Xinhua Finance Nanjing, April 25 (Reporter Zhu Cheng) As of April 20, 23 photovoltaic companies such as JinkoSolar and GCL Integration have successively released their 2023 annual reports, among them, the net profit attributable to the parent company of equipment provider Quartz Co., Ltd. increased by 378.92% year-on-year, and the net profit of battery packaging company Mingguan New Materials decreased by 122.76% year-on-year, showing obvious performance differentiation characteristics.
The reporter recently interviewed a number of industry insiders and learned that affected by the fierce competition in photovoltaics, the industry as a whole is under pressure, and this year it is accelerating the reshuffle process. A number of industry insiders said that as crystalline silicon photovoltaic PERC technology approaches the ceiling of power generation efficiency, exploring the next generation of photovoltaic technology has become a common choice for the industry.
Module quotations hit another low
Recently, a news that LONGi Green Energy and GCL Technology signed a large order of more than 20 billion yuan has attracted widespread attention in the photovoltaic circle, and Song Hao, assistant vice president of GCL Technology, believes that this is not only a normal action of routine long orders between the two sides, but also reflects the fierce competition in the red ocean of crystalline silicon photovoltaics. "At present, the lowest module quotation has fallen below 9 cents per watt, which is lower than the production cost of most enterprises, and the pressure has been transmitted to the upstream. ”
One set of data provides a glimpse of how fierce the competition is right now. In 2023, the annual output of crystalline silicon modules in mainland China will reach 499GW, and according to data released by the International Energy Agency, the global installed PV capacity will be 420GW in the same year. In the first two months of this year, the mainland's polysilicon output was about 330,000 tons, and the output of crystalline silicon modules was 76GW, a year-on-year increase of 39.4%. Cao Renxian, chairman of Sungrow, said that in recent years, the rapid expansion of the photovoltaic industry in the mainland, the rapid decline in product prices, the survival pressure of the majority of enterprises, coupled with the downstream non-technical costs have not fallen but risen, and the dividends of the decline in industrial chain prices have not been effectively converted into project investment benefits to a certain extent.
It is worth noting that, in the view of some industry insiders, the current global market demand for photovoltaic modules is still maintaining a rapid growth trend, and the main reason for the industry's "price war" is not the lack of demand, nor the old technology in the process of new and old technology iteration, but from the high degree of homogeneity of the supply side, and the only way for enterprises to compete is to force production capacity through price.
"At present, many enterprises explore integrated development, which seems to be able to reduce costs, but in fact, due to the lack of professional ability, it is difficult to cover all aspects, and it is easy to fall into a closed situation, resulting in insufficient professional innovation ability and lack of differentiated competitiveness of enterprises. Ge Hengfeng, partner of Yida Capital, said.
This risk has been glimpsed in the debt ratio of many photovoltaic companies. The reporter found that under the overall method calculation, the asset-liability ratio of the photovoltaic sector at the end of 2023 increased by more than 9% compared with the beginning of 2022. According to the third quarter report of 2023, the asset-liability ratio of the leading enterprise LONGi Green Energy is 56.35%, and JinkoSolar is 73.29%.
The risks of the industry have aroused the vigilance of the capital market, and the PV Concept Index (885531) shows that since reaching an all-time high of 3718.5 in August 2022, it closed at 2430.47 on April 22, 2024, down more than a third. A number of industry insiders said that the photovoltaic industry, which lacks capital assistance and heavy asset investment, is facing an accelerated reshuffle.
Where the next generation of technology is headed
At a time when competition is intensifying, it has become the choice of many enterprises to ask for productivity from science and technology. As traditional P-type cells have approached the limit of power generation efficiency, more and more companies have begun to bet on the next generation of photovoltaic technology, showing a parallel development trend of multiple technical routes such as TOPcon (an N-type silicon wafer cell technology), HJT (heterojunction cells), perovskite, and CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide). Among them, TOPcon and HJT cells inherit the existing crystalline silicon technology and are the focus of the current industrialization of major enterprises, such as JinkoSolar, Trina Solar and other companies choose TOPCon, and Risen Energy is optimistic about HJT battery technology.
"Under the halo of the success of crystalline silicon photovoltaics, major domestic photovoltaic companies have increased the research and development of next-generation photovoltaic technologies, showing a diversified development trend of new technologies such as HJT, perovskite, CIGS, and TOPcon. Zhong Dalong, technical director of the solar energy field of the Beijing Institute of Low Carbon and Clean Energy, said.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to crystalline silicon cells such as HJT and TOPcon, thin-film cells such as perovskite and CIGS are also attracting increasing market attention.
During the reporter's investigation, it was seen that the perovskite thin-film cells developed by Taizheng Micro-Nano are as thin as cardboard and can also generate electricity under weak light such as desk lamps, and a 100-megawatt production line has been built in Xiamen. The CIGS thin-film solar cells developed by Sunhuilai Nanjing Energy Technology Co., Ltd. weigh only 1.5 kilograms per square meter, and the battery folded into a trolley box can meet the daily electricity needs of an ordinary family.
"Flexible solar cells can be curled and folded, light weight, and can be used on the roofs of houses, car roofs, walls, street lamps and other areas, and have the potential to generate electricity for all things. Sun Hongliang, president of Shenghuilai, said that the company is cooperating with the State Power Investment Corporation and other enterprises to explore the construction of offshore floating power stations, which can allow ocean-going ships to use clean electricity in countries that lack electricity.
Flexible solar films can not only be used alone, but also have higher potential for photoelectric conversion efficiency improvement than crystalline silicon cells, and can be stacked with crystalline silicon to increase the upper limit of conversion efficiency of existing photovoltaic products. Song Hao said that the company's new GW-level perovskite module production line has laid the foundation and started, and the company has signed agreements with a number of companies to develop tandem cells.
Intellectual property disputes have intensified
Although photovoltaic companies are trying to seek a breakthrough from scientific and technological innovation, the reporter found in the interview that intellectual property disputes between enterprises have also increased.
"The PV industry is iterating very quickly, and in this case, if innovation is not properly protected, it will discourage enterprises. Yao Ziran, general counsel of Trina Solar, said.
Recently, patent infringement lawsuits in the photovoltaic industry are not uncommon. Recently, Maxeon, a joint stock company of TCL Zhonghuan, filed a lawsuit against CSIQ, the controlling shareholder of Canadian Solar, over three patents. Last year, Maxeon's subsidiaries also filed patent infringement lawsuits against Tongwei Solar (Hefei) Co., Ltd. and its subsidiaries.
"The fierce competition in the domestic photovoltaic industry and the mutual poaching of enterprises make new technologies generally only 'fresh' for 3 to 6 months, which makes it difficult to cooperate through patent swaps in the face of international competition. Song Hao said.
Yao Ziran and other industry insiders suggested that the national level should strengthen positive guidance for the protection of intellectual property rights of enterprises, crack down on intellectual property infringement cases seriously, create a clean and positive ecology in the industry through typical precedents, and encourage cooperation through industry self-discipline and strengthening cross-licensing of intellectual property rights. At the same time, more application pilots will be provided in a project-based manner, providing opportunities for different technical routes to be tested and improved in actual combat.
Editor: Luo Hao
Statement: Xinhua Finance is a national financial information platform undertaken by Xinhua News Agency. In any case, the information published on this platform does not constitute investment advice. If you have any questions, please contact customer service: 400-6123115
![The Lenzing Group has cooperated with many parties to continue to make efforts to protect the Tencel ™ trademark[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)