"A university professor leading domestic inverters to breakthrough" - this 15-character description of Sungrow Power Supply Co.,Ltd. founder Cao Renxian in the book "Great Power Photovoltaics" succinctly captures his entrepreneurial journey and highlights Sungrow's pivotal position in China's photovoltaic development history. If the A-share listing 14 years ago marked Sungrow's establishment as the leading inverter manufacturer, then the current Hong Kong IPO may represent a new starting point for the company's energy storage business to surge forward.
Recently, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website showed that Sungrow Power Supply Co.,Ltd. has submitted listing application materials, aiming for an "A+H" dual listing. Given the current capital environment and Sungrow's global expansion strategy, the company's Hong Kong listing is not surprising but rather an inevitable choice for its globalization strategy.
At this critical juncture of launching its second IPO, Sungrow has just completed a strategic business focus shift. In the first half of this year, the company's energy storage system revenue accounted for 40.89%, surpassing the revenue proportion of photovoltaic inverters and other power electronic conversion equipment. While the company's business is thriving, Sungrow's financial situation cannot be overlooked, with nearly 30 billion yuan in inventory and over 27 billion yuan in accounts receivable on its books.
With energy storage "order explosions" and intensifying industry competition, Sungrow faces both opportunities and challenges at this new starting point.
**Capital Ambitions Beyond "A+H"**
Nearly 14 years after landing on the A-share market, Sungrow, which has secured its position as the A-share photovoltaic industry leader with a total market capitalization of nearly 300 billion yuan, recently submitted its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, launching the company's second IPO process.
Looking back at Sungrow's growth trajectory, in November 1997, 29-year-old Cao Renxian took 80,000 yuan saved from teaching, borrowed from neighbors and friends, and raised 500,000 yuan in registered capital to establish Sungrow Power Supply Co.,Ltd. During his teaching period, Cao Renxian's main research focus was renewable energy generation, making him one of the earliest professionals in China's photovoltaic industry to study solar power generation domestically. To this day, some industry insiders still habitually call Cao Renxian "Teacher Cao." At major industry summits, Cao Renxian appears frequently, dressed simply and maintaining a low profile.
Since its establishment in 1997, Sungrow has experienced numerous key development milestones. In 2003, six years after its founding, the company developed China's first 10kW grid-connected photovoltaic inverter with independent intellectual property rights, and began expanding into wind power converter business in 2004 and energy storage business in 2006. In 2010, the company established its new energy vehicle business division, restructured into a joint-stock company, and completed its name change, officially listing on the A-share market in November 2011.
After nearly 14 years of development in the capital market, Sungrow has gradually expanded into "wind, solar, power, storage, and hydrogen." The company's main products include photovoltaic inverters, energy storage systems, wind power converters and transmission products, floating photovoltaic systems, new energy vehicle electronic control and power systems, charging equipment, renewable energy hydrogen production systems, and smart energy operation and maintenance services.
According to Frost & Sullivan analysis, Sungrow's photovoltaic inverter product shipments have maintained global leadership for ten consecutive years. Based on 2024 shipment volumes, the company's photovoltaic inverters hold approximately 25.2% of the global market share. Additionally, as of June 30, 2025, the company's cumulative energy storage system shipments reached 70GWh.
From the secondary market perspective, Sungrow's stock price has experienced significant growth this year. Trading data shows that during the 124 trading days from April 9 to October 13, the company's stock price rose cumulatively by 153.49%. As of the close on October 13, the company's stock price was 141.22 yuan per share, with a total market capitalization of 292.8 billion yuan, ranking first among 70 A-share photovoltaic equipment companies.
Now, riding the policy tailwinds encouraging mainland leading enterprises to list in Hong Kong, 57-year-old Cao Renxian is leading Sungrow's solar-storage giant ship to "set sail again."
In fact, Cao Renxian's capital ambitions extend beyond "A+H." In 2024, Sungrow initiated the overseas issuance of Global Depositary Receipts (GDR) with new domestic underlying A-shares. In May this year, the company stated it was actively advancing GDR-related work. Additionally, at the end of 2023, Sungrow planned the spin-off listing of Sungrow Renewable Energy, which subsequently acquired control of A-share listed company Taihe Intelligent in late 2024. In June this year, Taihe Intelligent announced the cash acquisition of 100% equity in Anhui Sungrow Energy Storage Co., Ltd. held by Sungrow Renewable Energy, with a transaction amount of 45.8 million yuan.
**Focus Shifting to "Energy Storage + Overseas Expansion"**
Although Sungrow had already positioned itself in the energy storage track, the company's first-half financial report this year clearly showed the market the company's development inflection point, with energy storage business revenue surpassing its founding inverter business for the first time, and overseas revenue (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) also exceeding mainland China revenue for the first time.
Looking at recent performance, Sungrow's results have surged significantly since 2022. From 2022 to 2024, Sungrow achieved operating revenues of approximately 40.26 billion yuan, 72.25 billion yuan, and 77.86 billion yuan respectively, with corresponding attributable net profits of approximately 3.59 billion yuan, 9.44 billion yuan, and 11.04 billion yuan.
