Xt Energy Group Inc 's Comment on Competitors and Industry Peers
We compete against larger, better capitalized and better known competitors that
have become, or are becoming, vertically integrated in the PV industry value chain,
from module manufacturing to PV system sales and installation, such as Yingli
Green Energy, one of the largest vertically integrated PV module suppliers in
the world. China has about 20 to 30 companies providing PV installation service
and 50 PV manufacturers. In 2014, six of the 10 largest PV panel manufacturers
were located in China The ability of the vertically integrated competitors to
produce modules and sometimes also be polysilicon manufacturers gives them a cost
advantage with respect to the price of PV modules, which we purchase, and which
could erode our competitive advantage resulting from our PV installation and air
compression technologies. Furthermore, we face competition from conventional energy
and non-solar renewable energy providers.
With respect to large integrated PV system projects, we compete primarily in
terms of price, design and construction experience, aesthetics and conversion
efficiency. We face competition from other providers of renewable energy solutions,
including developers of PV, solar thermal and concentrated solar power systems,
and developers of other forms of renewable energy projects, including wind,
hydropower, geothermal, biomass, and tidal. We also face competition from other
EPC companies and joint venture type arrangements between EPC companies and
solar companies. While the decline in PV modules prices over the last several
years has increased demand in solar electricity worldwide, competition at the
systems level can be intense, thereby exerting downward pressure on systems
level profit margins industry-wide, to the extent competitors are willing and
able to bid aggressively low prices for new projects and power purchase agreements,
or PPAs, using low cost assumptions for modules, components, installation, maintenance
and other costs.