Hanwha and Samsung join up on solar energy

Hanwha Q Cells and Samsung SDI have partnered up in hopes that working together will help them expand their share of the European solar power market.

According to the companies, Hanwha Q Cells will start selling its Q.Home residential solar photovoltaic (PV) generation system equipped with Samsung SDI’s energy storage system (ESS) this month in Germany. With the PV system, customers can decide when to consume their rooftop-generated electricity stored in ESS.

This is the first time the two companies have collaborated in the solar business, which both have picked as an area for future growth, and they have called it a win-win situation.

Germany-based Hanwha Q Cells, which joined Hanwha Group in 2012, said that with its 6.24 kilowatt-peak PV system and Samsung SDI’s 3.6 kilowatt-hour ESS, a family of four can consume about 2,200kWh of self-generated electricity annually.

Owners can check their energy use and the amount of stored energy on their smartphone or computer.

Sales and marketing will be led by Hanwha Q Cells. The company is planning to sell the product in other European nations in the future.

Despite reduced profit margins in the solar industry, Hanwha has been investing in solar power because of insistence by Kim Dong-kwan, the marketing and strategy director of Hanwha Q Cell and the first son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn.

Samsung has been sluggish in developing its solar power business and has instead become a leader in batteries like its ESS.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]