“Carbon Neutral” Goal to Promote the Development of Photovoltaic Industry

        As the carbon peak in 2030 and the goal of carbon neutrality in 2060 are proposed, it indicates that the era of new energy with solar photovoltaic power generation as the main driving force has come.

        Solar energy is the cleanest, safest and most reliable energy source. The best way to use solar energy is photoelectric conversion, which is to use the photovoltaic effect to make sunlight hit the silicon material to generate electricity directly. The photoelectric conversion industry chain formed by the application and development of silicon materials is called the “photovoltaic industry”. At present, many countries in the world are making long-term plans for the development and utilization of solar energy as the main content of the energy revolution. The photovoltaic industry has become another explosive development industry after IT and microelectronics.

        In recent years, as my country’s demand for clean energy continues to increase, the photovoltaic industry has received more and more attention. According to relevant data, by the end of 2019, my country’s total installed photovoltaic capacity reached 204.3 GW, ranking first in the world for five consecutive years. The national photovoltaic power generation capacity reached 22.26 billion kilowatt-hours throughout the year, an increase of 26.3% year-on-year. In 2019, the output of the main photovoltaic industry chain accounted for the global total output to continue to expand, and the total product exports were about 20.78 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29%.

        In 2020, various industries have been affected by the COVID-19 to varying degrees, but the photovoltaic industry has achieved a commendable upward trend.

        Data show that from January to June, my country’s newly installed photovoltaic power generation capacity was 11.5 GW. Among them, the newly installed capacity of centralized photovoltaic power generation projects was 7.07 GW, accounting for 61.48%; the newly installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic power generation projects was 4.43 GW, accounting for 38.52%. The construction cost of photovoltaic power plants continued to decrease. Benefiting from the decline in the prices of components, inverters and other equipment, the initial full investment cost of my country’s photovoltaic ground power station construction has fallen below 4 yuan per watt in the first half of this year, a drop of about 13% from 2019.

        On the demand level next year, the analysis of professionals is more optimistic than the market performance. Next year’s demand will be affected by the world’s largest free trade agreement (RCEP) and the first year of domestic carbon neutrality, which will cause industry demand to resonate. The photovoltaic industry is expected to usher in a period of rapid outbreak, and strong demand will drive the sector’s full bloom and overall recovery.

        From the perspective of industry growth space, the photovoltaic industry may become one of the industry tracks with the fastest growth in the medium and long term. In 2021, domestic photovoltaics will officially enter the stage of parity grid access, which will further promote the growth of global photovoltaic installed capacity and accelerate the opening of the incremental and stock replacement of traditional thermal power. Electricity market-oriented trading will become the norm, and digital trading will be needed at this time system.