Chinese Innovator - Zhengrong Shi |
Australia was unable to find the capital to commercially develop this promising technology and apart from a small royalty for the Uni, the local interest in CSG technology was sold to a German company in 2004.
Shi started visiting China regularly from Australia and his friends lobbied him to return to China. Shi acceded and created a company called Suntech Power. Soon afterward, the government of Wuxi, a city on Shanghai's western outskirts with ambitions to become a high-tech center, put up $6 million to finance Suntech, which started with 20 employees, and helped to land $5 million in research grants.
Suntech Power makes photovoltaic solar cells (PV cells) and solar electric systems. Its products are used in residential, commercial, industrial, and utilities, for both on-grid electricity generation and off-grid use, such as lighting for street lamps, telecommunications, and mobile phone networks.
In 2005, Shi's confidence paid off when his Suntech Power Holdings went public on the New York Stock Exchange and investors snapped up shares, turning him into a billionaire. Last year, Shi ranked No.7 on the Forbes magazine list of China's richest tycoons, with a $1.4 billion fortune.
Suntech's 3,500-strong work force at four
sites in China produces photovoltaic cells, the delicate, hand-sized black
silicon panels that can transform sunlight into electricity.
Suntech Power is now the world's 10th-largest solar cell manufacturer and the leader in China. Major international customers include Aleo Solar, Bihler, Conergy, IBC Solar and SolarWorld AG. Photon International, the trade magazine, ranked Suntech fifth place in capacity and sixth place in production in its annual solar league table.
Shi is part of a generation that left China
by the tens of thousands in the drab 1980s to study or work. They are now
trickling back, lured by the booming Chinese economy's new opportunities.
Shi works 10- to 12-hour days and spends eight months a year on the road in Europe, the United States or China. Shi said he has little time to enjoy his wealth. "I'm a scientist," Shi said. "My hobby is solving technical problems." But he said that he wants to devote more time to charity work, including an environmental education program that he launched with his wife. |