Latest research report on photovoltaic power station

1. Overview of photovoltaic power station industry
2. Industrial chain analysis of photovoltaic power station industry
   1. Introduction to photovoltaic development
   2. Reasons for the low proportion of photovoltaic development
3. Introduction of photovoltaic power station industry chain
   1. Upstream part
   2. Midstream part
   3. Downstream part
4. Prospect of photovoltaic power station industry

The construction and operation of photovoltaic power station benefit from the expansion of upstream and midstream industry scale and the reduction of module costs.

Under the dual conditions of reducing the overall cost of construction and improving the overall quality of modules, as the most downstream end of the photovoltaic industry, the return on assets of photovoltaic power station has increased significantly.

Overview of photovoltaic power station industry

Photovoltaic power station can be divided into two categories: distributed photovoltaic power station and centralized photovoltaic power station.

A distributed photovoltaic power station refers to a photovoltaic power generation project located near the user, the generated energy can be used locally, connected to the grid at a voltage level lower than 35 kV or lower, and the total installed capacity of a single grid connection point does not exceed 6MW.

The centralized photovoltaic power station mainly uses large-scale solar cell arrays to directly convert solar energy into direct current. Through the lightning protection combiner box and the DC power distribution cabinet, the multi-channel direct current is merged into the photovoltaic inverter, and the photovoltaic inverter converts the multi-channel direct current. into alternating current.

Then, it is connected to the power grid through the AC power distribution cabinet, step-up transformer and high-voltage switchgear, and the photovoltaic power is transmitted to the power grid, and the power grid is uniformly deployed to supply power to the users. The centralized photovoltaic power station cannot be directly connected to the grid, and needs to be connected to the grid through a 110KV booster station.

Industrial chain analysis of photovoltaic power station industry

Introduction to photovoltaic development

Compared with others, perovskite solar cell is the type with the greatest development potential but the lowest percentage of development. In 2014, only 0.9% of the world’s electricity came from photovoltaic installed capacity, while the proportion of wind power, hydropower and non-renewable power generation reached 3.1%, 16.6% and 77.2% respectively. Photovoltaic still has huge development capacity.

Distributed photovoltaic power generation refers to photovoltaic power generation projects that are located near users, the generated energy can be used on-site, connected to the grid at a voltage level lower than 35 kV or lower, and the total installed capacity of a single grid connection point does not exceed 6MW.

Solar energy does not generate waste in the energy conversion process, does not affect the environment, and has no hidden danger of nuclear waste leakage. Photovoltaic power generation can significantly reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, photovoltaic power station are now able to develop carbon emission trading products, which can increase income while reducing emissions.

Reasons for the low proportion of photovoltaic development

First, the large-scale production and application of the photovoltaic industry began after 2004, and the first large-scale development was in Europe. It has only recently developed vigorously in Asia, especially China and Japan.

Second, because the cost of photovoltaic modules is high, the cost of photovoltaic power station is high, and the energy conversion efficiency is usually less than 20%, so the cost of power generation is high. At present, the cost of photovoltaic power generation is about 0.9~1RMB/kWh, which is relatively high compared with the cost of thermal power 0.35~0.6RMB/kWh.

Introduction of photovoltaic power station industry chain

Upstream part

Starting from crystalline silicon, going through silicon rods, silicon wafers, and finally made into cells, the price changes of crystalline silicon are gradually transmitted to the midstream cell link.

In terms of types of photovoltaic cells, crystalline silicon cells account for about 90% of the total, of which polysilicon is the mainstream. However, photovoltaic cell is also developed rapidly in recent years. You can check our top 10 photovoltaic cell manufacturers in China article. With the continuous decline of crystalline silicon materials, the prices of its downstream products, silicon rods and silicon wafers, also fell simultaneously.

Although thin-film batteries have various advantages, they are still in the initial stage of development due to production capacity and price factors, and cannot be commercialized on a large scale.

Among the batteries produced in China in 2014, the proportion of polycrystalline and monocrystalline batteries was about 87:13, while the world average ratio was about 2:1.

The reason is that China’s photovoltaic power station are mainly concentrated on the ground, and the cost of polysilicon is relatively low and occupies a dominant position. In many countries, distributed rooftop power stations are the mainstays, so most of them use monocrystalline cells with higher energy conversion efficiency.

Midstream part

The cost of this part of the components is relatively large, such as solar cells, EVA film, back sheet/back film, glass, junction box, etc., together with inverters, transformers, cables and other supporting facilities constitute the downstream photovoltaic application system. Usually it is a large centralized ground power station and a small distributed power station.

In general, about 70-80% of the production cost of crystalline silicon battery modules comes from the cells, and about 3-7% comes from the EVA film and backsheet.

Downstream part

According to the foregoing, the prices of important components such as cells, backsheets/films, and EVA films have continued to decline in recent years, resulting in a decline in the total installed cost of China’s large-scale ground-based power plants.

Prospect of photovoltaic power station industry

Due to China’s support for the photovoltaic industry, especially the long-term support for the on-grid tariff and subsidies for photovoltaic power station, the photovoltaic power plant industry has the ability to obtain long-term cash flow and profitability.

The construction and operation of photovoltaic power station benefit from the expansion of upstream and midstream industries and the reduction of module costs. Under the dual conditions of lower overall cost of construction and improved overall module quality, as the most downstream end of the photovoltaic industry, the return on assets of photovoltaic power station is significant.

According to the data, photovoltaic manufacturers should expand the coupling of intelligent photovoltaic technology. Develop intelligent photovoltaic DC systems, carry out technology research on photovoltaic energy storage DC coupling systems, and expand DC load applications such as photovoltaic DC buildings, solar street lights, and DC air conditioners.

Accelerate the construction of pilot demonstration projects such as smart photovoltaic hydrogen production, accelerate the research on hydrogen production system and photovoltaic coupling technology, and promote the development of photovoltaic power station industry.

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