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Reducing the cost of photovoltaic technology through technological advancements
Release time:
2017-02-27
Recently, the National Energy Administration, in its issued "2017 Energy Work Guidelines", proposed to continue implementing the photovoltaic power generation "leader" program, giving full play to the market mechanism to reduce power generation costs. Li Shimin, deputy director of the Gansu Natural Energy Research Institute, told reporters that this year and throughout the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the main task of photovoltaic power generation is to promote technological progress, reduce power generation costs, and achieve grid parity.
Recently, the National Energy Administration, in its issued "2017 Energy Work Guidelines", proposed to continue implementing the photovoltaic power generation "Leader" action, giving full play to the market mechanism, and promoting the reduction of power generation costs.
Li Shimin, deputy director of the Gansu Natural Energy Research Institute, told reporters that this year and throughout the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the main task of photovoltaics is to promote technological progress, reduce power generation costs, and achieve grid parity. However, subsidies for ground-based photovoltaic power plants are being gradually reduced, resulting in increasing pressure to reduce the cost of photovoltaic electricity. The "Leader" plan is a way for the National Energy Administration to improve the development of China's photovoltaic manufacturing industry through market behavior, mainly encouraging the best technological progress in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, continuing to implement the "Leader" plan plays a very important role in reducing the cost of photovoltaic power generation.
So, what aspects should we focus on to reduce photovoltaic power generation costs at present?
Driving Point One
Giving full play to the leading role of the "Leader" plan
According to reporters' understanding, China's photovoltaic industry has relied on three main aspects to reduce costs over the past decade: firstly, the experience curve, learning from foreign countries; secondly, economies of scale, rapid cost reduction; and thirdly, technological innovation. Currently, the effectiveness of the experience curve is very low, and cost reduction through economies of scale has also approached the "floor", so continuous technological innovation has become the most effective means to promote the upgrading and development of the photovoltaic industry and ultimately achieve grid parity. More than a year after the implementation of the photovoltaic "Leader" plan, the popularization and promotion of high-efficiency and high-reliability products has accelerated rapidly. The guiding role of advanced technology and the improvement of photovoltaic product efficiency are also very obvious.
The reporter reviewed a "Shanxi Datong Coal Mining Subsidence Area National Advanced Technology Photovoltaic Demonstration Base 2015 Project Investment Promotion Document", which has strict regulations on the construction indicators of photovoltaic base power stations: for example, the first-year system efficiency of the photovoltaic power station should be no less than 81%; the efficiency of monocrystalline components should reach more than 17%, and the conversion efficiency of polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic components should be no less than 16.5%; the inverter should have a zero-voltage ride-through function, the maximum conversion efficiency should be no less than 99%, and the comprehensive efficiency should be no less than 98.2%, etc. Obviously, photovoltaic component products with low technical content and small and medium-sized enterprises with weak strength will find it difficult to participate in this plan.
As China's first "Leader" plan project—the first phase of the Datong Coal Mining Subsidence Area National Advanced Technology Photovoltaic Demonstration Base—was connected to the grid and started generating electricity at the end of June last year.
It is understood that the project uses a total of 1.016 million kilowatts of photovoltaic components, of which 609,000 kilowatts are monocrystalline silicon components, accounting for 60%. Currently, many provinces across the country have launched the Bidding for "Leader" base projects, and the companies that have successfully bid generally have high visibility and strong technical strength in the industry.
For example, companies such as Xinyi Energy and Yingli Energy, which successfully won the Bidding for the "Leader" base project last year, are the best examples.
In addition, many powerful photovoltaic companies such as Trina Solar, Hanergy Holding Group, Jinneng Technology, Canadian Solar, and JA Solar have also joined the photovoltaic "Leader" plan.
According to calculations by relevant departments, compared with conventional components, the "Leader" advanced technology components have achieved a 5% to 8% increase in installed capacity per unit area without almost increasing costs, which has a significant impact on promoting the reduction of photovoltaic power generation costs. Today, under the guidance of the "Leader" plan, not only do the "Leader" base projects have clear standards for advanced technology and conversion efficiency, but other photovoltaic projects are also beginning to actively follow the "Leader". For example, last year, many mainstream power station investors in China required that equipment and products for general projects also meet the efficiency standards of the "Leader" plan during large-scale centralized Bidding.
Li Shimin told reporters that this year, the country will also issue an upgraded version of the "Leader" plan, which will pay more attention to technological advancement. Relevant departments should give full play to the technological leading role of the "Leader" plan, allowing more new technologies to be applied in the photovoltaic field, which will inevitably effectively promote the reduction of photovoltaic power generation costs.
Driving Point Two
Fully implementing competitive Bidding
On May 30, 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Improving the Scale Management of Photovoltaic Power Generation and Implementing Competitive Bidding for Project Allocation". Today, under the framework of this guiding opinion, giving full play to the market mechanism has activated the development potential of the photovoltaic industry. This is particularly evident in the Bidding for photovoltaic "Leader" plan projects.
