At the end of last month, the 16th (2023) International Solar Photovoltaics and Smart Energy (Shanghai) Conference of SNEC was held in Shanghai. Showcased new technologies and products applied in new energy industries such as solar photovoltaic and energy storage. The efficiency of battery technology is the core of competition among various photovoltaic manufacturers, and there is a clear path plan for improving efficiency. At the same time, as more and more participants flock to the photovoltaic track, most top photovoltaic manufacturers are already looking for a second growth pole. BIPV (Integrated Photovoltaic Building), energy storage, hydrogen energy, etc. are common choices in the industry.

01 | Battery technology is undoubtedly the focus of competition among photovoltaic manufacturers. Overall, most of the top manufacturers choose to bet on TOPCon at this stage, and all have brought TOPCon technology upgrades and iterative products. These manufacturers also have one thing in common, which is basically clear about increasing the mass production efficiency of TOPCon technology to 26% by the end of this year, while the current efficiency is just over 25%. At the SNEC exhibition, Trina Solar released a new generation of N-type i-TOPCon technology. Chen Yifeng, the company's assistant vice president of technology, said that with the application of selective emitters, back plane micro structure reflectors, highly doped and low composite TOPCon structures and other technologies, i-TOPCon technology has entered a new stage, with the mass production efficiency of batteries up to 26% and the mass production power of components up to 700W. The company stated that it is expected that by 2024, the Supreme N-type 700W+components suitable for large ground power plants will achieve mass production. A New Energy DAON

The 3.0 series components are equipped with the company's latest developed TOPCon

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The core of plus technology is high-energy laser i-SE technology, ultra-thin polycrystalline silicon and micro doped ut polySi technology, and emitter stack surface passivation mt Pass technology. According to the data provided by Song Dengyuan, CTO of One New Energy, to the reporter of Securities Times · e Company, the average battery efficiency in mass production of this technology has reached 25.3%, and the maximum efficiency has exceeded 25.8%; It is expected that the average efficiency of TOPCon high-efficiency battery industrialization will increase to 26% by the end of this year. Multiple manufacturers have labeled their battery technology under similar names such as 2.0 or 3.0, indicating that they will continue to upgrade and iterate in the future. Trina Solar revealed that, in the future, through the application of full passive contact battery technology, the mass production efficiency of N-type i-TOPCon battery will exceed 27%, and the application of laminated battery technology, the efficiency of N-type i-TOPCon laminated battery will exceed 30%.

02 | The tourism ring festival and supporting links are introducing low-carbon concepts. Against the backdrop of the EU's adoption of carbon tariffs and the acceleration of carbon reduction processes in global market countries, the demand for low-carbon products in the market is becoming increasingly high. At the SNEC exhibition, multiple manufacturers showcased products emphasizing ultra-low carbon attributes. After the full range of premium P-type components obtained Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and product Carbon footprint certification, many companies started the EPD (green product certification) and Carbon footprint certification of N-type components. Nearly half of the carbon emissions from photovoltaic modules come from silicon materials, while the overall power consumption and average carbon emissions per watt output of granular silicon are lower than those of rod-shaped silicon and the industry average. From the calculation results, it is expected that carbon tariffs of 17100 yuan and 13300 yuan will be reduced per ton, respectively, which has a significant advantage in carbon saving and tax reduction. In the future, even if the EU includes photovoltaic products in the scope of carbon tariff collection, photovoltaic modules made of granular silicon will be subject to lower carbon taxes, resulting in lower total costs borne by end-users.

On SNEC, energy storage is still a hot topic in the new energy era. Whether it is the lithium battery industry chain or the photovoltaic industry chain, it is closely related to energy storage. On SNEC, enterprises such as Honeycomb Energy, BYD (002594. SZ), CATL (300750. SZ) and Far East Holdings (600869. SH) all came to the exhibition with energy storage solutions or products. Honeycomb Energy has released a full range of short knife energy storage cells and products for three major scenarios: electricity, industry, commerce, and home use; BYD has launched its first integrated blade battery energy storage system, the "BYD Rubik's Cube"; CATL released the world's first zero auxiliary source optical storage integration solution. SNEC is still dominated by enterprises in the photovoltaic industry, and enterprises in all aspects of the entire industry chain, from materials, brackets, silicon wafers to components, can be seen everywhere. Based on the standard of pedestrian flow, integrated photovoltaic enterprises have the highest pedestrian flow, followed by specialized enterprises engaged in component and battery processes, while auxiliary material enterprises generally have relatively small pedestrian flow. Large power plants now require mandatory energy storage, and there is a possibility of bidding in the future. For leading photovoltaic companies, energy storage is an important potential market. From the perspective of the core technology of energy storage products, photovoltaic manufacturers are currently more like integrated manufacturers, with more technology coming from core component suppliers such as battery cells. The current energy storage track is already congested, which is a new business for traditional photovoltaic manufacturers. However, companies such as Huawei, Sunshine Power, Jinlang Technology, Kehua Digital Energy, and BYD all showcased energy storage products and solutions at this SNEC exhibition. Previously, there was a prediction in the industry that 80% of energy storage integrators would fall next year, and the energy storage market is likely to enter a knockout phase.

04 | Jingtai's view: SNEC has played a positive role in the share price of photovoltaic enterprises. Data shows that after the press conference of various enterprises, the new energy sector changed in the afternoon, photovoltaic and lithium electricity sectors rose together, Trina Solar rose by more than 7%, and individual stocks such as Sungrow Power, Longji Green Energy, JinkoSolar, CATL rose rapidly. Structurally, the N-type trend has arrived, and the acceptance of N-type TOPCon overseas has been clear since last year. The trend in China has gradually become clear in the past half of the year, and the proportion of N-type in several iconic projects has exceeded 40% recently. At present, the valuation of mainstream photovoltaic companies is 8-15 times, and many market concerns are too picky. By the latest in the third quarter, the market is expected to significantly recover.