New Energy Character Chronicles | Sun Zhongwei: The Path of Electric Xiaoduo
With sufficient focus and expertise, even the smallest niche can give rise to a giant. Twenty-five years ago, in March 2000, a young worker in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, stumbled upon a newspaper headline stating, “The new energy lithium battery industry is a sunrise industry of the 21st century.” This sparked an entrepreneurial journey that began with digital external battery products. Today, a product known as Electric Xiaoduo has gained immense popularity overseas, becoming a promoter of a quality lifestyle. This is the story of Huabao New Energy.
Recently, Huabao New Energy held its All-Scenario Family Green Power Innovation Summit in Shenzhen.
01 A Lifelong Commitment
“I was born in 1978, and my grandfather was an old private school teacher who is now 95 years old. He once told me, ‘Dale (my nickname), when you grow up, make sure to contribute something meaningful to society.’ I was young at the time and didn’t fully understand. After graduating from university in 1999 and under the guidance of my mentor, who encouraged me to venture into Shenzhen, I made the move alone on November 5, 1999. In 2000, through my mentor’s recommendation, I entered the new energy lithium battery industry,” shared Sun Zhongwei, the director and general manager of Huabao New Energy, during his speech.
In 2000, in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, Sun Zhongwei, with a backpack and a newspaper in hand, spent an entire afternoon sitting on the steps of the communications market. The line that excited him was, “The new energy lithium battery is a sunrise industry of the 21st century.” Twenty-five years later, the company he founded, Huabao New Energy (301327.SZ), has popularized the Electric Xiaoduo outdoor power supply globally and initiated an energy revolution with its all-scenario family green power solutions. “At that time, I told myself that I would focus on one thing for the next 50 years: to make green energy ubiquitous,” Sun recalled.
From Nokia’s “brick battery” to the world’s first digital external battery, he took ten years to provide portable power for households in Africa. Inspired by Tesla’s Powerwall in 2015, he began to focus on the grander idea of family energy independence. At a recent summit in Shenzhen, data presented by Sun showed that Huabao New Energy’s net profit is projected to grow by 243.9% year-on-year in 2024, with a net operating cash flow of 364 million yuan and a revenue growth rate of over 50% for home energy storage products. This marks Huabao New Energy’s strategic pivot from outdoor energy storage to home green power solutions. “The outdoor market is a red ocean, while the home market is a blue ocean,” Sun candidly stated.
As competition in the outdoor power supply market intensifies, Huabao New Energy has carved out a new battleground for family energy management with two major innovations: the DIY small family green power system and the XBC aesthetic curved photovoltaic tiles. The former has captivated users in European and American apartments with its extremely simple installation and modular design, while the latter has turned photovoltaic tiles into “artworks that generate electricity,” attracting attention in the European historical building market.
02 From “Red Ocean Struggles” to “Blue Ocean Waves”
In October last year, Huabao New Energy gained significant online attention thanks to a tweet from Elon Musk. Musk stated, “The most basic camping solar panel, combined with outdoor energy storage batteries, will power Starlink for an entire day.” This endorsement garnered over 37 million views, with 1.2 million likes and 2,300 shares. While the global energy storage market has become mired in “parameter competition” and price wars, and outdoor power supply margins have dropped below 20% due to homogenized competition, Huabao New Energy managed to grow against the odds. Its breakthrough strategy is neither blind capacity expansion nor price competition, but a strategic elevation based on “technology reconstructing scenarios and scenarios defining demand.” Importantly, it involves a shift in perception.
The launch of Tesla’s Powerwall in 2015 made Sun Zhongwei realize that the ultimate goal of energy storage is not “mobility,” but how it can “reconstruct the relationship between people and energy.” At that time, Huabao New Energy was already a leader in the global outdoor energy storage market, yet debates among executives about whether to continue relying on past successes or to embark on a second entrepreneurial journey were intense. One executive bluntly stated, “The power bank still makes tens of millions each year; why take the risk?” Sun replied, “Do you see those camping tents? In the future, they will need not just lights to illuminate the tents but a whole energy ecosystem to support outdoor living.” This insight was validated by data: the global home energy storage market is valued at $8.74 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $49.86 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 33.68%.
