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[EMBA Magazine Interview] Connecting Enterprises to the World Through Green Energy
Release Date : 2026-04-10
Facing global market competition, green energy has become a crucial stepping stone for enterprises to connect with the international community. How does SPE use green energy as its core to drive the growth of its customers and itself?
In 2025, Typhoon Danas severely impacted southern Taiwan. According to statistics from the Ministry of Environment, it caused damage to over 140,000 solar panels. After the disaster, discarded and twisted solar panels piled up like small mountains. These images circulated on social media and news outlets, sparking widespread discussion.
"Not a single one of those solar panels belonged to us," said Debbie Pi, Chief Operating Officer of SunPower Smart Energy CO., LTD. (SPE), with relief. This demonstrated the value of an important choice made during the company’s early stages. At that time, they decided that to ensure quality, the company must collaborate with major international manufacturers.
She pointed out that the European energy market developed earlier; therefore, the company should learn international practices and engage in exchanges and cooperation with major firms to bring foreign experience back to Taiwan.
Founded in 2015, SPE obtained the exclusive agency rights for REC Group, Europe’s largest solar module brand, two years later. Today, the company provides one-stop services from energy creation to energy storage, including the development and construction of solar power plants and the integration of smart energy storage systems. Furthermore, the company is the first in Taiwan's related industries to assist Taiwanese enterprises in applying for and joining "RE100," the global renewable energy initiative.
Why was a small company at that time able to obtain exclusive agency rights from a major international manufacturer? Part of the reason lies with the founder, Justin Tsai—who is also Debbie Pi’s husband—having previously worked in the semiconductor industry, giving him an advantage over other operators. "Solar chips and semiconductor chips are both chips; they are just different grades," Pi said.
In fact, the predecessor of SPE was a solar panel raw material trader, specializing in exporting raw materials to the European energy market. Pi noted that while revenue from raw material trading is large, if a single order is defaulted upon, a whole year's profits could be lost. Therefore, when Taiwan's renewable energy market began to develop, SPE pivoted to invest in related construction and systems.
With a background in raw materials and technology, combined with the European original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agency, doors of opportunity opened for the company. Consequently, SPE took on a 20-hectare project in the Changbin Industrial Zone for Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC). Due to its difficulty and complexity, this case became a landmark project for the company. Pi believes one of the keys was the support from the original manufacturer.
During the process, the company held many discussions with the original manufacturer, thereby overcoming the restriction against excavating chemical industry land by proposing a raft foundation construction method. At the time, TCC was simultaneously planning seven large wind turbines, which created shading issues that affected solar power generation. To address this, SPE adjusted the system so that each panel generated power independently, unlike the traditional series connection. Regarding software, SPE also provided a 20-year solar power generation estimation model to predict how to generate power effectively in the future, ultimately winning the contract.
Facing the Challenges of Growth
However, because they chose to use international brands from the start, the company's prices were higher than those of its peers, making it difficult to secure small-scale projects in the early days. Additionally, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in traditional industries showed lower proactiveness toward carbon reduction, with price being a significant consideration. How to conquer these markets was a challenge the company had to overcome to grow further.
"If Taiwanese enterprises want to enhance their competitiveness, zero-carbon and green products are definitely an advantage." From this, one way SPE found to create value for customers was assisting Taiwanese SMEs in applying for and joining the RE100 organization to align with international standards. One such example is Jola International.
Jola International is the parent company of the facial mask brand Timeless Truth Mask (TTM). Pi suggested to the company that if they could produce masks using 100% renewable energy, it would serve as excellent green endorsement for exports. In 2021, SPE assisted the company in joining RE100, and the company publicly committed to reaching the goal of 100% renewable energy use by 2030. By joining RE100, Jola International helped one of its OEM clients successfully introduce their brand into Walmart in the United States.
Growth brought business challenges as well as human challenges. Regarding human challenges, Pi candidly admitted she is still working hard to learn. "Every transformation is quite painful because everyone has to learn new things; there will definitely be resistance and people will definitely leave," she said. Consequently, she has attended various courses, hoping to find management methods within them.
Connecting with the international community was the direction SPE chose at its inception, but some directions emerged during the journey. If she could do it over again, what would be different? Pi's answer was, "I would decide to enter the capital market earlier." She pointed out that if a company has stable income and no desire to expand, it does not necessarily need to go public. However, SPE chose to enter the capital market midway; therefore, it must work harder to drive company growth.
As a result, the company established outposts in Thailand and Vietnam the year before last and last year, respectively. "But a new topic has emerged, which is how to manage overseas employees," Pi said with a smile.
Pi, who speaks softly, was originally an occupational therapist trained in healthcare. At her husband’s invitation, she entered a completely new field. The key moment that made her decide was when her husband said to her: "Healthcare helps people who are already ill, but clean energy can help everyone."
Three years ago, SPE moved from energy creation to energy storage, assisting customers in converting surplus electricity into other forms to be stored in energy storage systems. In the future, the company will move toward a circular economy, recycling agricultural waste that can be classified as renewable energy to produce biomass energy for power generation and reuse, hoping to contribute more to sustainability.
SunPower Smart Energy (SPE)
Established: 2015
Products: Solar and energy storage development/engineering/O&M, carbon footprint verification, green power wheeling, biomass energy
Main Customers: Major carbon emitters, SMEs, Taiwanese businesses in Southeast Asia
Business Model: Providing comprehensive green energy solutions
Written by: EMBA Magazine Issue 476 / EMBA Magazine Editorial Department
Date: 2026.3.30
SUNPOWER SMART ENERGY CO.,LTD
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