China: Bettery Surges Over 80% in a Week as Copper Paste Technology Resonates with US Battery and Solar Demand

On November 6, the three major indices of China’s A-share market all closed lower. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.10%, the Shenzhen Component Index dropped 2.57%, and the ChiNext Index declined 3.96%. However, driven by the solar and energy storage sectors, individual stocks such as Bettery saw a cumulative weekly gain of 80.30%, making it the most notable stock in a weak market. In the previous trading session, the stock had hit its daily limit up for two consecutive trading days.

The direct trigger for this market movement was external. Following the U.S. midterm election results, in which the Democratic Party unexpectedly secured majorities in both chambers of Congress, expectations grew that clean energy subsidy policies would be reinstated. This sentiment rapidly spread to China’s A-share solar supply chain. According to estimates by BloombergNEF (BNE), in a scenario where policy remains stable, the cumulative U.S. energy storage deployment by 2030 is projected to be revised upward to 213.9 GW, a 30% increase compared to the pessimistic scenario of a divided government. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that new grid-scale energy storage installations in the U.S. are expected to reach 40 GW in 2027–2028, with independent energy storage systems serving as the primary driver of growth. During the same period, new centralized solar installations in the U.S. are projected to reach 70 GW, an increase of approximately 50% compared to the pessimistic scenario.

Compared to solar, the elasticity in the energy storage sector is more pronounced. Independent energy storage benefits from longer subsidy periods, and is further supported by demand for reserve power during extreme weather events and for peak-off-peak arbitrage. As a result, upward revisions for long-duration and large-scale grid energy storage significantly exceed those for solar. However, analysts note that both U.S. political parties share a consensus on promoting supply chain autonomy and reducing dependence on China. Regulatory measures such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) battery traceability reviews are not expected to be eased due to a change in administration.

Improving domestic fundamentals in China also serve as another factor supporting the sector. According to data from the National Energy Administration of China, new solar installations in China in the third quarter of 2026 were approximately 38.76 GW, up about 38% from 28.06 GW in the same period of 2025. This marked a return to year-on-year growth for the third quarter.

Signs of a turning point are also emerging on the pricing front. Since September, the inverter sector has experienced a sixth round of coordinated price increases. Several major manufacturers have announced successive price hikes, with increases ranging from 5% to 15%, directly boosting expectations for gross margin recovery across the supply chain. At an institutional investor briefing on October 30, Cao Renxian, Chairman of Sungrow Power Supply (300274.SZ), stated that he expects the global energy storage market to grow by more than 30% next year, and that the company’s own energy storage shipments are expected to nearly double.

On the policy front, on October 16, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology initiated a public consultation on revising the “Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export in China,” adding core technologies and key equipment for the three processes of polycrystalline silicon, wafers, and cells in the solar industry to the list of regulated items. On the same day, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a draft for public comment on the “Normative Conditions for the Solar Manufacturing Industry (2026 Edition),” mandating a comprehensive transition to N-type technology and tightening standards for efficiency and energy consumption. These dual policies aim to slow the expansion of overseas production capacity externally while accelerating the exit of lagging, overcapacity production internally.

The focus on Bettery as a recipient of capital inflows stems from the fact that its technology roadmap aligns precisely with the direction of cost reduction in the solar metallization process. In its investor relations management information released on November 4, the company disclosed that its copper powder production lines have sequentially entered the trial production phase, enabling the supply of powder to copper paste products. It further noted that its air-atmosphere copper paste products have completed full-cell reliability verification with multiple domestic solar cell customers, with progress proceeding as planned. The company stated that reducing silver usage and achieving silver-free metallization are key technical trends in the solar metallization process, and it will continue to focus its investments in this direction.

Regarding key directions for the coming year and beyond, Bettery outlined three pillars. First, it will prioritize the promotion of base metal pastes (silver-copper paste and air-atmosphere pure copper paste) in the solar sector. Second, it will accelerate the application of heat-dissipation materials, such as thermally conductive gels and thermally conductive silicone greases, in photovoltaic modules, data centers, automotive electronics, and consumer electronics. Third, it will focus on increasing market share in other electronic pastes, including pastes for tantalum/aluminum electrolytic capacitors, LTCC pastes, high-temperature sintered silver pastes for ceramic/glass substrates, and conductive carbon pastes.

Notably, the company is also making strategic moves in the robotics sector. Bettery explained that electronic skin is the core of humanoid tactile sensing in robots, consisting of flexible substrates, active functional layers, electrodes, and dielectric layers. The company’s electronic pastes, silicone rubber, and skin-feel coatings hold promising application prospects in the electronic skin field for humanoid robots, and it has already initiated business contacts and exchanges with some electronic skin-related enterprises.

From an industry-wide perspective, supply-demand imbalances have not yet been fully resolved. China’s Sinolink Securities noted that while industry production plans have improved month-on-month, supply chain prices remain in the bottom range, and the industry as a whole remains under pressure, with losses in some processes showing slight improvement. This implies that the sustainability of the sector depends on whether price recovery in the inverter segment can propagate further upstream.

For investors, Bettery’s surge of over 80% in one week has already fully priced in the dual catalysts of short-term policy and sentiment. Whether the stock price can stabilize going forward depends less on the election results themselves and more on the pace of customer adoption for copper paste products and the timing of mass production.

Note: Bettery is a company listed on China’s A-share market; however, as the source material does not provide a stock code, it has not been included.