Thin-film solar industry is expected to take the lead out of new energy winter

With the BIPV (Photovoltaic Building Integration) market, the thin-film solar industry is ushering in a new round of development opportunities and is expected to take the lead in getting out of the "winter" of photovoltaics.

According to the “Notice on Organizing and Implementing the 2012 Solar Photovoltaic Building Application Demonstration” issued by the Ministry of Finance at the end of last year, the photoelectricity integration project that is closely integrated with the building height, such as building materials, is tentatively scheduled to be 9 yuan per watt. Increased by 3 yuan in 2011.

In this regard, Chen Pengyu, a researcher of Dacheng Fund's new energy industry, said that the increase in the amount of subsidies for photovoltaic buildings indicates that the country has the confidence and determination to promote the integration of photovoltaic buildings during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period. With the increase of PV building subsidies, it will increase the enthusiasm for the development of photovoltaic buildings in various regions and promote the development of photovoltaic building integration market. It is understood that China currently has 48 billion square meters of building area. If 10% of them establish a BIPV system, a 500GW solar battery market will be formed.

The development of the photovoltaic building integration market has opened up a new market for the photovoltaic industry in China. In this area, thin-film solar cells occupy significant advantages over crystalline silicon solar cells.

Thin-film solar cells are a new generation of solar cells. Compared with conventional crystalline silicon cells, thin-film solar cells have significant advantages such as raw material saving, low energy consumption, low cost, and convenience for large-area continuous production. Amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells have the advantages of rich raw materials, non-toxicity, no pollution, and the lowest energy consumption.

In terms of solar roofs, one of the main applications for photovoltaic buildings, thin-film batteries are more capable of exerting their technological advantages. Firstly, the thin-film battery has a weaker light response effect and a relatively low unit cost. Second, thin-film photovoltaic modules are more easily integrated with building components. While saving the cost of building components and other materials, they can also generate economic benefits through power generation. Improve the beauty of the building.

Another major application of photovoltaic buildings is the same with glass curtain walls. In this field, thin-film solar cells are characterized by their light weight, good light transmission, good flexibility, and easy integration with building materials, and can be fully utilized. The traditional crystal silicon glass curtain wall is composed of crystalline silicon square plates. The views that people see from the inside are all one by one, not complete, which makes the crystal silicon glass curtain wall have a lot of defects.

Therefore, analysts believe that the market development of photovoltaic building integrated market, the ultimate benefit will be the thin film solar energy industry, with the development of photovoltaic building integration market, the thin-film solar energy industry will usher in a rapid development period.

In fact, given the future development of the photovoltaic building integration market, leading companies in the global thin film solar industry have begun to accelerate their expansion. For example, on November 3, 2011, the world's leading thin-film solar company, First Solar of the United States, invested in a factory in Germany with a total investment of over 17 million euros. The total production capacity of First Solar in Germany reached nearly 500 megawatts.

In China, the most obvious action was the Hanergy Group, the largest private clean energy company in China. In 2011, Hanergy Holding Group successively put into operation four thin-film solar energy production bases in Sichuan Shuangliu, Guangdong Heyuan, Zhejiang Changxing, and Shandong Yucheng, making the production capacity break through 1,000 MW. It is understood that Hanergy Holding Group will continue to put into production thin-film solar energy bases in 2012, with a view to achieving a capacity of 2,000 megawatts in mid-2012.

According to a survey report recently published by the famous Swiss bank Sarasin on the solar photovoltaic industry, the top companies in the thin-film solar industry, including First Solar, General Electric, Sharp, Showa Shell and Hanergy Holdings, are rapidly expanding. The company will therefore have a minimum annual production capacity of 500MW. By 2013, the thin-film solar industry will be able to achieve an average annual growth rate of 32%.

Analysts pointed out that with the stimulation of favorable policies, the development of the photovoltaic building integration market dominated by thin-film solar energy, and the continuous expansion of industry leaders, the future of thin-film solar energy industry will usher in a new round of development cycle, and is expected to change The current market pattern.