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How to Write a Solar Panel Manufacturing Business Plan?
With increased awareness of the damaging impacts of fossil fuels on nature, the world is beginning to use renewable energy sources to power itself. If you are a business opportune, the changing trends must give you a hint to launch solar cell manufacturing plant.
I am a business management consultant at OGScapital and in this blog, I will guide you through the ways by which you could start and manage a solar cell factory successfully.
To step into the business, you have to first do exhaustive research on how to start a solar panel manufacturing business. Following that, you will need to take down your thoughts and draft them in a solar development feasibility study.
To write an effective business plan, here are the steps you need to take.
1. Outline a Clear Executive Summary
The executive summary should explain what your startup looks like, how you plan to manage it, who will be your buyers, and what are the targets you aim to achieve through your business.
2. Write the Company Summary
The company summary should throw light on the qualification and experience of the company owner and the motive behind starting the solar panel production plant.
3. Pen Down Your Products and Services
This section should specify the products you will be selling and the services you will be offering by launching a solar panel production plant.
4. Carry out a Market Analysis
Competitors are for both – to learn from and to compete with. Therefore, in this section of your solar panel manufacturing plant business plan you should explore your target market as well as your competitors.
5. Perform Customer Segmentation
In this part, you will have to identify the distinct groups of your target customers.
6. Set the Prices
Your business plan should contain your pricing strategy for at least three years.
7. Create the Personnel Plan
Your business plan should explain how many people with what qualifications will you be hiring. Taking down their expected salaries for at least three years is yet another detail you shouldn’t miss while writing the business plan.
8. Develop a Sales Strategy to Brand Your Startup
Know how you are different from others in the business world and figure out ways to brand your image.
9. Make a Financial and Operational Plan
This section of your business plan should describe solar panel manufacturing plant cost and other fiscal details.
Operational and Strategic Planning
How do I start up a solar cell manufacturing industry?
To start a solar cell manufacturing industry, you just need to follow a few steps:
Make Your Business Plan
To start with, you must get a detailed and accurate business plan that takes into account your spending, investment, expenditure, staff, customer groups, and every relevant detail.
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Execute the Business Plan
Next, you just have to follow your business plan in letter and spirit. You have to make sure you do not deviate from the criteria you had set in your business plan. For instance, how you will market your venture, how much salaries would you pay, all such details should be pre-decided.
Manage & Operate
Establishing and growing a business is more difficult than the launch. For that, you will have to ensure a strong hierarchical management structure and a clear chain of commands for smooth operations.
What are some basic details about the manufacturing process, investment, machinery, and human resource?
3.1 How are the Solar Panels Manufactured?
The working principle behind the manufacturing of solar panels is the chemical and photoelectric electricity generation phenomenon.
Silicon is used to manufacture thin wafer-like slices in rectangular or square shapes. The metal block is then painted and polished. To enable the conduction the semi-conductor is converted to either N-type or P-type silicon. The silicons are soldered together in a grid-like structure. Afterward, a glass coating is laid so that light from the sun reaches the silicon matrix and generates electricity through the photoelectric effect.
3.2 The Pre-Requisites to Open Solar Panel Manufacturing Plant
As you can see, manufacturing solar panels is not a simple or single-process task. To manufacture it, you require sophisticated technology, tools, as well as electrical engineers. The human and other resources you need to have to manufacture solar panels are given below.
3.2.1 Investment & Monetary Resources
The investment in manufacturing solar panels would vary based on the technology you are using. For a rough estimate, a 20-Watt Solar Panel can cost about $90 – $120 in manufacturing. Therefore, it is obvious that you need a hefty amount in your account to step into this business.
3.2.2 Required Tools, Space & Machinery
To establish solar panel manufacturing plants you need to procure a large space that is free from the issues that can mess up with the manufacturing process. They include electric tripping, water leakage, and open areas exposing the panels to thunder before they are finished.
The machinery and required tools are:
- Stringer machine
- Automatic framing machine
- Layup station
- Automatic station with conveyor belts
- Laminator
- Backsheet cutting machine
- Solar simulator
- Ribbon bending and joining tools
- Electroluminescence Testing Equipment
- Support and transport tables
- Laboratory accessories for quality control
3.2.3 Human Resources
To enable the manufacturing, you will need to hire:
- Operation Manager
- Electrical Engineers
- Energy System Engineer
- Facility Managers
- Technicians (Mechanics/ Electricians)
- Sales Managers
- Web Developers & Social Media Managers
- Other General Staff
What’s the total investment of start solar panel manufacturing plant?
As mentioned earlier, manufacturing a 20-Watt Solar Panel can take from $90 – $120 depending on the technology you are using. The cost of the machinery required is also high as well as the cost of hiring and maintaining a specialized workforce.
Therefore, if you are looking for how to manufacture solar panels in the United States, you must keep in mind that it is going to take a lot of your funds.
