Mr. Guy Rong is president of Arctech Solar’s international business, he has a bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Reactor Engineering from Jiaotong University and an MBA from the China Europe International Business School.

With 14 years of business experience in the communications industry and 12 years of experience in the solar industry, he is currently leading the international business of Arctech Solar Holding and plays a significant role in helping the company to become one of the leading solutions providers and manufacturers of solar racking and solar tracking systems.

1.Can you please provide a brief description of Arctech Solar?

Arctech Solar is a company focused on solar structures, including fixed and tracking systems. The company was established in 2009, with over 9 years’ experience and has grown quickly alongside the booming market in China.

We expanded into the international market in 2014 with projects in Europe, Japan, India and the USA. We are currently Top 4 global solar PV tracker supplier 2017, according to GTM research. We are just beginning to enter other international markets including the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where we see great potential and where we are building our contacts.

2.Which markets is Arctech Solar present in LATAM?

We began in Mexico and have an office in Mexico City with a dedicated local team, and will have more people working across South America, with plans finalised very soon for the region. We think the market in Latin America is growing very fast, particularly in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. These 3 countries will move even faster than the others. We are also seeking to establish local partners to satisfy local content requirements in countries like Argentina and Brazil.

3.What is your company’s current assessment of the development of Mexico’s renewable energy sector?

Every year we develop a new business plan and in 2018, for the first time, Mexico becomes one of the Top 5 country markets in our business plan. We also forecast the Mexican market to develop into the No. 5 solar market in 2018 in terms of new installations.

I believe that the market in Mexico will continue to grow for at least another 5-7 years, and that for the next 5 years Mexico will keep this spot, potentially moving up to the No.4 country in the world for solar.

4.What are your goals and objectives in the Mexican solar sector over the next 12-24 months?

We are working with many developers, EPCS and other companies in Mexico, as well as developers and investors in Europe looking at Mexico to establish our position in the market. We see so many opportunities in Mexico with huge pipelines of projects. Mexico is a market we need to spend some time to determine where the opportunities are, we want to become one of the top players in this year.

5.Where do you see the most opportunity in Mexico’s solar sector? Small, medium or large scale solar development?

We believe that utility scale solar projects are our immediate target and will also dominate this market. In Mexico there are huge amounts of land with excellent solar irradiation and this provides the perfect combination for the development of utility scale projects which can bring down electricity costs to a very low level. Prices are very low and the PPAs are very low, so if you combine low PPAs with storage then this will make solar a very competitive energy source for the whole country.

6.What are the 3 greatest challenges facing the growth and development of Mexico’s solar sector?

This market has only just begun, it is booming this year. For a new market there are some kind of difficulties and even some kind of turbulence. From my perspective and experience from other emerging markets we have seen that for 2-3 years the markets grow very fast but then it slows down for various reasons, whether these are political or infrastructure related such as transmission. What we are seeing in Mexico is that it will likely encounter similar difficulties faced in other markets with transmission capacity,  as well as PPAs taking too long to sign. The process is quite long so if a more effective framework can be developed to solve these issues then the market will become much better.

7.What kind of results do you foresee in Mexico’s 2018 clean energy electricity auctions?

The prices are already very low so to bring the price further down you need to use new technologies, such as bi-facial modules with a tracker, which can bring costs down further. For Mexico’s 2018 auctions I believe many investors may bid a lower price than previous auctions as a result of the incorporation of new technology.