How do developers participate in the construction of photovoltaic power plants?

On July 15, "Several Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinion") appeared on the front page of the Chinese government website, and was first reproduced by major media and websites. The "opinion" was also interpreted by the industry as the Chinese government once again stood up for the domestic photovoltaic industry in a difficult position.

On the other hand, the overcapacity, the collapse of closures, the US “double opposition”, and the EU’s “double opposition”, along with the hard-to-find Chinese PV industry continue to suffer from the following attacks, people questioned the entire PV industry. Voices rose again. Does the government need to continue to support such an industry? Is the photovoltaic industry really a high-tech industry? What is the future of China's PV future?

Faced with these doubts, Meng Xianyi, deputy director of the China Renewable Energy Society, is still full of expectations for the future of China's photovoltaic industry. In an exclusive interview with reporters, he said that there are indeed various problems in China's photovoltaic industry, but this does not mean negating the industry, and these problems are being solved one by one. The current industry dilemma is the "labor pain" to solve these problems. . At the same time, he also believes that real estate developers will be the new hope for the development of distributed photovoltaics in the future.

Reporter: Regardless of whether it is at the production end or at the use end, the photovoltaic industry is an industry supported by the government. Do we need to spend a lot of resources to support this industry?

Meng Xianyi: Not only in China, but also in the world, the photovoltaic industry is an industry that depends on government support, but the degree is different. For the reason, I often like to make a simple metaphor. The birth of an infant requires the entire social support and care, including parents, in order to grow up healthily and create value for society when grown up. Solar energy is a newborn baby in the energy field. Before we reach adulthood, we certainly need our support. From the current point of view, the future potential of this "baby" is great.

The replacement of fossil energy with new energy is an inevitable trend, and solar energy is an important way to solve the energy problem in the future. From the perspective of the abundance of resources, solar energy is sufficient for use all over the world, which is conclusive in the academic community. But this is only a technical level conclusion. It does not mean that solar energy can solve human energy problems once and for all. The development and utilization of solar energy still requires a difficult and lengthy process. In the process, we still need to face and solve many problems.

Reporter: Many people questioned whether the photovoltaic industry is actually a high-energy-consuming, high-pollution industry. This situation does exist in China. What do you think about this issue? Meng Xianyi: This is obviously a misreading of the photovoltaic industry. The high energy consumption and high pollution mentioned here mainly refer to the production of polysilicon. The production of polysilicon is a highly sophisticated technology that has traditionally been controlled by developed countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan. If it is a high-energy-consuming and highly-polluting industry, according to the development laws of other industries, the developed countries will surely transfer a lot to China because their environmental protection indicators and environmental protection costs are much higher than China's. As a matter of fact, these countries generally do not set up factories in China, and they do not transfer technology to China. In the process of developing the photovoltaic industry, we have mastered some production technologies through various channels.

The production of polysilicon is a closed loop process. In this process, raw materials are continuously reused and recycled. This will not only increase the added value and production efficiency of the product, but also greatly reduce emissions and reduce pollution. However, in China, this technology is not mastered. Our enterprises often extract polysilicon during the production process. However, other by-products such as silicon tetrachloride have not been collected, but have been discharged into the atmosphere, causing serious problems. Pollution.

Reporter: So some people also questioned that PV is a “pseudo-high-tech” industry.

Meng Xianjun: I do not agree with this statement, can only say that some companies do not master the core technology of this photovoltaic industry. This is not the problem of the photovoltaic industry itself, but our own problem. Moreover, as far as the current situation is concerned, with the overall development of China's photovoltaic industry, a group of domestic PV companies such as GCL-Poly and China Yingli have initially mastered the core technology of polysilicon production, and this situation is being reversed.

Looking back now, there are obviously many blindnesses in China's PV development. Under the condition that we did not master the core technology, we began to rely on low-cost "advantages" such as manpower and land to develop the photovoltaic industry on a large scale. The encouragement and support of the government has exacerbated this trend. This kind of advantage is unsustainable and not a real competitive advantage. It is now time to eliminate these backward production capacities that do not have a competitive advantage.

Reporter: For the forthcoming “subsidy for electricity” system for photovoltaic power generation, what kind of subsidy system is this? Is there any latest news?

Meng Xiankai: "Daily power subsidy" is a subsidy to the central government for every kilowatt-hour of electricity generated by photovoltaic power plants. The latest news comes from the recent State Council executive meeting on the photovoltaic industry. According to the difference between the amount of subsidies and the subsidy method, there are three types of schemes. The approximate amount of subsidy is 0.4 to 0.6 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and which scheme is eventually adopted has not yet been determined. However, in the past two days, I have learned from other sources that it is not entirely clear that the three options may not be passed, and the final scheme may be greatly increased.

Reporter: We know that distributed photovoltaic power plants will become the focus of development for some time in the future. What are the problems in the construction of the distributed PV power plant and investment recovery?

Meng Xiankai: Compared to centralized power plants, the main body of distributed power plants is relatively cumbersome. Because photovoltaic equipment requires space, these spaces are property rights. Therefore, to be a distributed photovoltaic power plant, we must choose a project with clear property rights and clear distribution of benefits. For example, photovoltaic power plants are built on economic and technological development zones, industrial plants, and public buildings. The first choice for these projects is the relatively large scale and easy to generate benefits. The second is clear property rights and clear distribution of benefits. The one-person personal photovoltaic power station is generally the kind of independent property and independent property project. The residential buildings in the city are not suitable for large-scale development when the management system, business model, and technology research and development are not mature.

Reporter: Under the new market structure and supporting policies, how can real estate developers better participate in the construction of distributed photovoltaic power plants?

Meng Xiankai: Distributed photovoltaic power plants have been emphasizing the integration with architecture, and developers are the best building subjects for the BIPV project. Developers can build a comprehensive solar energy utilization system to integrate heat utilization and photovoltaic power generation. In terms of the ownership of photovoltaic equipment, it can be unique to the owner and included in the owner's purchase of the house; it can also be shared by the owner and the developer, just like the public area of ​​the community. Of course, the business model, attribution of investment returns, management system, and even the need to introduce or formulate specific support policies and laws and regulations must be further explored. I think that under the background of vigorously developing distributed photovoltaic power plants, developers will certainly have a lot to do as the main body of their construction.