Update | Hanergy chairman tight-lipped on share price swings - but vows to launch solar-powered cars
Li Hejun, the mainland tycoon behind mysterious renewable energy firm Hanergy Holding Group whose Hong Kong listed unit’s shares sharp swings aroused regulatory attention, refused on Friday to comment on the firm’s shares and said his company plans to launch a few prototypes of solar-powered electric cars that could rival those of the United States’ Tesla.
“I have nothing to comment,” Li told reporters at the sidelines of the ongoing Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in which he is a delegate when asked about the extreme volatility and trading volumes of Hanergy Holding’s Hong Kong-listed unit Hanergy Thin Film Power in recent days.
After surging 61.5 per cent in the past four trading days, Hanergy Thin Film’s share price slid as much as 9.6 per cent on Friday. It traded at HK$6.73, down 7.8 per cent, at 1:14p.m, by which time some HK$1.45 billion of shares have changed hands.
It was the most actively traded Hong Kong stock in the previous two trading days, with trading volumes of HK$2.45 billion on Wednesday and HK$4.42 billion on Thursday.
The tycoon was more accommodating on another subject.
“We will roll out three to five types of solar-powered cars by the end of this year, using thin-film solar power technology,” he said in elaborating on plans to launch solar-powered cars.
“Unlike Tesla, they don’t need charging points,” he said. “After being exposed in the sunlight for four or five hours, it can keep going for 80 to 100 kilometres.”
He went on to explain that the prototypes “can move like cars” but gave no timetable for large-scale commercial production.
When pressed to comment on analysts’ doubts about his companies and their thin-film solar power technology, such as their low transparency and large volumes of connected-party transactions, Li said: “They don’t understand [the technology].”
Scientists and a renewable energy sector analyst were surprised by Li’s claim on the energy conversion efficiency of Hanergy’s planned prototypes, likening the idea to “science fiction.”
Professor Cao Anyuan, solar cell researcher at Peking University, said with the best available technology, the thin film solar cells on a car could generate no more than one kilo-watt-hour in five hours under the sun due to limited efficiency and size.
He was doubtful whether Li’s car could cover 100 km with that amount of energy. The Model S by Telsla needed 20 kilowatt-hour (kwh) for the same distance.
Professor Guo Shouwu, a solar cell researcher with Shanghai Jiaotong University, said it was interesting to note that Li did not mention the top speed of his cars.
“The solar cells may be enough to get the car moving. You don’t need too much power for that. But to make the car running at a decent speed is another story. The solar cell that can do this job does not exist,” he said.
Charles Yonts, head of sustainable research at brokerage CLSA, said even assuming Hanergy Holding can successful deploy and commercialise the technology of California-based Alta Devices which it acquired last August, it would take 33 square metres of sunlight exposed surface area to charge a 20 kWh solar car battery.
“The total planar area of a Tesla Model S is like ten square metres, so it is not even close, and that assumes you cover your windshields [with solar panels],” he told the Post.
With additional reporting by Stephen Chen
