China's PV companies survive in the cracks

From July 3 to July 5, the 5th China (Beijing) International PV Exhibition was held on schedule. However, unlike previous years, this year's show was a bit slack. Feng Xiangjun, managing director of Cologne Exhibition China Co., Ltd., one of the organizers of the exhibition, said: “This year, the number of exhibitors is nearly 300, and the number is actually slightly lower than last year. Some exhibitors have already paid a deposit, but they have been turned away to save money. "The reason for this, Feng Xiangjun believes that the EU's "double opposition" to China's PV has a great impact on the company.

In fact, not only was this exhibition, but also in the photovoltaic exhibition held in Shanghai in May this year, the number of exhibitors also dropped sharply.

Innovative technology opens up new possibilities

“We are looking for fruit in the cracks to fill our stomachs. We are looking for an oasis in the desert to dig a little water.” Zong Hua, director of the thin film plant of Guodian Photovoltaic Co., Ltd., said that this description of PV companies' survival status quo.

The “fruit” and “oasis” referred to by Zong Hua refer to distributed photovoltaic power generation on rooftops, walls, agricultural greenhouses, farming sheds, fish ponds and other places.

The traditional place of power generation is land, which brings a real problem: the western region is vast, but the electricity generated cannot be sent out; the eastern region, though with few land, has a high electricity consumption. The above approach can "make full use of cheap places and maximize the use of limited space." Zong Hua said.

At the same time, it is understood that thin-film solar power generation technology has become the focus of some companies' R&D.

Hanergy Holding Group is in the leading position in this field. The person in charge of the company said that compared with traditional crystalline silicon solar cells, thin-film solar cells have the advantages of no pollution, low cost, high power generation, short production chain, and strong flexibility. More importantly, thin-film solar cells are not subject to the EU's "double opposition" restrictions, which makes the company free from this industry disaster.

However, the above-mentioned person in charge also stated that the thin-film solar energy technology will become the direction for the future development of the photovoltaic industry. However, at present, the technology, equipment, and funding thresholds are still relatively high.

Look forward to policy reinforcement

Although distributed generation has allowed many companies to see the hope of the photovoltaic industry, the lack of domestic policies has also disappointed the enterprises.

Zong Hua said that for a long time, due to inadequate subsidies for electricity prices, it is difficult for companies to generate distributed power in the domestic market to earn money, usually losing money, and only photovoltaic products can be exported to the European market to make money. The two are offset by one another or earned. Now, the EU’s “double opposition” has caused companies to lose their foreign markets and the domestic market has not kept up.

Zong Hua further pointed out that it takes 10 years for companies to recover distributed PV power to recover costs. The government needs to guide the industry. However, the current policy is too general. He believes that in different places, the degree of light, construction and installation costs are different, the subsidy policy should also be different, can not engage in "one size fits all".

Zong Hua said that private enterprises are not easy and lack funds, technology and markets. The government should give more guidance. Feng Xiangjun also stated that the government should be in a dominant position and give policy support for a long time to come. In this regard, foreign governments do a good job and China should learn from them.

The photovoltaic industry still has prospects

"The EU's 'double reversal' of China's PV companies is not a good thing, which has created a market downturn in one stage," said Wang Zhixuan, secretary general of the China Electricity Council.

However, Wang Zhixuan is still optimistic about the photovoltaic industry. He said: "The photovoltaic industry is still promising. There is no doubt about this. There is no problem in the development direction of new energy and renewable energy. With the continuous advancement of technology, there is still demand in the market. I am optimistic."

Talking about the way out of photovoltaic companies, Wang Zhixuan said that first of all, companies should strengthen communication and coordination to understand the legal environment abroad. Second, the domestic market still has great potential. Despite the surplus of photovoltaic industry, with the rapid development of the domestic market, some production capacity can still be digested. Finally, companies must self-reflection, improve technology, increase efficiency, and enhance services.