In the first half of this year, the company delivered its best interim performance since listing, with profitability leading A-share photovoltaic companies. During the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of approximately 43.53 billion yuan, up 40.34% year-on-year, with corresponding attributable net profit of approximately 7.74 billion yuan, up 55.97% year-on-year.
While performance continues to grow, Sungrow's business focus is also shifting. In the first half of 2025, the energy storage sector continued to develop. Driven by factors such as increasing renewable energy penetration, growing grid auxiliary service demand, and improving economics, according to National Energy Administration and third-party institution data, global lithium battery energy storage installed capacity reached 109GWh in the first half of this year, up 68% year-on-year.
In the first half, Sungrow completed a business focus transition from photovoltaic inverters to energy storage. The interim report shows that the company's photovoltaic inverter and other power electronic conversion equipment business revenue was 15.33 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 35.21% of revenue, while energy storage system revenue reached 17.80 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 40.89% of revenue, surpassing the photovoltaic inverter business.
When discussing the company's energy storage shipment situation, Sungrow stated: "The global energy storage compound growth rate is conservatively estimated at 20% and optimistically at 30% for the next few years. The company's first-half shipments have approached last year's full-year total, and second-half shipments may be even higher than the first half."
Alongside the business focus shift, Sungrow's overseas business expansion continues to grow. The interim report shows that the company has established over 20 overseas branches and more than 60 representative offices globally, with five major global service regions, over 520 service outlets, and hundreds of important channel partners, with products sold in bulk to over 100 countries and regions worldwide.
Looking at specific financial data, in the first half of this year, the company's overseas revenue (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) was approximately 25.38 billion yuan, accounting for 58.3% of operating revenue, surpassing mainland China's 41.7% revenue share. In the same period last year, overseas and mainland China revenue shares were 43.44% and 56.56% respectively.
**Accelerating AIDC Power Business Layout**
With overseas strategic expansion continuing to accelerate, Sungrow's strategic intention to enter the Hong Kong stock market is evident. Regarding this Hong Kong listing, Sungrow's fundraising will be invested in research and development, including R&D investment in next-generation photovoltaic and energy storage products and building and upgrading R&D centers; building overseas production bases; accelerating digital intelligence construction; and working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Times continue to change, and for Sungrow, current solar-storage business is not the endpoint. From the fundraising projects, it's clear that besides vigorously expanding overseas markets and developing solar-storage business, Sungrow is also accelerating toward digital intelligence, planning to empower full value chain business digital platforms and accelerate applications of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and Internet of Things to support enterprise digital intelligent operations.
Additionally, Sungrow has set its sights on AIDC power business. The company's AIDC power business layout and team building are positioned at a high starting point, focusing primarily on overseas markets. Regarding the company's layout and long-term planning in the AIDC power track, Sungrow previously stated that the company has extensive technical accumulation and innovative results to be applied in power end and electronic power conversion technology, with good technical synergy with AIDC power. Moreover, with the rapid construction of artificial intelligence and data centers, global data center energy, especially green electricity, is becoming tight, and the company has advantages in providing comprehensive green electricity solutions.
"Currently, the company doesn't have related customers yet, but initial contacts have given us great confidence. We have established an AIDC business division and are intensively developing products, aiming to launch some products next year," Sungrow stated during an investor conference call in August this year.
**"Prominent" Inventory and Receivables**
With capital steps and business development running in sync, Sungrow's financial capabilities have also been thrust into the spotlight. High inventory and receivables remain on Sungrow's books. As of the end of the first half of 2025, the company had accounts receivable of 27.50 billion yuan and notes receivable of 1.60 billion yuan, while inventory also remained high at 29.71 billion yuan.
"Excessive accounts receivable can easily lead to cash flow pressure; high inventory means increased inventory backlog costs while occupying substantial working capital," commented angel investor and senior artificial intelligence expert Guo Tao.
At the same period end, Sungrow had 19.87 billion yuan in monetary funds, while having long-term and short-term borrowings of approximately 4.35 billion yuan and 5.27 billion yuan respectively, totaling 9.62 billion yuan. Additionally, as of the first half end, Sungrow had 16.94 billion yuan in notes payable and 18.92 billion yuan in accounts payable.
Notably, in the first half of 2025, Sungrow's selling expenses were 2.29 billion yuan, up 29.13% year-on-year. However, cash flow improved significantly in the first half. Data shows that in the first half of 2025, Sungrow's net cash flow from operating activities was 3.43 billion yuan, compared to -2.60 billion yuan in the same period last year.
Additionally, Sungrow continued to increase R&D investment in the first half of 2025, reaching 2.04 billion yuan, up 37% year-on-year.
Considering Sungrow's current position in the solar-storage industry, major companies are competing to "capture" the energy storage market, including some large photovoltaic enterprises. Wu Gaobin, Secretary-General of the New Quality Productivity Committee of the China Private Association, said that cross-industry expansion into energy storage has become an important development direction for photovoltaic companies. Through cross-industry energy storage expansion, photovoltaic companies can expand business areas and improve profitability. Meanwhile, energy storage technology applications help photovoltaic companies achieve industrial chain extension and enhance market competitiveness.
Against the current backdrop of energy storage "order explosions," how Sungrow will seize opportunities, withstand industry competitive pressure, and continue on its solar-storage path in the future remains to be seen.
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