Life Lessons From Navy SEAL Training

李珂：比亚迪DENZA比特斯拉更好

新浪财经讯 香港时间5月4日消息，由新浪财经-兴业全球基金主办的巴菲特股东大会中国投资人酒会，于香港时间5月4日上午9:00-12:00(美国中部时间5月4日20:00-23:00)，在巴菲特的故乡奥马哈举行。

　　以下为比亚迪北美总经理李柯致辞实录：

　　大家晚上好，刚刚听陈总讲话我简直听不懂，因为我是搞实业的，所以，讲的故事跟大家投资正好有很大区别，讲得不对的请多见谅。

　　主持人给了我一个很大的题目，讲讲比亚迪的投资，讲讲比亚迪海外的创业，讲讲比亚迪现在的故事，我有很多话要讲，给我一个小时也讲不完，从几个小小的故事讲起来。

　　我刚从北京回来，在北京参加了汽车展，昨天晚上参加了查理芒格的晚餐会，他和比尔盖茨都在那里，查理芒格一见到我第一句话就是说，说他有一个投资者刚从中国回来试驾了DENZA，这个投资者非常挑剔，对车吹毛求疵，但把比亚迪的DENZA夸得非常好，说DENZA的驾驶感非常优秀，甚至超过了特斯拉[微博](210.91, 3.18, 1.53%)。查理芒格说一开始不看好比亚迪和戴姆勒的合资，但是这次他错了，王传福对了。同时，我也听到了戴姆勒的高层表示，DENZA的驾驶感觉甚至超过了它们的E-Class。

　　后来我们跟比尔盖茨聊天，比尔盖茨提到特斯拉正在选厂做电池，我对他说，比亚迪在明年年初就有6.5GWH的产能，可能在明年年底就会有10-15GWH的产能。特斯拉还在选厂的时候比亚迪就已经在量产了。

　　所以，从这几个故事可以看到，特斯拉在做市场、做营销、做策划方面是我们学习的榜样，它车做得也比较精细，但是从技术上我可以拍著胸脯讲我们也不输于它。从产业链布置上看，比亚迪已经到了一个很少有竞争对手可以超越的阶段了。

　　所以，我现在见到每个人，我和他们说，你们知道吗？我今年特别爽，比亚迪过去五年在低头苦干的能量现在慢慢释放出来，这部分现在还没开始真的全部释放，要到后面三年到五年“原子能”的核能量才会真正释放出来。因为要做一个电池厂的话，这个产业链不单是电池生产，还要考虑到正负极材料，还有整个工艺的供应链下游的产业，但是这些布局比亚迪早在十年前已经做好了。不单是电池产品，电池的制造设备也都是我们做的，比亚迪在十年前就已经布局好了整个产业链，这里面包含了隔膜纸还有锂矿。所以别人说做GW的电池说起来容易但做起来并不容易，而比亚迪在这上面已经布局得很好了。我们现在投资10GWH的电池工厂就非常容易，6─12个月的投产期就足够了。

　　所以，我们很希望像特斯拉这样的优秀公司在前面拉好旗子，引导市场去转变，比亚迪就去摘一点果实吧。

　　第二个，今年我去了一趟北京，呆了三天就感冒咳嗽，到现在还在咳嗽，环境的确已经到了一个我可以不要投资，也可以不要发展经济的情况，必须要改的阶段。我们现在有一个数据政府都不敢公布，北京的环境污染再不解决的话，人均寿命要缩短5─7年。

　　陈总刚刚教大家怎么赚钱，赚这么多钱寿命短了也没用，查理和巴菲特，查理九十多岁了，查理多健康，走路都不要搀扶，今年的精神状况好过去年。巴菲特80多岁了，坐在台上七八个小时，精力很充沛。这样健康地活著，有钱才有意义。

　　所以，我拜托各位在座的投资界的名人，我不需要您投资比亚迪的股票，但是我希望您以身作则，回去买比亚迪的车，比亚迪的秦、唐以及和戴姆勒合资的DENZA，全中国13亿老百姓都在看你们做什么，您做了这件事儿会真正促进老百姓这一层次的改变。

　　所以，中国的环境污染危机也给比亚迪带来了前所未有的大好商机。所以，从今年开始我们也感觉到的确不一样，因为在短短的应该是两个月之内，我们就有三个副总理访问了比亚迪，其中李岚清副总理曾经两次到比亚迪，就在一周前还到西安比亚迪去看了。

