Our reporters Zhang Yingying and Wu Kezhong report from Beijing

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that China should actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality, deepen the energy revolution, and accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system.

In the foreseeable future, vigorously developing renewable energy will be an important measure to promote the energy revolution, as well as a leading force in implementing carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals and fulfilling the commitment to make independent contributions to addressing climate change.

The reporter from China Business News noticed that currently, renewable energy represented by photovoltaics and wind energy has the basic conditions to gradually replace fossil fuels. Especially in the photovoltaic industry, after more than ten years of development, it has achieved a leap from "0" to "1". From raw materials, equipment, and market to global competition in production and installed capacity, the entire photovoltaic industry chain has basically achieved localization, highlighting its international competitive advantages.

Establish a dual circulation market pattern of domestic and foreign markets

At the beginning of this century, China's civilian photovoltaic power generation began to develop, but it lagged far behind developed countries such as the United States, Japan, Europe, and Australia. At that time, a group of early photovoltaic companies such as Hebei Yingli and Wuxi Shangde relied on the "Bright Project" and overseas orders to explore and grow.

In 2004, European countries led by Germany introduced subsidy policies, which stimulated the global photovoltaic market to explode. At that time, Wuxi Shangde achieved a significant increase in performance and listed on NASDAQ in 2005. In the following two years, photovoltaic companies sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and companies such as Hebei Yingli, Tianhe Solar, and Jiangxi Sevi also went public in the United States, constantly creating wealth myths. In 2007, China's photovoltaic module production reached the level of GW (gigawatts), ranking first in the world.

In 2008, the financial crisis swept through and the global economy came to a standstill, causing the Chinese photovoltaic industry, which relied on overseas markets, to enter winter overnight. In this context, many countries have weakened their support for photovoltaics, while China is actively rescuing the market and cultivating this strategic emerging industry.

The following year, China implemented franchise bidding, photovoltaic building demonstration projects, and the "Golden Sun Demonstration Project", promoting technological progress and large-scale development of the photovoltaic industry through financial subsidies, technological support, and market driven methods. In 2011, China's newly installed photovoltaic capacity ranked third in the world, second only to Italy and Germany.

But the good times didn't last long. From 2011 to 2012, with the deepening of the European debt crisis, the investigation of the "double reverse" in Europe and America, and the emergence of overcapacity in the domestic photovoltaic industry, China's photovoltaic market once again suffered serious impacts. During this period, a large number of photovoltaic companies faced bankruptcy and bankruptcy, and the export value of photovoltaic products plummeted from nearly 35.8 billion US dollars in 2011 to 12.3 billion US dollars in 2013.

Once again experiencing a low point, China has issued a series of policy documents to support the development of the photovoltaic industry. In July 2013, China issued the "Several Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry", followed by the "Notice on Leveraging Price to Promote the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry", which clearly stated the opening of the photovoltaic application market through electricity subsidies.

Thanks to policy support, China's newly added photovoltaic installed capacity has ranked first in the world since 2013, and since 2015, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaics has consistently ranked first in the world.

In the industry's view, since 2014, China's photovoltaic industry has entered a fast lane of development. Despite the fluctuation of the "May 31st" policy in 2018, China's photovoltaic industry has maintained a strong development momentum so far.

At the same time, the trend of diversified development of overseas markets for Chinese enterprises is evident, with photovoltaic products spread all over the world.

In 2021, the export value of photovoltaic products (silicon wafers, cells, and modules) reached a historic high of over 28 billion US dollars. In the first half of this year, the export value reached 25.9 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 113%. In addition, in recent years, leading companies such as Trina Solar, Longi Green Energy, JA Solar Technology, and Jinko Solar have also invested and established factories in overseas countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam to explore international markets.

The Chinese photovoltaic industry has gone through a development process of 'from external to internal, and then to dual circulation'. Currently, China's photovoltaic industry has formed a new development pattern of 'domestic circulation as the mainstay, and domestic and international dual circulation mutually promoting', becoming an important model for China's green and high-quality development, "Liu Yiyang, Deputy Secretary General of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, told reporters.

The industrial chain has basically achieved localization

In 2000, when Shi Zhengrong returned to China from Australia with more than ten solar energy technology invention patents to establish Wuxi Shangde, China's photovoltaic industry, from silicon material polycrystalline silicon to silicon wafers, cells and components, equipment, auxiliary materials and other links, was still "poor and blank", and the industrial chain was impossible to talk about.

After the establishment of Wuxi Shangde in 2001, Shi Zhengrong invested in the construction of a 10MW solar cell production line, which was put into operation in September 2002. Although the equipment and raw materials are imported from overseas, it has become an important milestone in launching the development of China's photovoltaic industry.

Subsequently, the global photovoltaic market heated up, and in addition to Wuxi Shangde, companies such as Hebei Yingli, Tianhe Solar, Hebei JA Solar, Artus, Jiangxi Saiwei, and Zhejiang Yuhui also aggressively entered the photovoltaic field. In just five years, China has established a "silicon wafer battery module" photovoltaic industry chain, which even includes related auxiliary materials such as photovoltaic film, glass, and paste.

