PVTIME – On December 1st, the Solar Industry Annual Conference 2022 was held by China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) via off-line and on-line broadcast. During the meeting, Mr. Wang Bohua, Honorary Chairman of CPIA, presented a detailed review of the photovoltaic industry in 2022 and offered his outlook on the development situation for the photovoltaic industry in 2023.
Revisiting the Preeminent Development of PV industry in China
Mr. Wang Bohua firstly reviewed the brilliant achievements of China’s PV industry in 2022 where he emphasized that in terms of trade, technology and industry performance, Chinese PV companies had made all-round progress both in domestic market and overseas while the global PV market grown rapidly in 2022.
The newly added PV power installed capacity in China reached 58GW from January to October 2022, reaching a record high. The cumulative installed PV power capacity was 349.9GW by the end of August 2022. And in the first three quarters of this year, the installed capacity of solar power for household, industrial and commercial scenarios, and centralized solar power plants were on average proportion. Then in the fourth quarter, it gave priority to construct ground PV plants rather than distributed ones.
Meanwhile, the market demand drove strong growth on the manufacturing of solar power products. The production volume of polysilicon, silicon wafers, solar cells and modules in the first quarter of 2022 dramatically higher than that in the whole year of 2021, with a growth rage of more than 40%. In the first three quarters of 2022, the total output of polysilicon reached 550,000 MT, an increase of 52.8% YoY. That of silicon wafer was 236GW, up 43.0% YoY. The production volume of solar module was 191GW, up 46.8% YoY, while that of solar cell was 209GW, up 42.2% YoY.
Both the export volume and value of PV products hit a new high from January to October 2022 as expected. The export value of solar module rose 85.8% year-on-year, and more than half of that was shipped to Europe. Yet the shipment of solar module shown a slowing trend in the fourth quarter analyzed the monthly export data for the whole year.
The achievements were the result of the joint efforts of the Chinese government, solar enterprises and PV scientific research institutions. With the announcement of China’s goals of reaching carbon peak and carbon neutrality, a series of support policies was conducted to ensure a favorable environment for Chinese photovoltaic companies to grow.
In 2022, Chinese PV industry was encouraged to pay more attention on the innovation and technology improvement than ever before. More than 4% of funds was invested in the research and development of PV technology and manufacture and it was fruitful. The world record of solar cell efficiency was smashed 11 times by Chinese PV labs, and currently the highest efficiency of 26.82% record was achieved by LONGi with its silicon-based solar cell, is far ahead and will maintain its leading place.
Outlook for 2023: Solar Power and Renewable Energy to Become Main Power Source
Climate disasters and skyrocketing fuel prices have made the need to end the global addiction to fossil fuels crystal clear, and without renewables, there can be no future, Mr. Wang Bohua quoted a passage from the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s speech addressed on September 18, 2022, underscoring the importance of promoting alternative energy.
China has a strong market potential for PV industry to unlock. Up to now, the newly installed PV capacity in 26 provinces and autonomous regions of China has exceeded 406GW, with an additional 355.5GW in the next four years.
The Chinese PV enterprises are encouraged to jointly lead a healthy industrial development. Although the rising prices of PV products had drawn many attention this year, it will be stable to secure the supply chain for the whole industry as it shown a downtrend recently with reasonably control.
There are many opportunities and challenges for the development of PV industry. The Chinese solar industry sees a better future, while uncertain risks can not be neglected, such as the pandemic, natural disasters and policies changing. China’s photovoltaic industry has formed and optimized its industry supply chain over the years and will continue to do so, Mr. Wang Bohua stated. There have been many successful cases in the PV industry for win-win cooperation. The Chinese solar industry will promote the clean energy progress, keep projects moving and create jobs. For the newly entered companies the challenge mainly comes from repeating construction and overcapacity.
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