"Luxembourg and China have a certain weight: they represent half the world's population", the former prime minister used to joke when talking about the Middle Kingdom.

"I am delighted to announce that Solarcleano will be demonstrating exceptional robotic capabilities in large-scale photovoltaic installations! A new era for our industry is upon us and Solarcleano is at the forefront! Contact us if you have any mega-projects”, Solarcleano founder and CEO Christophe Timmermans said in a Linkedin post last week. He posted an initial message, in Chinese, a month ago.

On Wednesday, on the second day of Luxembourg’s economic mission to China, in Shanghai, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, (DP), accompanied by the minister for economic affairs, (DP) and the chair of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, , announced the signing of three memorandums of understanding between three Chinese companies and three Luxembourg companies, on social networks, without providing details. (Paperjam asked the foreign ministry to comment.)

But this is no mean feat: with 80% of the world's solar panel production, China--which has heavily subsidised its industry since 2009 and run the "Golden Sun" programme until recently--is flooding the global market and is moving faster than other countries to meet international commitments to protect the climate.

And the startup from Luxembourg is ahead of the game with a vision: solar panels can lose up to 15% or 20% of their electricity-generating capacity if they are not cleaned regularly.

World’s third largest manufacturer

Timmermans and his team have created three robots capable of looking after solar panels, 24 hours a day, but not necessarily under all conditions. They're more suited to very large surfaces than to the roof of the average person's home. It seemed logical that the Luxembourg startup would have set up shop in China. Just as it is certain that it will have to find a way of protecting its intellectual property.

The company, which employs 28 people, signed an MOU with a subsidiary of Trina Solar, the world's third largest solar company, founded in 1997, on 27 November 2024. Taken private in 2007, it has made the fortune of its founder, Gao Jifan, worth more than $6bn. Gao and his wife Wu Chunyan retain around 36% of the company's shares via half a dozen structures. Not only did the volume of its shipments last year reach 65.21 GW - enough to power 50 million European homes for a year - up more than 51.3% on the previous year, but in the first half of 2024, the company generated revenue of $6bn and $74m in net income attributable to shareholders, confirming two consecutive quarters of profitability.

Behind its gigantic financial indicators, Trina Solar decided very early on to invest heavily in research and development. Just before the summer, it set its 26th world record by creating a solar panel (or module) capable of producing 740.6 watts of electricity in ideal conditions. Its own research centre is involved in two key Chinese government programmes as part of the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan.

With two Chinese banks among its shareholders, the China Merchant Bank (4.17%) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1.38%), both of which have a presence in Luxembourg, there is another bridge linking the two companies: since its privatisation, Trina Solar has also had a Luxembourg entity, which has little activity in Luxembourg apart from a small cash line and two employees.

Trinabot, the installer-cleaner robot

Trinabot, which designs, manufactures and ships solar panels, also provides energy storage solutions. It has even been supplying performance trackers for 20 years, via its subsidiary Trina Tracker. It is the only company in the industry to have dual R&D and technical design centres for modules and trackers in Europe and Asia. By the end of 2023, Trina Tracker had supplied intelligent tracking solutions to more than 700 photovoltaic power plants in over 60 countries, with cumulative shipments of Fix and Tracker systems exceeding 20 GW.

And the company is developing Trinabot, in exactly the same niche as the Luxembourg company: the robot is designed to facilitate the installation, maintenance and inspection of solar tracking systems. It is capable of automating important tasks, such as cleaning solar panels and maintaining trackers, while improving efficiency and reducing operational costs.

"We're not particularly cheap, we're certainly not the best in China,” Timmermans Paperjam in the spring, calling on European politicians to take stronger action. “But in the rest of the world, our quality allows us to dominate the market. And copies are still limited to regional rather than global players. For the moment, we're doing well. Our objective is not to invest in lawyers to defend patents.” He stated: “We have strong patents on certain aspects of robots, but to go and fight the Chinese over sales in China is utopian. We'd rather invest in research and development, think about the next generations of robots and keep our competitive edge than fight battles that Danone, Nike and the others haven't managed to win!"

Read the original French-language version of this report /