In contrast, the localization process of photovoltaic raw material polycrystalline silicon is relatively slow. Due to the lack of core technology, China's photovoltaic raw materials have long relied on imports and have no say. It is reported that in order to obtain raw materials, domestic enterprises must sign long-term procurement contracts, make advance payments, and bear the risk of huge liquidated damages.

Until 2006, Chinese companies represented by GCL Technology entered the polysilicon field with higher technological barriers, invested in the first production line with a capacity of 1500 tons, and worked hard to expand the scale to the 10000 ton plan. The situation of China's photovoltaic "raw materials outside" gradually began to reverse. The important practical significance of the 10000 ton polycrystalline silicon production capacity plan lies in the fact that Chinese companies have broken the long-term monopoly of foreign giants in this field, "a person from GCL Technology told reporters

Ten years of ups and downs, breaking free from the cocoon and becoming a butterfly. Nowadays, looking at the world, the photovoltaic industry has formed a competitive pattern dominated by Chinese manufacturing, leading in all manufacturing links from polysilicon and silicon wafers to batteries and modules. According to data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, as of 2021, the production of photovoltaic polycrystalline silicon, silicon wafers, cells, and modules in China was 506000 tons, 226.6 GW, 197.9 GW, and 181.8 GW, respectively, accounting for over 80% of the global total production. Some links even reached over 95%, and the output value of the four links exceeded 750 billion yuan.

Not only that, the independent research and development capabilities of photovoltaic equipment enterprises in China have also been further enhanced. In the past few years, the production equipment of polycrystalline silicon, silicon wafers, cells, and modules has gradually achieved localization, and by 2021, the industrial scale will exceed 40 billion yuan.

Jia Rui, a researcher of the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said to the reporter: "Since 2015, many indicators of China's localization of photovoltaic equipment have significantly improved. At present, the equipment in all links of the entire photovoltaic industry chain has basically achieved localization. For example, the localization degree of battery production equipment has reached nearly 100%, which has played an important role in promoting cost reduction and efficiency increase of China's photovoltaic industry and achieving parity online."

Technology drives photovoltaics towards parity and marketization

The lack of market, raw materials, and equipment once made it difficult for China's photovoltaic manufacturing enterprises, but in fact, the core problem behind this is still technology. After years of effort, China's photovoltaic industry has now embarked on the path of independent innovation, driving photovoltaics towards parity and marketization.

Especially since 2015, the National Energy Administration, in collaboration with relevant departments, has proposed the implementation of the "Leader" plan for photovoltaic power generation and the construction of leading bases. Through market support and experimental demonstrations, it has accelerated the technological upgrading of the photovoltaic industry, leading to a rapid reduction in the cost of photovoltaic power generation.

In this context, the innovative vitality of China's photovoltaic industry is constantly being stimulated. Taking Longi Green Energy as an example, the company actively participates in and promotes industry technological innovation and cost reduction and efficiency improvement, promotes monocrystalline technology and diamond wire cutting, saving the industry over 30 billion yuan annually; Develop and promote RCZ technology (multiple loading and crystal pulling technology), which improves the continuous crystal pulling efficiency of the industry by more than 150%, reduces silicon wafer energy consumption by more than 40%, and lowers costs by more than 60%; Promote PERC cells and double-sided power generation to accelerate the era of parity in the photovoltaic industry.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in 2021, the polycrystalline silicon indicators of mainstream enterprises continued to improve, meeting the demand for N-type batteries, and the technology of large-size and thin slice silicon wafers accelerated progress. The battery efficiency has reached a new high, with the production efficiency of P-type PERC cells reaching 23.1%, the experimental efficiency of N-type TOPCon cells breaking through 25.4%, and the production speed of HJT cells accelerating.

Longi Green Energy told reporters, "China's photovoltaic industry continues to grow amidst ups and downs, and the market is never lacking in challenges. In the rapid evolution of photovoltaic technology, it is important for enterprises to adhere to first principles, focus on the future, and uphold the business philosophy of 'leading technology and stable operation'. Continuous research and development investment is the only way for enterprises to maintain their leading position

With the continuous iteration of technology, the cost advantage of photovoltaic power generation is becoming increasingly prominent. According to data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, the cost of photovoltaic systems has decreased by over 90% in the past decade, and photovoltaic electricity prices have become lower than thermal power prices in more and more countries and regions, making it the most competitive power product.

In 2019, China's photovoltaic industry ushered in the era of parity grid connection through the implementation of pilot projects for parity and low price projects, gradually breaking away from subsidy dependence. In 2022, photovoltaic power generation projects will completely bid farewell to the era of central government subsidies and accelerate their integration into the electricity market.

Li Chuangjun, Director of the New Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, introduced that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, China's renewable energy will present new characteristics of large-scale, high proportion, market-oriented, and high-quality development. The so-called marketization refers to the shift from subsidy supported development to affordable and low-priced development, and from policy driven development to market driven development.

Source: China Business News