Thirty branches on six continents across the globe, 135,000 square meters of warehouses supplying goods for more than 100 countries, a line of trucks stretching roughly the distance from Copenhagen to Amsterdam each year, and a deployed area of solar modules equivalent to 12,100 football pitches...
All these are Krannich Solar's achievements, a professional PV product wholesaler with three decades of experience.
Currently, Krannich's portfolio includes over 5,500 products, including solar modules, optimizers, inverters, mounting systems, storage solutions, E-Mobility, and accessories. In addition, Krannich has established partnerships with world-leading renewable energy manufacturers, including in-depth cooperation with Huawei Digital Power in Europe, Japan, and South Africa.
From a Two-Man Operation to Global Market Coverage
Two Krannich brothers founded the company in Germany in 1995, selling solar systems to its first customers. Today, the elder brother, Kurt Krannich, is still the company's CEO.
30 years ago, the PV market was in its infancy, and the market scale was much smaller. However, Kurt Krannich believed in using solar power to generate electricity. As a practical thinker and theoretical researcher, he was passionate and dedicated to the PV market, which has allowed the Krannich group to become a market leader today.
In 2004, Krannich opened its first branch outside Germany, entering the Spanish market. Since then, the company has expanded to employ 1,200 employees, serving a range of global PV customers covering private households, commercial enterprises, and even solar parks. By 2023, the renewable energy product wholesaler sold 4,100 MW PV modules, 7,000 MW inverters, and 1,600 WMh batteries.
Jan Brunner, CSO of Krannich Solar, explained that Kurt Krannich began purchasing goods for first installers back in 1995. That was the beginning of the company's wholesale model, making it an important part of the PV supply chain. Rather than working with end users, Krannich has always cooperated with professional PV installers who deliver products to end customers.
Deep Cooperation with Huawei Digital Power
Krannich started the partnership with Huawei Digital Power in 2018, which focused on the commercial and industrial (C&I) market in Greece. Soon, this cooperation extended to the rest of Europe and globally. In 2023, the partnership expanded further to cover all Huawei Digital Power product portfolios.
Currently, Huawei Digital Power is one of Krannich's most important cooperation partners. At the same time, Krannich is one of the largest European wholesale partners of Huawei Digital Power.
Jan Brunner stated that Huawei Digital Power's advantages lie in its broad product portfolio, well-known brand, and customer-oriented solutions. “These three points are a perfect match for the Krannich strategy. It was, therefore, only a matter of time before Huawei was offered in the Krannich's portfolio.”, he said.
The fact that Huawei's business covers the global market is another important factor that contributes to the cooperation between Krannich and Huawei. Krannich has a global structure and centers on long-term development. As such, Krannich is always looking for partners that can offer a presence in more than one market, fitting its global outlook.
Jan Brunner said: " When a huge Chinese group meets a European medium-sized company, it's not always easy to find the right way of working together. So, there was a phase where we had to get used to each other. But we succeeded in developing mutual understanding and a common vision. And we have learnt that we are a powerful team - even in difficult times.”
Shared Technical Training and Market Expansion
When developing new markets, Krannich Solar and Huawei have started visiting the first batch of customers together. Additionally, various online and offline activities have become important platforms for Krannich to help Huawei demonstrate and promote new products.
Every year, Krannich Solar participates in more than 20 trade shows worldwide. For example, Intersolar, held in Munich, Germany, is the world's most influential exhibition for the solar industry. Krannich has been present at the exhibition since 2005.
At Intersolar 2024, C&I energy storage was one of the major industry trends. Increasingly, manufacturers are entering the market or expanding their portfolios. As such, the gap between large-scale and residential energy storage products is bridging. In line with this trend, Krannich introduced Huawei's LUNA2000-H1 energy storage system, which attracted wide attention.
While Krannich Solar actively promotes Huawei products, Huawei is committed to providing better enablement support and training for Krannich.
Jan Brunner said, "We are very pleased that Huawei supports us with technical trainers and product experts. The joint marketing and training strategy helps us develop loyal customers and thus increase our footprint in the end customer market. In our view, hardly any other manufacturer invests so much in sales and technical support."
More Discovery Possibilities for Future Development
Online sales represent one of Krannich's competitive edges. Currently, Krannich Solar sells its products mostly through its webshop. Its online services cover 18 branches and 2,500 products. This is backed by strong supply chain capabilities with regularly updated prices and availability, precise delivery dates, and always up-to-date product information.
Another Kranich advantage is its excellent service. Krannich Solar deeply understands and knows the PV market. Its expert team can provide customers with professional consulting services for PV systems of various scales and service support covering the entire project lifecycle.
Facing the quickly growing and changing PV market, Krannich Solar is exploring wider and deeper cooperation with Huawei to fully utilize Krannich's global customer coverage and Huawei's strong innovation capabilities.
Jan Brunner said that Krannich Solar and Huawei Digital Power are expanding their relationship and exploring new market segments, such as C&I energy storage.
"Krannich will grow in its role as a global wholesaler in several regions while Huawei increases its presence in these markets. The cooperation with Huawei Digital Power is still young, but we expect successful long-term growth for both companies." Jan Brunner added.
