Cloudview leads $221m round for China solar panel maker

Hillhouse Capital, CICC Capital, Ori-mind Capital, and two state-backed investors from Wenzhou and Haining - both cities in Zhejiang - also took part.

The new capital will be used to expand production capacity for Astronergy's Topcon solar cell. Topcon is touted as the next generation in solar cell technology, capable of delivering a 1% efficiency gain in terms of absolute value. It can be produced by upgrading existing manufacturing facilities, significantly reducing capital expenditure requirements.

Astronergy was previously a subsidiary of Chint Group, a 39-year-old energy solutions provider that generated more than USD 16bn in revenue in 2021. It was spun out in April 2022 through a funding round also led by Cloudview.

The Astronergy unit started producing solar panels in 2006 and was among the top 10 manufacturers globally by sales volume in 2021. Annual production capacity is 18 gigawatts. There are factories in Hangzhou and Haining as well as in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. Overall headcount exceeds 4,000.

Shanghai-listed Chint Electric, another subsidiary of Chint Group, said in its 2021 annual report that solar panels accounted for 19.9% of revenue. However, the business also complained of margin pressure: its gross profit margin decreased from 17% in 2019 to 11% in 2020 and 6% in 2021.

Chint Electic gave several reasons for the Astronergy spinout. First, the cost of raw materials for solar panels has been rising since 2020. Divesting Astronergy will bring greater profit stability to the listed entity. It also reduces the risk of large investments at a time of uncertainty around technical iteration and allows resources to be reallocated elsewhere.

Although PE investment slowed in China last year, new energy remained a promising area, given the country's goals of making carbon emissions peak in 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. New energy assets have become highly sought-after, contributing to an increase in prices.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Cleantech
• China
• energy
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• CICC
• Cloudview Capital
• renewable energy