Core Tip: Recently, the National Energy Administration issued the 'Notice on Relevant Requirements for the Construction of Advanced Technology Application Bases for Photovoltaic Power Generation in 2017'.
Recently, the National Energy Administration released the 'Notice on Relevant Requirements for the Construction of Advanced Technology Application Bases for Photovoltaic Power Generation in 2017', seeking a letter of comment, laying out the third batch of 'leader and super-leader bases'. In the past two years, the photovoltaic leader has had a very positive impact on the industry, and has played a positive role in promoting the industrial upgrading of photovoltaic conversion efficiency, components, inverters, etc., but it has also attracted the photovoltaic industry to the manufacturers. The competition of investors is mainly the competition of monocrystalline and polycrystalline manufacturers. And who is going to spend the release of these front-runner projects?
Single crystal efficiency increases
According to the latest opinion solicitation letter, the advanced technology application base for photovoltaic power generation in 2017 includes the photovoltaic power generation leading technology base (ie the original 'photovoltaic leader') and the photovoltaic power generation technology application support base (ie the 'super leader'), with a total capacity of 8GW Between 10GW. The notice has made the latest regulations on the requirements of power generation technology indicators that are most concerned by photovoltaic equipment manufacturers. On the basis of the 2015 'leader' index, the 2017 'leader' technology will be improved according to the level of industrial technology improvement. The conversion efficiency of polycrystalline silicon cells and modules reached 19.5% and 17%, respectively, and the conversion efficiency of single crystal silicon cells and modules reached 21% and 18%, respectively.
In comparison, the market generally believes that the technical indicators of the 2015 leader for monocrystals are lower than those of polycrystals. It is not difficult to see from the opinion solicitation letter published this time that the country has reflected in this part of the market feedback: the photoelectric conversion efficiency of monocrystalline silicon battery modules has been increased from 17% to 18%, while polycrystalline has been increased from 16.5% to 17%.
Some senior industry insiders pointed out that, for the current photovoltaic industry, in fact, centralized large-scale power plants are more efficient than polycrystalline single crystal, and the cost performance will be higher; while in terms of household distribution, monocrystalline Due to the high power generation per unit area, it has more advantages. However, this time the leader standard has improved efficiency for single poly, so the more efficient and cost-effective products in the leader base are more likely to emerge.
In terms of cost performance, the single crystal part changed in 2016. The N-type double-sided battery developed and mass-produced by Zhonglai Co., Ltd. has high conversion efficiency and has achieved a very competitive unit cost. Therefore, the new leader base, N-type double-sided single crystal will become a strong candidate.
In terms of increasing power generation and reducing the cost of electricity, the potential of N-type batteries is significantly larger. After Yingli invested an ultra-low electricity price of 0.45 yuan/kWh at the Wuhai leader base, the industry continued to question. In response to this, Yingli Power responded at a photovoltaic industry seminar that they will use N-type double-sided power generation components and cooperate with various reflection measures to significantly reduce the cost of electricity and ensure investment returns.
Zhonglai also provides a set of relatively conservative calculation results. According to the technical staff, the use of its N-type double-sided modules in large-scale ground power plants can increase power generation by 15-30%; from the initial investment, the use of N-type high-efficiency batteries and modules can reduce the cost of 100MW photovoltaic power plants by about 50 million Yuan (or 7.25 million US dollars), can save 30% of the land area. As a result, the cost of electricity is less than 0.5 yuan/kWh (or 0.07 US dollars/kWh), and the return on investment has increased significantly.
N-type double-sided becomes a strong alternative
Zhonglai Co., Ltd. invested in Zhonglai Optoelectronics in Taizhou to build a 2.1GW N-type single crystal double-sided battery base, which is expected to be fully operational in 2017; at the same time, it will jointly invest in the construction of a 10GW N-type IBC double-sided photovoltaic cell production base with the Quzhou Municipal Government of Zhejiang. . According to the person in charge of the production department of Zhonglai, 'The market has responded very well to our products. At present, orders are in short supply and the production line is running at full capacity.' Since the efficiency of N-type double-sided batteries far exceeds the leader’s standards, once the N-type double-sided single The centralized release of crystal production capacity will become one of the main choices of the super leader.
In an interview, Liu Yong, senior vice president of Zhonglai, said in an interview: 'There are about six technologies in the photovoltaic industry that can meet the requirements of the leader, and N-type battery technology is one of them. In 2017, the leader and super leader for single crystal and The efficiency of polycrystalline has been greatly improved. N-type batteries will fully meet the needs of the country due to their technological leadership. This is our inherent advantage.'
According to the data released by Zhonglai, the front efficiency of its N-type battery is about 21.5%, and the back efficiency can also reach about 19.5%. The frontal efficiency of Zhonglai's IBC battery also exceeds 22%, and the leader of module efficiency exceeding 18% requires 'no pressure'. Although the current market share of N-type batteries is less than 10%, Liu Yong said that from the perspective of development trends, the market share of N-type batteries is likely to exceed 25% by the end of 2020. In order to meet market demand, they planned 2.1GW of production capacity in Taizhou, of which 1.2GW has already been put into production, by which time it may become the world's largest N-type battery manufacturer.
What is the effect of using N-type batteries? What is the effect of power generation gain? From the acceptance results of the Datong leader base just announced, it is not difficult to understand how well this battery matches the leader plan. According to relevant sources, Yingli used N-type double-sided modules in the Datong 50MW leader project. As of the end of April 2017, the cumulative power generation in 10 months reached 60.88 million degrees, which is higher than the average polycrystalline power station on average. 10.4-15.6%; compared with ordinary P-type power plants in the Datong area, the power generation has increased by 15-20%, and the investment in power plants has been fully rewarded.
Affected by the 630 installation trend and the concentrated demand for photovoltaic leader modules, in the first half of 2017, the price of high-efficiency monocrystalline modules rose all the way, and power investment companies participating in the bidding on the grid all expressed 'pressure'. However, the price of N-type monocrystalline batteries and components will eventually achieve the same price target as N-P, helping the realization of parity online. In the future, more and more companies such as Zhongmin New Energy will adopt this new type of battery in the leader projects, and use real operating data to prove the advantages of N-type batteries and components. This will also help related companies build in the third batch of leader bases. In the process, it has more right to speak and contributes more to the technological progress of China's photovoltaic industry.