from authorized channels.