To give you a complete idea about solar cell manufacturing plant cost, we are providing the estimated startup costs of a solar panel manufacturing startup based in Boston. This solar cell manufacturing equipment cost pro forma was devised for a startup that used the latest German technology to manufacture solar panels.
| Start-up Expenses | |
| Legal | $128,000 |
| Consultants | $0 |
| Insurance | $28,000 |
| Rent | $40,000 |
| Research and Development | $16,000 |
| Expensed Equipment | $70,000 |
| Signs | $3,000 |
| TOTAL START-UP EXPENSES | $285,000 |
| Start-up Assets | $201,000 |
| Cash Required | $270,000 |
| Start-up Inventory | $39,000 |
| Other Current Assets | $292,000 |
| Long-term Assets | $302,000 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | $1,104,000 |
| Total Requirements | $1,389,000 |
| START-UP FUNDING | |
| Start-up Expenses to Fund | $285,000 |
| Start-up Assets to Fund | $1,104,000 |
| TOTAL FUNDING REQUIRED | $1,389,000 |
| Assets | |
| Non-cash Assets from Start-up | $1,344,000 |
| Cash Requirements from Start-up | $140,000 |
| Additional Cash Raised | $80,000 |
| Cash Balance on Starting Date | $40,500 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | $1,604,500 |
| Liabilities and Capital | |
| Liabilities | $19,000 |
| Current Borrowing | $0 |
| Long-term Liabilities | $0 |
| Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) | $55,000 |
| Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) | $0 |
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | $74,000 |
| Capital | |
| Planned Investment | $1,389,000 |
| Investor 1 | $0 |
| Investor 2 | $0 |
| Other | $0 |
| Additional Investment Requirement | $0 |
| TOTAL PLANNED INVESTMENT | $1,389,000 |
| Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses) | $156,000 |
| TOTAL CAPITAL | $1,545,000 |
| TOTAL CAPITAL AND LIABILITIES | $1,619,000 |
| Total Funding | $1,389,000 |
How much will it cost to set up a solar panel manufacturing unit?
In addition to the startup costs that were given in the previous section, the cost of maintaining the facility is also worth considering.
Setting up a solar panel manufacturing plant includes daily maintenance and quality check of the machines and tools. To assess how much all of it will cost you and how much profit you would be able to generate you need to make a thorough financial plan. That plan should comprise a minimum 3-year analysis of the following:
- Important Assumptions
- Break-even Analysis
- Projected Profit and Loss
- Profit Monthly
- Profit Yearly
- Gross Margin Monthly
- Gross Margin Yearly
- Projected Cash Flow
- Projected Balance Sheet
- Business Ratios
What are the factors worth considering?
6.1 Licensing & Registration Requirements
The first thing to pay heed to is the licensing and other requirements that are prevailing in your city for starting a solar panel manufacturing business.
6.2 Cost of Solar Panel Manufacturing Plant
Second, you should estimate the amount you can invest, your monetary goals, and the purchasing power of your clients to understand whether or not starting this business would be feasible in a specified location.
6.3 Sales Strategy of Competitors
To get ahead of your competitors, you have to first study them. Their sales strategy, price setting, discounts, and packages will help you understand how much money to spare to reach out to more customers.
6.4 Quality Standards & Expectations of People
While looking for how to setup a solar panel manufacturing plant you should also consider the quality standards of solar panels that people would expect from you. Normally you have to meet the following criteria:
- Resilience to Harsh Environments
- Long Cables for Easy Connection
- Multiple Mounting Possibilities
- Factory Certifications
Get Customized Business Plan Made by OGSCapital Experts
By now, you must have understood how you can capitalize on the solar panel manufacturing opportunities. You must also have realized that such an extensive business cannot be launched without an accurate business plan.
Reading solar panel installation company business plans available on the web and trying to draft your business plan might land you into trouble and your hard-earned money at risk. Therefore, it is important to hire professional services to get a business plan or a project report on solar panel manufacturing.
Why Us?
Among all the professional business plan writers, we would encourage you to explore a bit and know why you should hire OGSCapital for the task!
15+ Years of Industry Experience
We have the privilege of having written business plans for small and large enterprises. Our most successful business customers include Velapp, Global Impact, Confurmo, KFC, Subway, PolyClean, and a thousand more!
Highly Specialized Team
Our founders as well as the employed business consultants are highly specialized in their fields. At us, you will interact with business experts with great interpersonal skills and a spirit of cooperation.
Happy Customers in More Than 30 Countries
Since 2006, OGSCapital has been serving thousands of customers in more than 30 countries.
Rated the TOP4 Small Business Consulting Firm
In 2020, OGSCapital was rated the Top4 Small Business Consulting Firm by the Clutch.
If you want to gauge our experience and expertise in the field before hiring us, you can request a sample business plan for a solar energy company.
FAQ
- How do I set up a solar panel manufacturing company?
As you can study from this solar panel manufacturing plant business plan pdf, you can set up a solar panel manufacturing company by procuring silicon metal, machinery, and tools to enable the photoelectric phenomenon. The rest of the steps are given in detail in this blog.
- How much profit can you make with solar panels?
Depending on the technology you use and your customer base, you can make $30 to $50 in profit per month with solar panels.
- How to start a solar panel manufacturing company in the USA?
You just need to acquire the licenses, get registration and follow the steps that are mentioned in this solar panel manufacturing project report pdf.
OGSCapital’s team has assisted thousands of entrepreneurs with top-rated document, consultancy and analysis. They’ve helped thousands of SME owners secure more than $1.5 billion in funding, and they can do the same for you.
