Yingli Solar sets up Australian office, signs distribution deal with L&H

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company, the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer, has announced the official opening of its Australian operations in Sydney.

Commercial Director Daman Cole will lead Yingli Solar’s business in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. In addition to establishing Yingli Solar’s business, Cole will support industry partners and projects and grow Yingli Solar’s presence in this region.

Yingli has formed a distribution agreement with L&H Solar + Solutions, a subsidiary of L&H Group, an electrical wholesaler in Australia and New Zealand. L&H Solar + Solutions will distribute Yingli Solar’s flagship PANDA monocrystalline PV products, as well as its high-end polycrystalline YGE PV products to its solar partners and through its network of more than 200 electrical wholesale outlets and over 30,000 electrical contractors across Australia and New Zealand. Both PANDA and YGE products offer superior performance efficiency helping residential and commercial owners achieve high energy outputs and a greater return on investment.

Yingli’s first major customer in Australia is The City of Sydney, which is set to deliver Australia’s largest collective building-mounted PV solar program featuring approximately 5500 Yingli Solar panels installed on 30 major buildings, including grandstands, depots and libraries. This project is expected to yield a total electrical capacity of more than 1250 kW. The City of Sydney’s installation is managed by installation partners Solgen Energy, and other key customers that are currently rolling out installations of Yingli Solar panels include a 70 kW project by Marquis Bathroom Products in Port Stephens, NSW.

EnviroGroup has also completed installations of a 90 kW ground-mounted project at Balgownie Estate in Bendigo, Victoria; a 135 kW project at Monash University in Frankston, Victoria; and a 60 kW project at the Monash Business Incubator at Mulgrave, Victoria.

“Australia has established a strong reputation of being at the forefront of adopting solar photovoltaic technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. By having a direct presence in Australia, we are tapping into a market that has strong growth potential and a mature view and understanding of solar energy,” said Yingli Solar Vice President Judy Lee.

Lee added, “Having a presence in Australia and an alliance with L&H Solar + Solutions not only allows us to better serve our residential and commercial customers, it also means that Yingli Solar is ready to support further expansion into the commercial and utility markets as large-scale solar photovoltaic installations become more commercially viable in Australia.”

According to the recently released Climate Commission report on Australia’s solar energy future, the Australian solar PV market - which is currently at approx 2.4 GW - will be producing 29% of the country’s electricity by 2050.