Shihang New Energy’s Vision for Carbon Neutrality: A Comprehensive Strategy from PV to Energy Storage

From photovoltaics to energy storage, Sofarsolar is defining China’s roadmap and global strategy for the carbon-neutral era. On April 2, 2025, Shenzhen Sofarsolar Co., Ltd. (301658.SZ) officially debuted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Growth Enterprise Market, witnessing a remarkable first-day price surge of 244.49%, becoming a focal point in the capital market. This IPO raised approximately 487 million yuan, slightly lower than initially planned, yet the company is regarded as a benchmark in the new energy power equipment sector due to its robust technological foundation in photovoltaics and energy storage, forward-looking strategic layout, and global operational capabilities.

On April 28, 2025, Sofarsolar released its first performance report since going public. Despite the complexities of the industry environment, the company showed excellence in optimizing its business structure, profitability, and cash flow, while also adjusting its customer base and planning for future growth trajectories. In 2024, Sofarsolar’s overall gross profit margin increased by 4.22 percentage points compared to the previous year. Notably, the gross profit margin for overseas operations remained high, while the domestic gross profit margin saw a significant increase of 12.36 percentage points to 19.58%. To adapt to market changes, Sofarsolar adopted proactive and flexible operational strategies, successfully reducing total management and sales expenses by over 25% year-on-year in 2024.

Through a development model that integrates technology, strategy, and globalization, Sofarsolar is helping Chinese photovoltaic inverter manufacturers gain more space for growth in the fiercely competitive international market.

Technological Innovation: Building a High-Barrier “Core Moat”

Founded in 2013, Sofarsolar focuses on the research, production, sales, and service of new energy power equipment. The company initially established itself in the industry with small-scale grid-connected inverters and, by 2015, proactively expanded into energy storage inverters, becoming one of the early developers of energy storage inverter technology and integrated solar-storage solutions in China. Currently, Sofarsolar specializes in the conversion, storage, and management of solar power, offering a complete product line that includes photovoltaic inverters (1-350 kW), energy storage inverters (3-20 kW), and energy storage batteries, catering to residential, commercial, and utility-scale applications. Its major clients include ZCS, CORAB, EnergyNAT, ILUMISOL, SOLTEC, MV Technology, Trina Smart, Xiangtai New Energy, Havells, and Skyworth Solar.

Sofarsolar’s global influence is significant; according to a report released by the renowned power and renewable energy research organization Wood Mackenzie, Sofarsolar ranked 10th in global photovoltaic inverter shipments in 2023. This achievement is attributed to the company’s unwavering commitment to a research-driven strategy, having been recognized as a national high-tech enterprise since 2017. From 2021 to mid-2024, Sofarsolar’s R&D expenditures amounted to 942.25 million yuan, 1.93 billion yuan, 3.08 billion yuan, and 1.54 billion yuan, respectively, totaling 7.49 billion yuan. Although R&D spending decreased due to industry cycles in 2024, the intensity of investment remained high at 10.04%, positioning Sofarsolar among the top in the industry.

By the end of 2024, Sofarsolar employed 500 R&D personnel, accounting for 31.99% of its workforce. Recent data indicates the company holds 250 authorized patents and possesses 28 core technologies in areas such as inverters, energy storage, data centers, and IoT monitoring platforms. Moreover, it has established collaborative partnerships with universities, such as Huazhong University of Science and Technology, to conduct research in energy storage, photovoltaics, and electric vehicle applications. Sofarsolar continuously explores innovative power conversion topologies and control technologies, enhancing inverter performance metrics through its efficient and reliable DC-DC and DC-AC power conversion technologies. The peak efficiency of its inverter products can reach 98.4%, making them highly competitive within the industry.

Additionally, the company has developed grid compatibility and support technologies that allow its main inverter products to handle over 30 types of grid voltage harmonics, supporting connections to weak grids under AC output short-circuit ratios of 1.2. The local and remote rapid active regulation and reactive support can respond in less than 100 milliseconds, effectively enhancing grid stability while ensuring stable system-generated power output. Sofarsolar’s advancements also extend to fast fault diagnosis technology, energy management, and balancing for energy storage converters, IoT monitoring platforms, pre-charging for capacitor banks, and integrated multi-winding inductors.

“Integrated Solar-Storage” Strategy: Long-termism through Collaborative Tracks

The “integrated solar-storage” strategy has emerged as a primary development direction within the industry. This approach involves equipping photovoltaic systems with energy storage inverters and batteries, controlling the charge and discharge processes to store energy during low-demand periods and release it during high-demand periods. This strategy smooths power output curves, reduces grid scheduling pressure, and saves electricity costs. The integration of photovoltaic and energy storage technologies provides a buffer for solar power systems, ensuring stable operation and maximizing energy absorption.