It is understood that based on the above guiding opinions, the 2016 photovoltaic "Leader" plan specifically added the content of competitive Bidding. Among them, in October last year, in the Bidding for the "Leader" project in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, Yingli Energy successfully won the Bidding with an ultra-low Price of 0.45 yuan/kWh, which is lower than the current residential electricity Price, shocking the industry. It seems to have shown people the dawn of grid parity for photovoltaics.
According to the person in charge of a relevant enterprise participating in the Bidding for the Wuhai photovoltaic "Leader" project, the main reason why some enterprises dare to "compete on Price" is that the Price of photovoltaic components is constantly falling. Another reason is that enterprises that win the Bidding for the "Leader" project can be given priority access to the grid and priority in receiving subsidies. Therefore, under such circumstances, with better payment conditions, the best management team, and the best capital resources, a Price of 0.45 yuan/kWh is also possible to achieve a small profit.
Looking at the global photovoltaic market, some countries have also achieved a significant reduction in photovoltaic power generation Prices through competitive Bidding. For example, in the Bidding for photovoltaic projects in the UAE in 2016, the lowest Price was 2.42 US cents/kWh; in a recent Bidding for a photovoltaic project in India, the lowest Price was only 2.99 US cents/kWh.
Li Shimin told reporters that competitive Bidding is both a process of development for the photovoltaic industry and a means of Bidding for "Leader" projects. Through competition, reshuffling can occur, and enterprises without technological advantages will withdraw from the competition. The purpose is to urge photovoltaic enterprises to accelerate technological innovation, improve conversion efficiency, and reduce the cost per kilowatt-hour.
Xing Yiteng, deputy director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, recently stated that in 2016, competitive Bidding was mainly used in eight "Leader" bases for open Bidding, and the average project was 20 cents lower than the local photovoltaic benchmark on-grid electricity Price, saving an estimated 1.5 billion yuan in subsidies. In 2016, competitive Bidding was not used for ordinary projects. In order to enable the photovoltaic industry to reduce costs faster, competitive Bidding will also be used for ordinary projects this year.
Driving Point Three
Optimizing power station planning and design
"With the reduction of on-grid electricity Prices, ordinary photovoltaic power station projects will also fully launch a competitive mechanism. As a result, photovoltaic power stations will gradually Enter the "small profit" era. Under the current diversified development of photovoltaic power generation application models and rapid improvement of photovoltaic manufacturing technology, how to strengthen the refined design and equipment selection work before the construction of photovoltaic power stations is becoming increasingly important for further reducing the cost of photovoltaic power generation per kilowatt-hour." Industry insiders told reporters.
Xiao Bin, director of the Photovoltaic Institute of Northwest Survey and Design Research Institute of Power Construction of China, stated at the recently held Second Symposium on Photovoltaic Power Station Design and Equipment Selection that through refined and customized design rules, environmental friendliness, beautiful scenery, ecological benefits, and economic benefits have been integrated into the planning and design concepts of photovoltaic power station projects, proposing a new design concept for photovoltaic power stations.
To achieve refined and customized design, the planning and site selection of photovoltaic power stations need to consider the comprehensive utilization of land resources. For example, photovoltaic power stations can be built using the methods of agricultural-photovoltaic complementation, fishery-photovoltaic complementation, and pastoral-photovoltaic complementation. This can complement and enhance the benefits of traditional industries and photovoltaics, ultimately achieving a double harvest of ecological and economic benefits.
In addition, regarding the design of photovoltaic power stations in complex terrains, Wu Qiren, chief engineer of Three Gorges Renewables, stated at the symposium: "We should conduct a detailed investigation of the tilt angle and strings of photovoltaic sub-arrays, selecting areas with slopes and orientations conducive to the layout of photovoltaic power stations, avoiding nearby tall buildings. Given land conditions, we should comprehensively analyze and increase the spacing between the front and rear rows of component brackets to extend power generation time." Li Shimin also told reporters that there is still much room for optimization in the design of photovoltaic power stations. For example, increasing the installed capacity of photovoltaic components can increase power generation, reducing the number of inverters can save costs; essentially, both improve the station's return on investment. Cable loss and usage are also key considerations in optimization design; typically, cable laying quantity is related to array arrangement, series-parallel wiring, topography, and the location of the inverter room.
In terms of equipment selection, using a 1500-volt DC system can effectively reduce DC cable losses and improve system efficiency. It is understood that Xinxing used a 1500-volt DC system in the 30-megawatt agricultural-photovoltaic complementary photovoltaic power station in Donggou, Funing, Jiangsu Province, reducing DC-side line losses by about 30% without increasing cable costs and improving the overall photovoltaic power station system efficiency by about 0.4%.
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