A Solar Fred Conversation with Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar's CEO: Part 1

When I interview people at SPI, it’s less of an “interview” and more of a conversation. There are questions, sure, but I often draw from my recent solar industry blog posts here and ask these industry leaders to respond. So, it was great to sit down with Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar’s CEO, and have a frank conversation about solar PV commoditization, as well as solar industry leadership.

I always like to hear solar origin stories, especially from solar CEOs. Why are they in the solar business? I think these answers not only reveal the character of the CEO, but perhaps the character of the company he or she runs, as well. In Qu’s case, he is not only the CEO, but the company’s founder, and like other solar PV founders, he came to the industry as an engineer first, not as an entrepreneur.

Born and raised in China before the country moved toward capitalism, Qu grew up modestly, but was able to study physics and eventually go to the University of Toronto as an engineering student — one of the first generation of Chinese allowed to study in the Western world. He eventually received a doctorate degree in semiconductor physics and materials and was hired by a solar subsidiary of Automation Tooling Systems (ATS) in Canada.

In the beginning, Qu admits that his solar work was just a job. But working at ATS for a while, he began to get more and more interested in the technology and its benefits.

Solar became even more interesting when the Canadian federal government launched the Climate Change Action Fund for supporting climate change solutions. As part of ATS, Qu lead a project to implement solar in rural communities in Tibet. There, he saw how much a 10-Watt solar panel could change a villager’s life, and this was the genesis for forming Canadian Solar.

“I thought, why don’t I start a small business, make a small product, and change people’s lives, but also feed my family,” Qu recalls. “So, I really started with a very small goal, but a realistic goal. That was in 2001, and I guess I’m lucky that we started at the right moment and the right industry.”

The timing was right because by 2004, Canadian had developed its first line of solar products. In addition, 2004 was also the year that Germany introduced the Green Energy Act and its famously successful feed-in-tariff.

Seven years later, Canadian Solar is a publicly traded company and on a short list of bankable, tier 1 solar manufacturers with factories in Ontario, as well as China.

Qu on the Canadian Solar Brand

It’s funny how companies create mission statements and brand names for their business plans, but their officers can rarely repeat what the statement said or what their brands stand for. Mission statements are often filled with business language that can put a mildly curious audience to sleep. 

I didn’t ask Qu about Canadian Solar’s mission statement, but rather about Canadian Solar’s name and what the brand means. Once again, the answer is often a clue to the company’s leadership philosophy and goals.

Qu named the company Canadian Solar from its founding in 2001. Asked why he chose the name, he said, “I had become a Canadian citizen and I liked Canada. I think Canada is well liked in the world. … I also wanted to choose a simple name with no ambiguity, no argument. So that was it: Canadian Solar.”

I pressed him on the “meaning” behind the brand and what it stands for, and he responded insightfully, “First of all, whatever name it is, as long as you consistently do a good job, maintain your quality, you’re going to bring meaning to your name. So, it’s not what you’re called, but what you do that substantiates that name.”

He was right. I immediately thought of the consumer world, where billion dollar internet companies like Zappos, Zynga, and Microsoft have done just that, creating innovative companies that defined their nonsensical names.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to know what he thought Canadian Solar was doing to define its name. Qu answered that the company had built a brand that projects honesty, transparency, environmental stewardship, social consciousness, and being global. “As Canadians, we’re always calling ourselves a 'second power,' not a super power, but we’re still global. And that’s what I want Canadian Solar to be. I want to service my customers globally, but I don’t want to dominate them. I want to be their friends.”

Qu on the Commoditization of Solar PV

I interviewed Qu before SolarWorld filed its trade dispute, so I didn’t get his perspective on that. (Canadian has since issued a press release, opposing the actions.) Rather, the hot topic at that time was the commoditization of solar PV and the failure of Solyndra due to cost pressures.

Qu didn’t have to tell me that Solyndra didn’t represent the entire solar industry, but he did anyway, and I quickly agreed. Then I asked the more difficult question: What besides bankability does Canadian Solar offer customers that makes it competitive as a commodity?

He first emphasized bankability — and well he should. “First of all, we are one of very few tier one suppliers that have achieved bankability. I respect all of them, and most of them will survive the coming consolidation. In our case, we do bring something special.”

He then mentions the company’s research developing higher efficiency panels, such as back contact technology, where lasers drill holes onto the wafer and bring the contact to the backside of the module, boosting panel efficiency. As this is SPI, he also mentions the company’s new CommercialAC, a commercial AC panel with three-phase sequenced inverter technology, designed to simplify commercial rooftop installation, as well as make installation safer.

I’ve heard good and bad things about micros from my installer friends on the residential side, and so I ask him why commercial installers should trust a new inverter instead of a familiar, tried and true string inverter, simplicity or not.

Qu smiles faintly and says, “Well, that’s where branding comes in," referring back to our earlier conversation. "Canadian Solar is a gigawatt a year company. We have the technical ability and the quality ability. So, if we introduce a product, we’re going to make damn sure we’re doing the right thing. On the product side, we have a standard process for introducing a new product. For example, our new CommercialAC product has been in an outdoor testing site for a while now. We have been monitoring the data every day, and our engineers have been checking on the performance every day. So we are always looking at performance and fine tuning our product.” Naturally, he adds that the performance has been through UL, IEC, and CEC testing.

I’m later told by a product manager that the AC module is backed by Canadian Solar’s 25 year warranty, plus a third party reinsurance.

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Due to the length of our conversation, I’ve broken up this article into two posts. In part 2, to be published here on Thursday, November, 17th, I talk with Qu about how Canadian Solar will maintain its North American presence and his efforts to be a more public solar CEO. Plus, after our interview, I accidentally discover a valuable example of great solar advocacy and PR from Qu on the Internet.

Until Thursday, as always... UnThink Solar.

Tor Valenza a.k.a. “Solar Fred” advises solar companies on marketing, communications, and public relations. Contact him through UnThink Solar or follow him on Twitter @SolarFred.