　　李克强总理到比亚迪看的时候，他做了一个总结的话，他说真正的环境问题，就让我们直接面对来找解决方案。我们跟他汇报了在国内推广受到了地方保护主义的限制，在海外的推广反而还更顺利的情况，他说我们要支持新能源产业，这是非常重要的，而且是我们中国的拥有自主核心技术力的一个产业，同时我们希望比亚迪是墙里开花墙外香，但是墙里要更香！

　　自从他访问之后，过了春节之后，比亚迪的确感觉到有一丝丝春意了，我们车获准进入上海市场，我们的电动车获准进入北京市场，好多城市都已经向我们打开了门。

　　因此我们本身在中国，所以，我们的战略是根据中国市场定制的，早在三年前，比亚迪已经在战略上布置了大概三个不同层次的新能源战略。第一个是公众交通，针对公众大巴及出租车为主的产业。所以，我们的战略包括12米的大巴、18米的大巴，还有8米的大巴，一系列的大巴会相继推出。同时有我们的E6，E6是针对出租车市场的。不是卖给消费者的，很多人在媒体上嘲笑我们E6跟特斯拉比就是个“土包子”，我不是跟特斯拉比，我们主打的出租车市场。因为对出租车司机来讲，首先是耐用，第二个是可靠，电池要时间长，他的车四年电池不用换，节约成本赚钱，你的车设计的很漂亮对他来讲干嘛花这个钱？他甚至希望把空调都去掉呢。

　　特斯拉跟我们比就跟我们比DENZA，汽车行家的话叫低调奢华有内涵，用车的专家眼光来看特斯拉并不是一个可耐用、很耐用的车。我们比亚迪DENZA就是按车的标淮，按德国最顶级的标淮理念设计出来，低调奢华有内涵， DENZA的内饰做工比特斯拉精细，做工很好，核心的驾驶的技术全部都是比亚迪自己的。比了以后就知道比亚迪有多强的核心竞争力，DENZA所有驾驶的系统，你感

　　觉比特斯拉好，核心全是比亚迪，从马达、电机，比亚迪做出来可以有这种感觉，下一代比亚迪的电动车可以做的比denza还更好。

　　所以，我们第二个层次，主流的市场，每次充电的状态下平均行驶里程应该40公里以上。现在美国每个人平均的驾驶里程是30公里，中国差不多是40公里左右。

　　按这种数据走，你设计车，充电状态下行驶历程40公里到50公里以上，消费者回家充电就像充手机一样方便，就拿一个小包，有电源插座，小包一打开就可以充我们的车了，不需要特别的充电桩，去公司也可以马上充电，充电变的跟手机一样方便。平时上下班你就是一个纯电动车，周末要回丈母娘家的时候，那个可能要开一百公里，两百公里的时候，那时候会变。

　　按这种战略，比亚迪每年会推出一款比较有代表性的车，今年推出了秦，现在市场需求是两千台，我们现在每天赶快把产能加上去，而且这只是在深圳、上海这两个市场开了。每年我们推出一个唐，后来推出一个明。每年推出一个不同消费者定位的车，但是我们有一个条件，加速性能0到100公里都是在5秒以内，充一次电的行驶距离都是60公里以上。所以，这个战略布局上，充一次电能跑上60公里的有谁？就一个比亚迪，没有其他的。等到明年其他竞争对手上来，我们有两台了，他们只有一个，后年我有三台了。过去三年比亚迪埋头做事儿布局好，明后年就会开始发功了。

　　第三个层次，我们设计了一系列的从5吨到十几吨，都会详细的介绍到市场上来。比亚迪我们的梦想就是用我们的技术创新，用我们电池的核心竞争力在这一市场上真正打造一个国际化的中国品牌，然后打造一个新能源品牌。

　　我带着这些东西打包去，我到哪个国家都受到大家的欢迎，我们前段时间，美国市场是一个很复杂的市场，不但产品要好，你的政治，律师，各个方面的东西很复杂，如果不是你真正有核心竞争力的话，被人家三搞两下就完蛋了，比亚迪已经量产了。政府走之前说报纸上还会讲其他的，但是我要让你知道我永远在后面支持你们比亚迪。

