According to the construction and operation of photovoltaic power generation in the first three quarters of this year recently released by the National Energy Administration, from January to September, my country’s newly installed photovoltaic capacity was 18.7 million kilowatts, including 10.04 million kilowatts for centralized photovoltaics and 8.66 million kilowatts for distributed photovoltaics; as of 2020 At the end of September 2009, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation reached 223 million kilowatts. At the same time, the utilization level of photovoltaic power generation has also been continuously improved. In the first three quarters, the national photovoltaic power generation was 2005 billion kwh, an increase of 16.9% year-on-year; the national average photovoltaic utilization hours were 916 hours, an increase of 6 hours year-on-year.
From the perspective of the industry, the continuous increase in the public’s acceptance of photovoltaic power generation is the result of the continuous decline in the cost of photovoltaic power, but the room for single hardware such as modules to reduce costs is very limited. Under the industry trend of high power and large size, the system end poses new challenges to the main links of the industrial chain such as brackets and inverters. How to start from the power station system, consider overall and optimize the configuration has become the development of photovoltaic enterprises at this stage. New Direction.
High power, large size, new challenge
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) pointed out that in the past 10 years, among all kinds of renewable energy, the average cost of photovoltaic power generation has fallen the most, exceeding 80%. It is expected that the price of photovoltaic power generation will fall further in 2021, which is 1/of that of coal-fired power generation. 5.
The industry has also drawn a clearer development route for cost reduction. Huang Qiang, vice president of Risen Energy (300118), pointed out that the cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour has expanded the dimension of innovation, and marketization has made competition more intense. In the new historical background, innovation around the cost of electricity has become the core competitiveness of enterprises. Behind the large step increase in module power from 500W to 600W is the industry’s breakthrough in the cost of electricity. “The industry has moved from the original era of “cost per watt” dominated by government subsidies to the era of “cost per watt” dominated by market prices. After parity, low cost per wattage and low electricity prices are the photovoltaic industry’s fourteenth Five’s key topics.”
However, what cannot be ignored is that the continuous increase in power and size of components have put forward higher requirements for products in other major industrial chain links such as brackets and inverters.
JinkoSolar believes that the change in high-power modules is the upgrade of physical size and electrical performance. First, the physical size of the components is closely related to the design of the bracket, and there are corresponding requirements for the strength and length of the bracket to achieve the optimal number of single-string modules; secondly, the increase in the power of the modules will also bring about changes in the electrical performance. The current adaptation requirements will be higher, and inverters are also developing in the direction of adapting to higher component currents.
How to maximize the revenue of photovoltaic power plants has always been the common pursuit of the photovoltaic industry. Although the development of advanced component technology has promoted the increase of power generation and the decrease of system cost, it has also brought new challenges to the bracket and inverter. Enterprises in the industry are working hard to solve this problem.
The relevant person in charge of Sungrow pointed out that large components directly cause the voltage and current of the inverter to increase. The maximum input current of each MPPT circuit of the string inverter is the key to adapting to large components. “The company’s single-channel maximum input current of string inverters has been increased to 15A, and new products of inverters with larger input currents have also been planned.”
Look at the whole, promote collaboration and better match
In the final analysis, a photovoltaic power station is a system engineering. Innovations in the main links of the industrial chain such as components, brackets, and inverters are all for the overall progress of the power station. Under the background that the single hardware cost reduction space is getting closer to the ceiling, photovoltaic companies are promoting the adaptability of products in all links.
Zhuang Yinghong, Global Marketing Director of Risen Orient, told reporters: “Under the new development trend, key links such as high-efficiency components, inverters, and brackets need to adhere to the information sharing, open and win-win cooperation model, give full play to their respective competitive advantages, and carry out corresponding Only technical research and product development can promote the technological innovation of the photovoltaic industry and improve the standardization and standardization of the industry.”
Recently, at the 12th China (Wuxi) International New Energy Conference and Exhibition, Trina Solar, Sunneng Electric and Risen Energy signed a strategic cooperation agreement on “Ultra-high-power photovoltaic modules represented by 600W+” . In the future, the three parties will carry out in-depth cooperation from the system side, strengthen technical research and product development in terms of products and system adaptation, and continue to promote the reduction of photovoltaic power generation costs. At the same time, it will also carry out a full range of cooperation in global market promotion, bring a broader value increment space for the industry, and expand the influence of ultra-high power components.
Yang Ying, chief engineer of CITIC Bo’s R&D Center, told reporters: “At present, the difficulty in the coordination of major links such as high-efficiency components, inverters, and brackets is how to organically combine the characteristics of different products, maximize the advantages of each product, and launch the most The system design of’Excellent Matching’.”
Yang Ying further explained: “For trackers, how to carry more components within the scope of the’optimal’ structure, drive, and electrical design to improve the overall energy efficiency of the system is an urgent problem for tracker manufacturers. This also requires mutual promotion and collaboration with component and inverter manufacturers.”
Trina Solar believes that in view of the current trends of high power and double-sided modules, the brackets are required to have high compatibility and high reliability, as well as intelligent optimization of power generation and other characteristics, from wind tunnel experiments, electrical parameter matching, structural design intelligent algorithms, etc. Many considerations.
The cooperation with the inverter company Shangneng Electric will continue to expand the scope of collaboration and promote the large-scale application of larger power components and better system solutions.
Intelligent AI+ adds value
During the interview, many senior executives of photovoltaic companies told reporters that “efficient components + tracking brackets + inverters” have become a consensus in the industry. With the support of high-tech technologies such as intelligence and AI+, there are more possibilities for high-power components to collaborate with other industrial chain links such as brackets and inverters.
Duan Yuhe, president of Shangneng Electric Co., Ltd., believes that at present, photovoltaic manufacturing enterprises have begun to transform to intelligent manufacturing, and the level of intelligence is constantly improving, but there is still a lot of room for the development of intelligent photovoltaic systems, such as inverter-centric improvement. Coordination, management level, etc.
Yan Jianfeng, global brand director of Huawei’s smart photovoltaic business, said that AI technology has developed rapidly in recent years. If AI technology can be integrated with the photovoltaic industry, it will drive the deep integration of all major links in the photovoltaic industry chain. “For example, on the power generation side, we have integrated AI algorithms to create the SDS system (smart DC system). From a digital perspective, we can’perceive’ the external radiation, temperature, wind speed and other factors, combined with precise big data and AI intelligence. Learning algorithm to obtain the best corner of the tracking bracket in real time, realizing the closed-loop collaborative integration of “double-sided module + tracking bracket + multi-channel MPPT smart photovoltaic controller”, so that the entire DC power generation system reaches the best state, so as to ensure the power station to obtain the maximum Power generation.”
Gao Jifan, chairman of Trina Solar, believes that in the future, under the development trend of smart energy (600869, stock bar) and energy Internet of Things, technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain will further promote the maturity of photovoltaic systems. At the same time, digitization and intelligence will continue to be integrated with the manufacturing side, opening up the supply chain, manufacturing side, and customers, and generating greater value.
Post time: Jan-13-2021
