Focus on “Double carbon”target, connector industry new energy planning

With the introduction of the “Double carbon”plan, new energy has become an important development task and long-term goal in the world. Wind power, photovoltaic power generation, energy storage and other projects have introduced relevant policies one after another, promote industrial development to high quality, high efficiency and low cost. In this context, what opportunities and challenges will the connector face? And connector enterprise layout status? Read on.

Policies set development roadmap and goals

In order to support the goal of “Carbon Peak, carbon neutral”, the development of new energy power generation and energy storage industry has formed a clear road map and goals.

For power generation, the 2021 has proposed that the proportion of wind and photovoltaic power generation in the country’s total electricity consumption will reach about 11 percent, and that it will continue to increase year by year, reaching about 16.5 percent by 2025. By 2030, the total installed capacity of wind and solar power will reach more than 1.2 billion kilowatts. By the end of 2020,281 million kilowatts of wind power and 253 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power will be installed, totaling 534 million kilowatts, according to the National Energy Administration. 1.2 gigawatts and about 700 gigawatts.

Energy storage, by 2025 energy storage capacity of more than 30 million kilowatts (that is, 30 GW +) . According to statistics, by the end of 2020, the cumulative installed scale of domestic electrochemical energy storage is 3.28 GW, 30 GW away, there are 10 times the difference.

In addition, the arrival of PV, wind power parity era, new energy continued to maintain rapid growth. At the same time, because of the natural instability of new energy generation, energy storage industry has entered a rapid development stage. As a result of the policy, new energy generation and energy storage are not separated, and the proportion of power generation and energy storage devices has increased everywhere, ranging from 5 to 20 percent of the allocation of energy storage.

Opportunities and challenges coexist in connector industry

What opportunities and challenges will there be for the connector industry as the country vigorously develops the new energy power generation and energy storage industries?

In order to achieve the goal of “Double carbon”, the country vigorously develops the new energy industry. Connector as a key component of the connection, widely used in power generation, energy storage and downstream terminal products, the market has risen.

For example, about 4,000 pairs of energy storage connectors are used for 1 MW PV applications, and about 4 million pairs of connectors are needed for 1 GW installation. The total installed capacity of wind and solar power will reach the planned target of more than 1.2 gigawatts by 2030, and an additional 700 GW will be required, of which at least 1 billion pairs of photovoltaic connectors will be required. In addition to wind power, energy storage and other markets, connector market demand surge, for the connector industry is an opportunity.

But as the new energy industry matures, connectors are becoming more reliable, longer-lived and safer, and costs need to be brought under control. Higher technology, better quality, lower cost requirements, will bring greater challenges to connector enterprises.

In the photovoltaic industry, for example, silicon wafers are evolving to a larger size in order to reduce the cost of photovoltaic power generation, but this will increase the operating current of the modules. At present, the maximum power point current of 210mm modules on the market is more than 17A, the short circuit current is more than 18A, nearly double the current of 156mm and 166mm modules, 210mm modules will need to be equipped with about 30A junction box and connector. The reliability of the PV connector itself will be affected if it is used to fit the high current of the 210mm module. For example, the high current will bring the temperature rise, and the heating capacity of the connector will be greatly increased while the over current rise, to increase the failure rate of the connector. Once the connector fails, the power loss, the maintenance cost and even the safety accident will follow, which will bring some pressure to the connector enterprise’s product design and manufacturing technology.

From power generation to energy storage

Through the analysis of new energy distribution of foreign connector enterprises, it is also found that the enterprises involved in wind power, photovoltaic power generation and other new energy production level are gradually expanding to the energy storage industry, and even increase investment in the energy storage industry.

“The storage connector is one of our key products this year,”phoenix industry manager Guo Chao told reporters.

To achieve the “Double carbon”goal, the development of wind power and photovoltaic power generation is inevitable, but there is a very important problem: affected by the weather, power generation is unstable. But consumer demand is fixed, so energy storage systems are needed to act as a buffer zone to ensure that enough power is available at the low point. Therefore, when the new energy power generation industry develops rapidly, the energy storage industry will have a very big development prospect.

“The producers of new energy generation and energy storage are separate,”said Guo. Phoenix’s position in the photovoltaic industry is basically mature, the annual order output in stable output, but energy storage is the new layout of the field in the last two years, is not a large proportion of the current, is being vigorously promoted.

In the past two years, electrochemical energy storage (battery energy storage) has been developing rapidly, and Slicable has been expanding its energy storage product line to meet the customers’requirements of higher voltage, higher current and higher protection. Products related to Slicable’s larger current capacity are expected to roll out in the second half of the year, around the next generation of storage systems.

The sustainable use of new energy can only be achieved through energy storage systems. According to the policies announced everywhere, the proportion of energy storage required for photovoltaic wind power installation varies from 5% to 20% , of which 10% is the majority, and the energy storage market is gradually opening up, more connector manufacturers are getting involved.

Conclusion

To combat global warming, countries are working hard to achieve the “Double carbon”goal. Under the impetus of the policy, the wind power, photovoltaic-based new energy installation rapid growth, energy storage market will also usher in an explosion, new energy generation and energy storage industry linkage, will make the connector market has a new wave of growth.