"As we led the global expansion of Korean corporations that produce battery and bio materials and parts, we will now pioneer the domestic ultralight solar module market."
Chief Executive Oh Jung-yeop of Plantech said this in an interview with ChosunBiz at the company's headquarters in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 28th, saying, "We will accelerate Korea's energy transition by installing ultralight solar modules on rooftop spaces of buildings where applying conventional solar equipment was difficult."
Plantech may be somewhat unfamiliar to the general public, but it is a well-known corporation in the project management consulting (PMC) field that builds overseas production bases for domestic manufacturing corporations. Recently, it obtained KS C 8561 certification for an ultralight solar module that reduced the weight to one-third of conventional modules (about 3 kg per ㎡) for the first time in Korea, and it has moved to penetrate the market.
Oh, a former engineer at Samsung E&A(028050) (formerly Samsung Engineering), built design and construction capabilities for global manufacturing facilities by carrying out large overseas plant construction projects for domestic semiconductor, battery, and bio corporations. Afterward, at Samsung E&A, Oh served as head of the renewable energy task force (TF) and head of the marketing group, broadening technological and business development capabilities.
In 2019, Oh established Plantech's European branch and entered the PMC market that comprehensively manages overseas plant construction for Korean corporations. At the time, the number of domestic manufacturing corporations expanding production bases to Europe, the United States and elsewhere was quickly increasing, but corporations with specialized capabilities and local networks to manage the overall process of overseas plant construction were lacking. In particular, mid-sized corporations, which had relatively little experience overseas, faced difficulties throughout the plant-building process, from site selection to permits, design, and construction management.
Based on this market demand, Plantech pioneered the market by providing PMC services that manage the entire project process, from plant design and permits to process management, schedule coordination, and workforce operations. It then expanded its business scope by establishing a U.S. subsidiary in 2023.
Oh said, "Korean corporations building plants overseas is not simply about putting up a single building; it is a process of establishing an industrial ecosystem," adding, "When a finished-goods company advances overseas, its partners must follow and form a local cluster, and Plantech's role is to plan and manage the process so it proceeds smoothly."
Plantech has carried out various projects, including Lotte Aluminum's plants in Hungary and the United States, Iljin Materials' plant in Hungary, CJ CheilJedang's plants in Hungary and Poland, and Samyang Biopharm's plant in Hungary.
In particular, as domestic battery corporations such as Samsung and SK expanded overseas production bases, the company supported partner firms' stable entry into local markets, serving as the "hidden helper behind K-battery's overseas expansion."
Last year, Oh established Plantech's Korean subsidiary and threw a hat into the ultralight solar module market. While carrying out overseas plant projects, Oh directly experienced space utilization and energy issues on manufacturing sites and focused on solar projects that use idle rooftops in industrial sites such as factories and logistics centers.
Oh judged that, given Korea's geographical characteristics, there are limits to expanding large land-type solar installations. In an environment with a small land area and many mountainous regions, a new method of solar deployment is needed. Accordingly, Oh saw that using the rooftops of buildings such as factories, logistics centers, and warehouses across the country could be a practical solution for expanding renewable energy.
But the biggest obstacle was weight. Conventional solar modules, including structures, weigh about 40 kg per ㎡, often requiring roof reinforcement. In particular, many manufacturing facilities and logistics centers minimize columns and load-bearing walls to maximize interior space utilization, making it difficult to apply general solar modules.
To find a solution, Oh personally searched for technologies and products around the world. "Having worked overseas for a long time, I had many opportunities to encounter global manufacturing corporations and various technologies," Oh said. "To find good products, I visited the field myself to confirm the possibilities."
The partner found in that process is the Chinese chemical corporation Poly Shine. The company developed an ultralight solar module that significantly reduces weight and improves durability compared to existing products by applying special polymers and flame-retardant chemical technologies. The product is resistant to impact, contamination, ultraviolet rays, and rain and wind, and can be applied to curved or irregular structures.
Last year, Plantech signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Poly Shine and, in June, obtained KS C 8561 certification in the ultralight solar module field for the first time in Korea. It also secured international IEC 61215 and 61730 and European CE certifications. With Germany's Heliatek, it has signed a joint development agreement (JDA) and is working on next-generation product development.
The greatest strength of ultralight modules is that they can utilize spaces where conventional solar installations were difficult. In particular, by not using structures, they achieve a weight of about 3 kg per ㎡, allowing installation even on spaces where existing methods were hard to apply, such as roofs of aging factories and logistics centers. The construction period can also be reduced to one-third of that for conventional modules, giving them an edge in economic feasibility.
Plantech is currently supplying products to local performance venues and general buildings in the Philippines, and it is also pushing exports to Indonesia. Of course, the main market is domestic.
Oh said, "We are not trying to compete with the existing solar market," adding, "We aim to create a market that turns spaces where conventional modules could not be installed into new power generation assets."
Oh continued, "We will open Korea's ultralight solar market," emphasizing, "With both economic efficiency and technological strength, we will turn the idle rooftops of factories and logistics centers nationwide into new power generation spaces."