　　我们到巴西去，比亚迪只要到我这儿来你提条件，你提什么条件或者别人给你什么条件，我们百分之百。所以，这也搞的我们有点儿心慌了。巴西的“深圳”，他们城市不愁没有公司去，很少offer很好的条件，我说深圳一家很大的做手机的公司去那儿，最后人家不理它，它去另外一个城市投资了。为什么你们当时没有给人家优惠条件，为什么对比亚迪穷追猛打，只要我去巴西一定要跟我开会吃晚饭，为什么拼命追比亚迪？他说比亚迪代表了我想做的事儿，第一创新，第二你是新能源，代表了未来的技术。所以，他说比亚迪完整的代表了这个形象的产品，我不需要你投资很大，但是我需要你必须在我的城市呆着。

　　我想这几个小故事就结束了我讲的比亚迪的故事，今天的比亚迪应该很自豪的说，我们代表了中国公司是以技术创新，核心技术竞争力去走向世界，然后征服世界，创造世界名牌的公司。

　　我想讲一个感受，这次我回中国，我是管海外市场的，我到哪儿都觉得自己挺牛的，反正市长总要出来见见我吧，总是跟我们说希望比亚迪来，而且比亚迪到哪儿投资，以比亚迪在它那儿投资为豪，有时候把我吹得我都挺不好意思的。但是回国内，包括我去北京见到那些名人或者政府官员，一问你们比亚迪是不是真正的核心技术，你们有这个技术吗？他们好像觉得中国人就没什么技术，只有老外才有技术，我说这个心理落差太大。中国人不知道是什么民族习惯，其实我们在这儿的每一个投资者，今年我们有一千多个中国来的投资者，我们的学习欲望，好学精神多强？这些来参加的人都是Top10名牌大学毕业的或者在美国留过学的人，他们的教育背景多好？中国有两个大资源，一个是廉价的劳动力，过去三十年用光了，现在看下一步怎么走，未来三十年我们要把能量释放出来。大家还是觉得中国的产品差，中国人自己看不起中国人，自己看不起中国的产品。

　　所以，我希望在座的每一位你是很多人的楷模，回去以后从你做起，用华为的手机，用联想的电脑，用比亚迪的车。因为我们现在技术有了，我们品质也是有，我比亚迪可以给苹果(592.58, 1.10, 0.19%)供货，戴姆勒也找比亚迪做合资，什么样的我做不到？我们需要的是一个宽容的环境支持民族品牌，而且你们要引导老百姓自己为自己的中国品牌骄傲。所以，希望大家振兴中国的民族品牌从你开始做起。谢谢大家。

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In the end, the devil usually wins

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  «For bargain hunters like us it’s a challenging time», says Howard Marks. (Bild: Lewin Bloom)

Howard Marks, chairman of the U.S. investment firm Oaktree Capital, sees more room to run for stocks. But at the same time he warns that from now on, a higher level of caution is appropriate.