Huabao New Energy swiftly redirected its focus, launching breakthrough products. For instance, the DIY small family green power system, Jackery Navi 2000, was designed for European and American apartment users requiring “extremely simple installation,” introducing a plug-and-play model that integrates BMS, EMS, and PCS systems into a modular unit capable of operating in extreme temperatures from -20°C to 50°C, set to ignite the market upon its release in 2024. The company also launched a product called XBC aesthetic curved photovoltaic tiles: utilizing multi-curve silicon packaging technology, it resolves the contradiction between building protection and power generation efficiency, achieving an efficiency of 17.1% and a power output of 170W per square meter, making it 30% thinner than traditional solar panels and perfectly blending with the roofs of European castles. This innovation won the prestigious Red Dot Award, establishing it as an “artistic building that generates electricity.” The essence of this “scenario cutting” strategy is to upgrade energy storage from a functional tool to a symbol of lifestyle. As Sun Zhongwei puts it, “We are not selling batteries; we are selling energy autonomy.”
03 A Capillary Marketing Network
In the photovoltaic industry, patent wars are fierce. In the energy storage sector, building intellectual property barriers has become an essential competitive strategy. Facing the “impossible triangle” of high energy density, low cost, and long lifespan in the energy storage industry, Huabao New Energy has provided a Chinese solution with 1,680 global patents (including 751 pending). Innovations include: material advancements with lithium iron phosphate cells achieving over 6,000 charge cycles, a 50% improvement over the industry average; structural innovations with the CTB module structure allowing for a volume utilization rate of 76%, driving a 130% year-on-year increase in sales for the 2000Pro series outdoor power supply; and intelligent upgrades with a full-stack green energy management system that achieves flexible adaptation for photovoltaic power from 500W to 50,000kW and storage capacity from 1kWh to 100kWh, meeting the needs of all scenarios from single apartments to mansion villas. This technical layout is backed by almost obsessive R&D investment: from 2020 to 2023, the company’s R&D expenses surged from 23.43 million yuan to 152 million yuan, with the R&D cost ratio rising from 2.2% to 6.6%, far exceeding the industry average.
Moreover, Huabao New Energy has deeply integrated R&D with certification, achieving TÜV Rheinland IEC certification, SGS German grid connection certification, and the highest level of ITS safety endorsement for its curved photovoltaic tiles, making it the first home energy storage system to receive a “technical passport” globally. Additionally, Huabao New Energy’s innovative marketing model is worth emulating for photovoltaic companies. While peers rely on platforms like Amazon and are caught in “traffic competition,” Huabao New Energy chose a more challenging route—eliminating intermediaries to engage directly with consumers. This decision stemmed from a visit to Tesla’s factory in 2016, where the realization struck: “If Musk can disrupt the automotive industry with direct sales through the official website, why can’t we?” After ten years of effort, Huabao New Energy has established a rare M2C (Manufacturer-to-Consumer) direct sales network in the global energy industry: online, it operates 23 independent websites covering 50 countries, with direct sales increasing from 0% to 27%, aiming for 40% by 2030; offline, it collaborates with over 10,000 KA stores such as Costco and BestBuy, and has set up local operations teams in Silicon Valley, USA, and Tokyo, Japan, achieving localized responses within 48 hours.
This “capillary” marketing channel provides astonishing premium capabilities: Huabao New Energy’s gross margin overseas is 20 percentage points higher than domestically, with revenue growth in the Japanese market reaching 72.69% and 41.12% in the U.S. market. More significantly, the direct sales model allows Huabao New Energy to directly capture user data, driving product iteration in reverse—for instance, feedback from European and American users regarding “extreme weather tolerance” led to the development of -30°C low-temperature battery technology.
Conclusion
For Sun Zhongwei, breaking the mold is not just about commercial competition; it is about ecological reconstruction. Huabao New Energy has broken the industry’s zero-sum game with three strategies: standard output—leading the establishment of the world’s first installation standards for curved photovoltaic tiles, promoting the industry from “component assembly” to “system integration”; open collaboration—co-creating a family green power alliance with Huawei Digital Energy and CATL to achieve seamless integration of photovoltaic, energy storage, and smart distribution technologies; and community co-creation—setting up “energy stations” in Swiss Alpine cabins to encourage users to share excess energy and supporting Southeast Asian fishermen in forming an “offshore charging alliance” to create self-organizing energy communities. The essence of breaking the mold is defining the future. While competitors exhaust themselves in price wars, Huabao New Energy transforms the challenges of competition into opportunities for elevation through a triad of “technology + scenario + ecology.” Sun Zhongwei often tells his team, “Rather than fighting in the red ocean, it’s better to create waves in the blue ocean.“
