Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia have successively introduced new energy support policies, resulting in a surge in demand for control cabinets for new industrial parks, ground-mounted photovoltaic power stations, and residential energy storage. Southeast Asia experiences high temperatures and rainfall year-round, and coastal areas suffer from severe chloride ion corrosion from sea breezes. Local project bidding documents explicitly prohibit the use of ordinary powder-coated carbon steel side plates for outdoor energy storage and distribution cabinet side protection components; they must be made of 304/316 stainless steel, with the plates requiring integral bending and a matching sealed overlap structure to achieve an IP65 or higher protection rating.
Domestic sheet metal manufacturers have optimized side protection panel designs for Southeast Asian applications: the basic 304 stainless steel model features an anti-fingerprint passivation treatment, making it less prone to water stains and corrosion during long-term outdoor use; 316 thickened side panels are specially supplied for coastal and port projects, exceeding 1800 hours of neutral salt spray testing; the bottom of the panel features an integrated stamped drainage channel to automatically drain condensate from the cabinet, preventing rainwater infiltration and damage to energy storage converter components. All side panels have pre-drilled 25mm modular mounting holes, compatible with mainstream 90% profile cabinets in the local market, eliminating the need for secondary drilling on-site and significantly shortening project construction timelines.
Data from Alibaba International Station shows that in the past three months, Southeast Asian buyers' searches for "stainless steel control cabinet side protection panels" have increased by 41% month-on-month, with inquiries for complete cabinets concentrated in key cities for new energy development such as Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur. Specific needs are clearly defined: large photovoltaic power plants use thickened 316 side panels, small industrial and commercial energy storage equipment purchases standard lightweight 304 models, and indoor factory automation control cabinets require cost-effective cold-rolled powder-coated models.
Industry organizations predict that the average annual growth rate of photovoltaic energy storage installations in ASEAN will exceed 11% from 2026 to 2028, leading to a continued surge in demand for outdoor anti-corrosion sheet metal accessories. Currently, domestic factories are accelerating the expansion of their automated stainless steel sheet metal production lines, simultaneously supplying bundled TISI and SIRIM Southeast Asian local certification documents to continuously capture a share of the growing Southeast Asian renewable energy market