The heat in the equity markets is back on. This week, the S&P 500 reached a new About Howard MarksMarks is a co-founder and chairman of the U.S. investment firm Oaktree Capital which specializes in distressed debt and has over $83 Bn. of assets under management. Not only is he one of the most successful investors but also a true grandmaster when it comes to investment philosophy. In his insightful book named «The Most Important Thing» he explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. His legendary memos to Oaktree clients are a must read for financial professionals as well. «When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they’re the first thing I open and read. I always learn something», says none other then Warren Buffet.all-time high and investors are gaining confidence again. Howard Marks thinks that stocks have more room to run. But at the same time he warns that from now on, a higher level of caution is appropriate. As reason for his optimism about stocks Marks cites the growing popularity of the equity market and still pretty fair valuations. Nevertheless, he’s uncomfortable with the super easy monetary policy of central banks like the Federal Reserve which forces conservative investors like him to take on more risk.Mr. Marks, next week Wall Street will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the end of the equity bear market. What are your thoughts when you’re looking back to the dark days of the financial crisis? Because people play an important role in determining the course of the financial markets, stock prices move like a manic-depressive. Of course, there were some severe fundamental problems in the years 2008 and 2009: The economy was bad, capital markets were closed, and Lehman Brothers and other financials firms went bankrupt. But most people exaggerated that into a belief that the world was ending. In line with that, asset prices were ridiculously low. Therefore, five years ago the key to making money was to have money to spend and the nerve to spend it. In other words: To do the exact opposite of what most people were doing erroneously at that time.And what’s your take on the stock market today, half a decade later?Around the beginning 0f 2012 it was clear that a lot of recovery from the crisis had taken place. The economy, investor psychology and the price of credit investments had recovered, and pro risk behavior had started to return to the markets. Because of that, our mantra at Oaktree Capital for the last few years has been: «move forward, but with caution». Although a lot has changed since then I think it’s still appropriate to keep the same mantra. Today, things are not cheap anymore.  Rather I would describe the price of most assets as being on the high side of fair. We’re not in the low of the crisis like five years ago. But similarly, I don’t think we’re in a bubble.This week, the S&P 500 printed a new intraday all-time high. What indicators are you looking at to feel the pulse of the market?The easy thing to look at is the P/E ratio on the S&P 500. The post war norm is about 16 and the lowest point I’ve ever seen was in the late seventies when it got down to 7. At the beginning of 2012 it was around 11 which was very cheap too. During the financial crisis stock prices went down and then they came back up somewhat. At the same time, company profits moved ahead sharply, which reduced the ratio of price to earnings. So equities were extremely cheap, as I wrote in March 2012 in one of my memos called «Déjà Vu All Over Again». But we’re not there anymore.So where do we stand now?Let’s think about a pendulum: It swings from too rich to too cheap, but it never swings halfway and stops. And it never swings halfway and goes back to where it came from. As stocks do better, more people jump on board. From 1960 to the late nineties everybody thought that owning stocks was the way to get rich with no risk. Stocks, which had always gone up 10% a year on average, went up 20% on average in the nineties. Then, from 2000 to 2012 with the burst of the dot-com bubble and later the financial crisis, people fell out of love with stocks, causing them to get too cheap. Now people are in the process of falling in love again. And every year that stocks do well wins a few more converts until eventually the last person jumps on board. And that’s the top of the upswing. But I don’t think that craze is back now. That’s a reason for optimism, because that means more affection can develop.What are the risks investors should be aware of as this bull market goes on?If I ask you what’s the risk in investing, you would answer the risk of losing money. But there actually are two risks in investing: One is to lose money and the other is to miss opportunity. You can eliminate either one, but you can’t eliminate both at the same time. So the question is how you’re going to position yourself versus these two risks: straight down the middle, more aggressive or more defensive. I think of it like a comedy movie where a guy is considering some activity. On his right shoulder is sitting an angel in a white robe. He says: «No, don’t do it! It’s not prudent, it’s not a good idea, it’s not proper and you’ll get in trouble». On the other shoulder is the devil in a red robe with his pitchfork. He whispers: «Do it, you’ll get rich». In the end, the devil usually wins. Caution, maturity and doing the right thing are old-fashioned ideas. And when they do battle against the desire to get rich, other than in panic times the desire to get rich usually wins. That’s why bubbles are created and frauds like Bernie Madoff get money.How do you avoid getting trapped by the devil?I’ve been in this business for over forty-five years now, so I’ve had a lot of experience.  In addition, I am not a very emotional person. In fact, almost all the great investors I know are unemotional. If you’re emotional then you’ll buy at the top when everybody is euphoric and prices are high. Also, you’ll sell at the bottom when everybody is depressed and prices are low. You’ll be like everybody else and you will always do the wrong thing at the extremes. Therefore, unemotionalism is one of the most important criteria for being a successful investor. And if you can’t be unemotional you should not invest your own money, period. Most great investors practice something called contrarianism. It consists of doing the right thing at the extremes which is the contrary of what everybody else is doing. So unemtionalism is one of the basic requirements for contrarianism.For what warning flags should investors watch out now?There are two main things to watch: valuation and behavior. A great thing about investing is that you have historic valuation standards. You should be aware of them, but you shouldn’t be a slave to them.  You can compare the current P/E ratio to historic standards and see that the current P/E ratio is about fair relative to history. So valuations are moderate to a little expensive in most areas. Looking at investor behavior, you can ask yourself: Is everybody at the club, on the train or in the office talking about stocks? Is everybody having fun and making easy money? Is everybody saying «even though the market has doubled, I’m going to put more money in»? Is every deal sold out? Is every fund sold out? In other words: Is the party rolling? And if that’s the case, then you should be very cautious. It’s like Warren Buffett says in one of my favorite quotes: «The less prudence with which others conduct their affairs, the greater the prudence with which we must conduct our own affairs».How about the super easy monetary policy? With interest rates at almost zero percent and large-scale bond buying programs like QE3, the Federal Reserve and other central banks are encouraging such a risk-seeking behavior.The availability of cheap money in too-large quantities is behind many of the excesses in the financial markets. If you look around, what do these places have in common: the southwest of the United States, China, Ireland and Spain? Too much building! In all of these jurisdictions the overbuilding occurred because money was too easy. There’s no question that the easy money policy of the Fed has dangerous aspects. On the other hand, the action of the central banks in reducing interest rates during the crisis was absolutely necessary. If they hadn’t done it we would have gotten into even bigger trouble. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some negative consequences. Every governmental action has consequences. Even if the main policy is correct there are side effects, like with medicine.What are those side effects?One of the negative consequences is that money is has been cheap. In short, we don’t have a free market in money. The barrower has been subsidized and the investor or saver has been penalized. If you’re a company with a big loan outstanding your interest cost has gone down. On the other hand, if you’re a pensioner living on your savings, your income has shrunk. The other important threat is that because central banks pushed interest rates so low, people moved out the risk curve to get the returns they needed. People used to get 6 or 7% from U.S. Treasuries. Now they have to move to riskier investments like high yield bonds to get the same return.A field where Oaktree Capital has great expertise is credit investing. How hard is it to still find attractive investments in the credit space?For bargain hunters like us it’s a challenging time. We like it better in the crisis, when everybody thinks the sky is falling and everybody is willing to sell things for a fraction of what we think they’re worth. Today, there is no panic and no worry. Everybody can refinance. There is little distress. The default rate on high yield bonds has been very low for the last four years. So it is slow going for us. But we’re harvesting. The assets we own have become very valuable because we bought them in a time of worry and now we can sell them at highly appreciated prices. And although it’s not easy there are still certain areas where we are investing: For example real estate, Europe and shipping.And what’s your outlook for the bond market?I remember very well one loan that I had in the early eighties when the interest rate reached more than 22%. So over the last thirty three years, bond investing has been very successful with interest rates declining. But this can’t go on much further because interest rates are down to almost zero percent now. The one thing I am pretty sure of is that interest rates can’t go below zero. It’s not impossible to have negative interest rates, by the way, but it’s unlikely. The other point is that the conditions of the markets always change and we don’t always know how they’re going to change. Most people agree that there is a very high chance that the Fed will continue to taper its bond purchases. But we don’t know what the effect will be. In other words: Everybody thinks tapering will make interest rates rise. But maybe interest rates already have risen in anticipation of the tapering, so that the event of the tapering itself will not cause a rise. One thing you can never be sure of in the investment world is «if A, then B».  Processes and linkages are not always predictable,Even if the Fed is scaling down QE3 gradually it will continue with a very easy monetary policy. And since central banks around the globe keep on printing cheap money, many investors are fascinated by gold. What are your thoughts on the archaic metal?At the end of 2010 I put out a memo about gold called «All That Glitters». My conclusion was that there is no intelligent way to invest in gold. Here’s what I mean: A professional tries to invest by looking at a company and figuring out how much money it makes and how much money it is going to make in the future. Then he figures out what this company is worth and compares the current price to that value. But you can’t figure out what gold is worth. It doesn’t really have much practical use and it doesn’t produce income. You might say: Gold (Gold 1305.51 -0.32%) is a good buy because it’s a store of value, it protects against inflation, and it gives comfort in times of panic. So you argue that’s a good reason to buy gold today at $1300. But the trouble is that all those things were also truth when it was at $1900, and the person who bought it there has lost a third of his money. Therefore, you can’t invest intelligently in gold. There is no way to translate those virtues into a dollar figure. By the way: If you take the word «gold» and you take away the letter «l» then you have god. And it’s the same analysis: Either you believe in it or you don’t.That leads us to an essential philosophical question. What’s the role of luck in investing?Luck is extremely important. Skill, hard work and perseverance are all very important. But you need luck, too. Sure, you can maximize your chances of success by doing good analysis and making good decisions. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to work all the time, since the world is not an orderly place and randomness plays an important part. One of the first things I learned at university is that you can’t tell from the outcome whether a decision was a good investment decision or a bad investment decision because of the role of random and luck.So how can we even tell who’s really a good investor and who’s not?I always like to point out that nobody does their own dental work, or their medical work, or their own legal work. Therefore, in investing, like in any other field, you should hire a skilled professional because it’s not easy. Let me correct that: it’s easy if you want to do average. You can buy an index fund or a portfolio of average mutual funds and you get average results. But success in investing for me is not to be average; it’s to be above average. That’s the part that is hard. Investing is a mental activity in which you have to double think at what I call the second level, since your job is to out-think the others and most things are counterintuitive. That’s not true in a physical activity like bridge building or tennis, for example, in which you don’t have that level of psychological and emotional complexity.But then again, to win a grand slam tennis tournament like Wimbledon it’s also not enough to be average.First of all, unlike in investing, there’s not that much luck in tennis. A pro like Roger Federer knows exactly where the ball is going to go when he moves his shoulder, his elbow, his hip and his legs in a certain way. But in investing that’s not true. Outcomes aren’t fully predictable or dependable. And there’s more: When Federer plays he tries to hit winners. If he does not hit a winner and gives an easy return, Nadal will stuff it down his throat. But when you and I play together, I don’t have to try to hit winners. I can beat you by not hitting losers. I’m just going to keep the ball in play. I put it every time back knowing that if I can do it twenty times you’re finally going to hit the ball into the net or off the court. So I don’t have to hit a winner. I only have to avoid hitting a loser. And that’s our motto at Oaktree Capital, too. We want to make a large number of competent investments and have none of them to blow up. And if we avoid the losers, the winners take care of themselves.Is that also true for your personal investment portfolio?I am a conservative investor. My ownership of Oaktree Capital and the income I derive from Oaktree’s success and my investments in Oaktree funds is very substantial. So I’ve never felt the need to press up my risk exposure. I am not one of these people who feel that every dollar has to be fully employed at maximum return every minute. I derive a lot of comfort from having liquidity and a dependable portfolio. Before the crisis, I used Treasuries for virtually all my money that was not invested in Oaktree. That allowed me to get a return of around 6% with total safety. Today, if I want to invest in Treasuries with one to five year maturities I only get 1%. That’s not enough because after taxes and inflation I lose money. So the answer is that I have increased my active investments. I’m still not maximally aggressive. By necessity, like everybody else in the world, I’ve moved out the risk curve – but in my case with caution.The Link

