Can GuRuiWat Break Through the Capital Barrier After 13 Years of Failed IPO Aspirations?

For 13 years, the dream of going public has remained unfulfilled for Greewatts, a veteran in the photovoltaic industry. Can this company break through the barriers of capital?

Recently, the Intersolar Europe 2025 exhibition took place in Munich, Germany, where Greewatts showcased its comprehensive smart energy solutions and the new balcony energy storage product, NEXA 2000. This attracted considerable attention. As one of the first companies to venture into energy storage in China, Greewatts has been deeply involved in the inverter market for many years and has now become one of the top ten inverter manufacturers globally, demonstrating a certain level of international competitiveness.

However, despite its technological advancements and strong market position, the company’s journey towards capitalization has been challenging. Founder Ding Yongqiang once boldly claimed that he would lead the company to an IPO within three years. Yet, 13 years later, Greewatts has still not successfully entered the capital market, while its competitors have leveraged their public listings to accelerate expansion, creating a widening gap. As a result, Greewatts finds itself lingering at the industry’s edge, facing a somewhat awkward situation.

In May 2023, Greewatts submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and passed the hearing, but the application later lapsed without any further public progress. Currently, Greewatts is the only leading inverter company in China, apart from Huawei, that remains unlisted.

The challenges faced by Greewatts reflect the harsh reality of the “Matthew Effect” intensifying in the photovoltaic inverter industry: leading companies dominate the market through capital and technology, while the second-tier players are caught in homogenized competition and financing difficulties. Under the dual dominance of Huawei and Sungrow in the global inverter market, if Greewatts cannot overcome technical bottlenecks, optimize its capital structure, and deepen its domestic market layout, it may struggle to maintain its current position and could even fall from its pedestal as a “global leader,” becoming a target for mergers in the ongoing industry consolidation.

Competition Weakens? As corporate strategies and market dynamics evolve, the reshuffling of the photovoltaic inverter industry is accelerating. The positions of giants Huawei and Sungrow remain solid, while competition among second-tier companies is becoming increasingly fierce. Companies like Greewatts, Jinlang Technology, and Goodwe are competing on price, technology, and service to achieve performance breakthroughs during this reshuffle.

For example, while Goodwe’s revenue and net profit growth in 2022 were slightly lower than those of Greewatts (with Greewatts reporting a net profit of 1.213 billion yuan compared to Goodwe’s 649 million yuan), Goodwe’s energy storage business holds greater potential and benefits from capital support due to its public listing. Meanwhile, Huawei and Sungrow continue to exert pressure on second-tier players through economies of scale, while newcomers like Jinlang Technology capture market share with aggressive pricing strategies.

Though Greewatts was an early mover in the “solar + storage” integrated ecosystem, it has not established a significant differential advantage, leading to a gradual slowdown in its multi-track competition. Financing for capacity expansion has become a crucial method for companies aiming to seize market opportunities. Since 2024, companies such as Sungrow, Shangneng Electric, and Jinlang Technology have launched refinancing plans to increase production capacity for large inverters and energy storage both domestically and internationally. In October 2024, Sungrow announced a fundraising effort of 4.878 billion yuan, primarily for expanding energy storage capacity; Jinlang Technology planned to issue convertible bonds to raise up to 1.694 billion yuan; Shangneng Electric adjusted its fundraising amount to 1.65 billion yuan, with most of the funds directed towards inverter projects. In contrast, Greewatts has struggled to go public, leading to insufficient capital support and a noticeably weakened competitive stance.

Competitor Jinlang Technology has achieved a market capitalization of 21.5 billion yuan, while Goodwe’s market value approaches 10 billion yuan. According to S&P Global, Greewatts ranked fourth in global photovoltaic inverter shipments in 2022, but fell to fifth in 2023, with a market share of only 3.6%. Additionally, high inventory pressures have hampered industry growth, with several domestic and foreign inverter giants facing operational challenges in 2024. For instance, SMA Solar and SolarEdge reported losses of 922 million yuan and 13.113 billion yuan, respectively. Driven by multiple factors, the photovoltaic inverter industry is on the brink of a new wave of reshuffling. In this uncertain market, how companies like Greewatts can leverage their strengths, seize opportunities, and confront challenges will be key to their future development.

