XENE is a fast developing distributor of products from the most reputable manufacturers successfully, acting in renewable energy sector. The company is part of the bigger group that consists of firms delivering superior service in the area of installation and distribution of PV and related products as well as developing solar farms. Main operations are in Poland, Germany, Romania and other European Union markets.
Interview with Wojciech Kłosowski, CEO of XENE.
Easy Engineering: A brief description of the company and its activities.
Wojciech Kłosowski: We offer products and complex advice at every stage of the investment. We distribute world-class components for photovoltaic installations and other green energy products, such as heat pumps, energy storage systems and chargers for electric cars. We source the products directly from the manufacturers and our business partners provide reliable service support.
We actively participate in the energy transition towards sustainable initiatives. We have experience in implementing renewable energy solutions and pursuing comprehensive photovoltaics projects. This way our customers are guaranteed reliability and safety during any type of enterprise, from micro-systems, solutions for businesses to the construction of large power plants in the form of solar farms.
E.E: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
W.K: Xene operates in three major areas:
- Distribution of renewable energy products to the proffesionals across European Union markets
- Installation of PV systems and heat pumps in Germany
- Development and installation of solar farms
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
W.K: In 2023 we’ve introduced to our offer several new products for our customers, for example:
- We’ve signed long term distribution contract with Jolywood – one of the biggest manufacturer of N-type panels. The panels offers on the top of the highest performance also other quality features like full black look and bifacial solutions. We have already found many loyal clients for this panels mainly in Poland and in very demanding German market.
- We’ve further enhanced our cooperation and signed the contract with no 1 inverter manufacturer in Europe i.e. Sungrow. We offer full portfolio of their premium quality products like string inverters, hybrid inverters and energy storage systems. Especially their solutions for solar farms are very interested for our clients and we are very excited to offer their newest product i.e. 350 kW inverter.
- We’ve also expanded our portfolio of heat pumps and as of this year we offer world class products from top producers i.e. Panasonic and Midea.
We are just about to launch in Germany, Austria, Poland and Romania innovative solar systems for balconys. They are our answer to highly growing demand for micro installation needs from people leaving in apartments in the cities. The main drivers for installing such systems are caring about the planet and looking for some savings from fastly growing energy costs. Our initial offer will consist of 2 sizes i.e. 600W and 800W sets.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
W.K: Our main products are solar panels. Togerther with Jolywood panels we distribute also very popular brands like Trina and Jinko.
Our portfolio of inverters consists of premium offer from Sungrow and advanced solutions of Solax, especially in the field of hybrid inverters, storage systems and all-in-one solutions. We also offer very cost-attractive inverters of Solplanet brand and microinverters from the top manufacturers like APSystems or Hoymiles.
The storage systems apart form own solutions from Sungrow, Solax and Solplanet is completed with universal Pylontech batteries which also sell very well. Third major category in our offer is heat pumps. On the top of Panasonic and Midea products we also distribute other brands like Bosh, Daikin, LG, Samsung and Hyundai. We offer the heat pumps alone or as a full installation sets.
We also offer complete mounting systems for PV installations as well as separate components like profiles, solar cables, electrical accessories and many other products.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
W.K: Our three major markets are somehowe different as far as the development stage is concerned:
Poland is no 3 market in Europe in terms of GW installed. After enormous growth in the years of 2019-2022 the market development has slightly slowed down maimnly due to the changes in the regulations but also very high inflation that limits its comeback to the steap growing curve. The biggest segments that develop at the relatively high speed are installations for businesses and solar farms. The heat pumps market is at its early development stage but is very promising.
Germany is by far no 1 market in Europe. After the boom in 2000 – 2010 we can notice huge come back to the interest to PV and development of heat pumps as of last year. The growth can be attributed to the overall positive climate to renewable energy solutions in this market coming from increasing energy prizes and very concious inhabitants caring a lot about importance of green solutions. Definatelly, support from the government lowering VAT rate to 0% in the beginning of 2023 will further stimulate the growth.
Romania is like Poland in the 2019-2021 – the solar market is accelerating there in a very dynamic way. Also the government is very positive towards development of renewable energy and for example the VAT rate was down to 5% as of beginning of this year. We can assume that Romania will shortly join the ranking of biggest PV energy producer in Europe.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
W.K: For sure the renewable energy will continue to grow. This is one of the top priority in many markets around the world and definitely in the countries that we currently operate in.
In the same time the quality of installed materials will start to play a much bigger role. Most of the manufacturers invest a lot in R&D departments to further improve the performance and clients are very ineterested in trying all relevant product news. For example we can notice that Top-con N-type panels are playing bigger and bigger role in our sales.
We also believe that energy storage solutions will grow in importance in the coming future. In Germany many of the installations have already batteries included. On the other hand in Poland only approximately 5% of new installations are equiped with storage solutions, a little more are ready for that with hybrid inverters. This is the question of affordability. The competition among producers will drive the prices down like in many other segments – it’s a question of time. Also in many markets the support of goverments is growing behind storage solutions.
Another trend we foresee is development of even smaller installations like for example sets for balconys – many people that do not have their own roofs want to have own mini solar plants. What is very reassuring is that the need for that is coming not only from financial aspects i.e. saving costs but also a lot of people want to participate in green revolution.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
W.K: Among many products in our offer we are very pleased to distribute top quality panels of Jolywood. They are produced with N-type technology with many other features like bifacial, full black, glass-glass, etc. making them “having everything” panels. Their quality is underlined by 25 year product and 30 year productivity guarantee. Another example of innovative product is our innovative balcony set that is made of elastic panels with simple and secure installation materials and process.
We continuously look for innovation and are looking forward to visiting Inter Solar exhibition in June. We will see what new ideas we will bring with us.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2023?
W.K: We assume that our growth will accelerate – from one hand thanks to the overall industry growth in Poland, our business accelararinon in Germany and Romania and also by our further expansion to other European markets. We are also involved in several solar farm projects and we continuously look for innovation which will help us exploring new possibilities like for example this year a launch of our balcony sets. The future is bright for solar industry and we believe for our planet too.