S'pore research institute, BYD team up to develop smart electric cars

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An illustration of a BYD smart electric car. (Photo: A*STAR)

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SINGAPORE: Singapore's Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) is teaming up with Chinese company BYD to develop smart electric cars.

They have signed an agreement on a joint lab to develop over 100 electric vehicles with autonomous technologies for test-bedding.

The cars are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2014.

A spokesperson for the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the parent organisation of I2R, said BYD will bring into the partnership its expertise in developing electric vehicles.

Singapore is the only country that BYD is investing in autonomous capabilities research and development outside of China, added the spokesperson.

On its part, I2R will contribute its expertise in integrating autonomous vehicle technologies.

A*STAR said potential uses of the vehicles include e-taxi or private rental cars.

The two partners will also work on an autonomous vehicle fleet system that can dynamically allocate vehicle resources based on real-time information, including vehicle location, route and origin-destination information.

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Strata eyes battery storage in 2014 solar projects

Chapel Hill’s Strata Solar wants to try working storage batteries into some of the solar projects it builds next year as part of a contract with Chinese panel manufacturer BYD Co.

Strata, one of North Carolina’s leading solar development and construction companies, has agreed to purchase 160 megawatts worth of solar panels from BYD. That would supply nearly half of the 300 to 400 megawatts worth of projects Strata forecasts for the coming year.

Strata spokesman Blair Schoof says Strata is still discussing how many projects and which ones would include batteries. There is also no decision yet on how much battery storage to include in a given project.

U.S. market

BYD, based Shenzhen Province, is best known in the United States as a producer of electric vehicles and rechargeable batteries.

Strata CEO Markus Wilhelm and a team from Strata toured BYD’s Shenzhen facilities and finalized the agreement there.

“We have been very impressed with BYD’s focus on solar and storage technology,” Wilhelm says in a prepared statement. “BYD’s renewable energy division is highly vertically integrated, which benefits from strong engineering competence, and research and production capabilities in panel manufacturing, racking, inverter technology, and comprehensive storage solutions.”

BYD Chairman Chuanfu Wang says the deal is important for his company as it works to increase its market share in the United States.

N.C. projects

“BYD’s competitive advantage in battery technology gives us a strong strategic position, allowing us to offer a unique total energy solution,” Wang says. “Strata and BYD have been working on a series of interesting models for the utilization of BYD storage solutions in several upcoming Strata projects which we are very excited to be a participating in.”

Strata expects to complete about 200 megawatts worth of solar installation in 2013.

Most of Strata’s projects are in North Carolina. But it is building solar farms in Tennessee and has interests in California as well. It expects to increase its work outside the North Carolina market going forward.

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