Consequently, energy storage technology is one of the key enablers for large-scale photovoltaic applications. As the global energy transition accelerates, the demand for energy storage is rapidly expanding. The deployment of energy storage systems is becoming essential for the large-scale application of photovoltaics and energy structure transformation. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the cumulative installed capacity of the electrochemical storage market has shown a rapid growth trend in recent years. Sofarsolar launched its energy storage inverter model in 2016 and introduced energy storage battery products in 2020, positioning itself early in the integrated solar-storage development direction, thus establishing a significant voice in the market.

In 2024, Sofarsolar achieved an operating revenue of 2.711 billion yuan with a net profit attributable to shareholders of 259 million yuan. The sales revenue from energy storage inverters and batteries accounted for 22.49% and 26.84% of the company’s main business income, respectively, with both percentages increasing year by year. Fundamentally, Sofarsolar’s integrated solar-storage strategy begins with a deep integration at the technological level, supported by the R&D strengths and achievements mentioned earlier.

Currently, Sofarsolar is continuously developing high-power product lines, expanding from residential and small commercial photovoltaic and energy storage markets to larger commercial utility-scale projects. For example, the PowerMagic system, independently developed by Sofarsolar for commercial energy storage, features a modular design that supports flexible AC expansion. It meets the diverse needs of everything from commercial complexes to large industrial parks, and through its intelligent management functions, it can perform peak shaving and demand management operations, further optimizing power quality and reducing user electricity costs. Since its launch in 2023, PowerMagic has gained significant popularity in both domestic and international markets due to its efficient flexibility, lower Levelized Cost of Storage (LCOS), and exceptional safety, participating in numerous commercial storage projects across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Sofarsolar’s self-developed intelligent monitoring and operation management platform, “Sofarsolar Cloud,” covers the entire lifecycle of power plants, providing differentiated service experiences for installers, operators, and end-users. This platform allows for intelligent monitoring and convenient operations of photovoltaic and energy storage plants, maximizing plant revenue and minimizing operational costs. Sofarsolar also plans to increase R&D investments in digital energy applications related to solar-storage integration, further enriching its product structure and technological reserves, while developing second and third growth curve businesses to enhance sustainable development and profitability.

Global Strategy: From Market Penetration to Brand Enhancement

Thanks to its strong research and technology capabilities, Sofarsolar has established a solid foundation for global expansion. Its main products have received certifications from over 30 countries or regions, including China CQC, the “Leader” program, EU CE, and German TÜV. The company has also been awarded the “Top PV Brand” in India, Poland, Brazil, and Australia by the authoritative German research institution EuPD Research for several consecutive years. Currently, the primary sales regions for Sofarsolar’s energy storage inverters and batteries include Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, and Poland, with products sold to over 100 countries and regions across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, boasting over 20 business outlets globally. In Europe, which is a core market, Sofarsolar leads market share in countries like Italy and Poland. In 2024, the share of overseas revenue reached 81.63%, with gross margins significantly higher than the domestic figure of 39.36%, showcasing exceptional brand premium capabilities.

In 2022, Sofarsolar established subsidiaries in Pakistan, the UK, and Brazil, and in 2023, it further expanded by setting up subsidiaries in Singapore, the Netherlands, and Japan, accelerating its layout in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. This multi-market strategy effectively mitigates risks associated with single-region dependency. Additionally, Sofarsolar actively implements the national “Belt and Road” strategy, aiming to consolidate its current market advantages while addressing the differentiated needs of various countries and regions. This includes expanding into photovoltaic markets in developed countries such as Germany and France, as well as emerging photovoltaic markets in the Middle East and South America. According to statistics from SolarPower Europe, the cumulative installed capacity of household energy storage in Europe is projected to reach 31.7 GWh by 2024 and 96.3 GWh by 2028, with annual increases of 22.6 GWh, indicating a promising outlook.

Sofarsolar emphasizes its commitment to responding proactively to national strategies, continuously enhancing its domestic sales scale, and implementing the national carbon peak plan. The company has established stable partnerships with several large energy groups. According to data from Sofarsolar’s official website, its global inverter shipment volume has exceeded 34 GW, resulting in a cumulative carbon reduction of over 50.84 million tons, providing clean electricity to over 1.5 million households. In its 2024 annual report, Sofarsolar stated that it would continue to refine its global marketing organization and service system while promoting the “SOFAR” product and brand on the global stage, gradually transitioning from product sales to brand marketing to create a globally recognized brand in digital energy system solutions.

As the integration of solar and storage shifts from being “optional” to “essential,” Sofarsolar’s core advantages can be summarized as the triple drive of “technology + strategy + globalization”: technological research building barriers, synergistic solar-storage enhancing resilience, and globalization boosting profitability. In the global narrative of carbon neutrality, Sofarsolar represents not only a Chinese enterprise in technology output but also a key player in the global energy transition. All these long-term efforts have positioned Sofarsolar as a leader in digital energy solutions.