The Path to Listing Greewatts focuses on the design, research and development, and manufacturing of photovoltaic inverters, energy storage systems, and charging piles. In 2011, Ding Yongqiang founded Greewatts in Shenzhen, leveraging his experience at Shante Electronics. Initially, the company concentrated on photovoltaic inverters, avoiding fierce domestic competition by shifting its market focus to overseas markets, primarily targeting residential and commercial rooftop applications. By 2012, the company quickly rose to prominence, becoming Australia’s largest inverter exporter, with profits doubling that year. Subsequently, it established subsidiaries in the US, UK, and the Netherlands to accelerate globalization. The company’s performance growth also attracted investment from Sequoia Capital, with Ding Yongqiang setting an IPO target within three years.

However, overseas anti-dumping policies and product quality issues temporarily pushed the company into a profit slump. Drawing from his manufacturing background, Ding Yongqiang stabilized the situation through cost control and market diversification strategies. In 2015, Greewatts entered the energy storage sector, enhancing its existing inverter technology with storage interfaces and launching both residential and commercial product lines. In the following years, Greewatts strategically targeted the dual tracks of “solar + storage,” leading to continuous growth in company performance. Prior to 2023, photovoltaic inverters consistently served as the company’s core revenue source, contributing over half of its income. From 2020 to 2022, its inverter sales revenues were 1.630 billion yuan, 2.462 billion yuan, and 3.898 billion yuan, accounting for 86.1%, 77.1%, and 55% of total revenue, respectively. The energy storage system emerged as the company’s second-largest revenue source, showing robust growth. From 2020 to 2022, this segment’s revenue share increased from 11.3% to 40.3%, with sales skyrocketing by 12.33 times. As of now, Greewatts has not disclosed the latest data on the revenue composition of its photovoltaic inverter and energy storage businesses.

In terms of capital markets, Greewatts’ journey toward listing has been fraught with challenges. Typically, companies can complete their IPO within a year after finishing guidance registration in the A-share process. However, in September 2021, the company abruptly announced the termination of its A-share listing guidance due to “strategic adjustments.” Following the setback in the A-share market, Ding Yongqiang quickly pivoted to seek a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Greewatts has undergone two rounds of external financing. In 2012, Sequoia Capital, Shenzhen Merchants, and Zhaokexin Venture Capital collectively invested nearly 100 million yuan. In 2022, IDG Capital invested 900 million yuan in exchange for 6.52% equity. Sequoia exited the shareholder roster in early 2021, concluding a nine-year holding period. Ding Yongqiang has been planning for an IPO for over a decade but has yet to ring the bell, navigating a convoluted path in the capital market. According to corporate data, Ding Yongqiang currently holds 61.69% of Greewatts’ shares. Should the company eventually succeed in going public, he stands to join the ranks of billionaires in the new energy sector.

The process of going public presents both opportunities and challenges, amplifying both strengths and weaknesses in the market. Under significant pressure, some companies mature through a forced mechanism, while others are eliminated. At the eighth China Distributed Photovoltaics Conference, Greewatts’ General Manager Ding Wei stated that the company adheres to a dual-driven strategy of “solar + storage,” focusing on both deepening its photovoltaic business and promoting commercial energy storage and off-grid energy storage layouts around market-oriented transactions. However, challenges remain severe. Since 2024, established overseas inverter giants have gradually returned to the market, intensifying competition with their longstanding brand advantages. Today, the question remains: Can Ding Yongqiang achieve his billion-yuan dream? However, the time for Greewatts to break through appears to be running short.