A brief overview of the current situation in the photovoltaic industry
Sep 22, 2022
Currently, the most mainstream cell technology in the PV industry is PERC, with a market share of over 90%. New cell technologies such as HJT, TOPCon, IBC, etc. are constantly breaking new world records, bringing module power improvements and driving technological change up and down the industry chain.
Technological innovation "blossoms", multiplying the difficulty of efficiency improvement
In the process of moving from price parity to competitive pricing in China, in order to reduce the cost per watt of modules, various head companies have developed a variety of module power enhancement solutions, such as.
● Cell technology iteration: e.g. TOPCon, HJT, IBC, Calcium Titanium Ore, etc.
● Cell technology optimization: SE selective emitter, bifacial, MBB, etc.
● Module version optimization: stacked tile, half-sheet, small pitch, stacked weld, etc.
As each company continues to innovate and break through, several major technology routes are approaching theoretical limits, and it becomes extremely difficult to improve the efficiency of battery technology at this time.
Take the current market mainstream PERC technology for example, the theoretical efficiency limit is 24.5%. Longi is the world record holder for PERC cell efficiency, with a current efficiency of 24.06%, while the industry average is around 23.5%. Every 0.1% increase in cell efficiency requires an extremely difficult effort and is several times or more difficult than before.
Because of this, leading companies are actively developing new raw materials for modules, such as coated high transmission glass, white glazed glass, high reflective backsheet, white EVA, co-extruded POE, segmented welding tape, composite bezel, SMD diodes, etc., while making efforts to improve the efficiency of cells. The development of new materials for modules is also of great significance for efficiency and cost reduction.
Building on long-term value, Innovative breakthroughs still need to be based on "reliability"
The breakthrough of various cell technologies and the innovative development of various module materials have created a flourishing PV industry with "a hundred flowers blossoming and a hundred schools of thought", bringing unprecedented development opportunities and more room for development.
However, it can be said that "all things return to one, all methods return to one", no matter what kind of cell technology or material technology, it is ultimately to return to the end of the component reliability.
Photovoltaic modules can only be operated stably and reliably outdoors for more than 25 years, in order to guarantee the long-term value of photovoltaic power plants during the whole life cycle, which is the final point of battery technology innovation. In other words, advanced technology is worthless if it only stays in the laboratory. It must be used outdoors and withstand the test of various scenarios and harsh environments before it can really bring benefits to users. From this perspective, reliability is the practical test of PV technology.
In recent years, due to global warming and human behaviour, extreme weather events such as hailstorms, typhoons, high temperatures and snowstorms have been occurring. According to the "Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022" released by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 350 to 500 medium and large disasters have occurred globally each year over the past 20 years; it is expected that by 2030 the frequency of medium and large disasters will reach 560 times per year, with an average of 1.5 times per day.
Extreme weather disasters bring great challenges to the safe and smooth operation of PV modules and great uncertainty to the property safety of PV plant investment owners. The high temperature resistance of the modules under extreme heat, the low temperature static load capacity under snowstorm and the wind load resistance during typhoon transit are all issues that need to be considered in advance for cell technology and module technology.
