According to data from the National Energy Administration, as of the end of November, the country's cumulative installed power generation capacity was about 2.85 billion kilowatts, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%. The photovoltaic industry is developing rapidly, but it is now facing the status quo of overcapacity and falling product prices.
At the beginning of 2023, after reaching a high price of 1.8 yuan to 1.9 yuan per watt, PV modules have fallen all the way, falling by about 50%. In order not to be eliminated, many enterprises have begun to improve the level of science and technology and reduce costs, among which the new technology route that can greatly reduce the cost of preparation has become the key to competition.
At present, in addition to many traditional photovoltaic companies are trying to reduce costs and increase efficiency, a new generation of photovoltaic products with more cost advantages - perovskite solar cells are about to emerge.
In March this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology released the top ten scientific advances in China in 2022, and perovskite solar cells appeared on the list. In fact, as early as ten years ago, perovskite solar cells were selected as the most promising next-generation photovoltaic technology in Science magazine's top 10 breakthroughs of 2013.
The production process of traditional crystalline silicon solar energy is very complex, and some processes have very high processing temperature and energy consumption. However, perovskite cells are different, as long as there are five or six simple processes, the processing temperature does not exceed 150 degrees Celsius.
Tan Hairen, a professor at the School of Modern Engineering and Applied Science of Nanjing University, said that the cost can be half of that of crystalline silicon photovoltaics, or even lower, and large-scale production can reach 0.4 yuan to 0.5 yuan per watt in the future. Perovskites account for less than 3% of module costs. Perovskites also have a very big advantage, that is, they can be made into light-transmitting and translucent photovoltaic modules, which can be widely used in building windows, turning the windows of thousands of households into glass that can generate electricity.
Tan Hairen said that the current laboratory data is that the perovskite photoelectric conversion efficiency has exceeded 20%, and the annual power generation of perovskite cells of the same power is more than 10% higher than that of crystalline silicon cells.
In Quzhou, Zhejiang, an enterprise undertaking a national key R&D plan, the perovskite cell production line has been completed in May 2022. After nearly 7 months of technical research, at the beginning of this year, the goal of continuous mass production of 100 megawatts and the yield rate reached the standard. At present, the production technology and production equipment are in a state of absolute secrecy.
Since perovskite cells can generate electricity in low-light conditions such as cloudy days, mornings, and evenings, in Quzhou, although the photoelectric conversion efficiency of industrially produced perovskite cells is only 16%, the annual power generation will theoretically be 20% higher than that of crystalline silicon. Therefore, there are also more application scenarios, such as seats on the side of the road can be used to charge mobile phones, and as curtain walls, they can be made into beautiful buildings.
In the era of competition and cooperation in the photovoltaic industry, many people in the industry hope that in the future, perovskites can be superimposed with crystalline silicon, learn from each other's strengths, and obtain higher photoelectric conversion efficiency. The reporter found that perovskite R&D and production enterprises are trying to overlap perovskites and perovskites.
Tan Hairen, professor at the School of Modern Engineering and Applied Science, Nanjing University: Tandem photovoltaic technology can increase the theoretical photoelectric conversion efficiency to more than 45%.
At present, several domestic companies have opened perovskite cell production lines of more than 100 megawatts, and set the goal of achieving gigawatt-level module production capacity between 2024 and 2026.