Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client, November 6 (Zhang Yanzheng) "In the second half of the year, the supply of photovoltaic glass is extremely tight. For example, one square meter of 3.2mm coated photovoltaic glass has risen from RMB 28 in August to the current 48. Yuan, it’s still hard to get the goods.” Li Wei, general manager of a new energy technology company in Jiangsu, as a part of the combined company, told a reporter from Sino-Singapore Jingwei.

　　Towards the end of the year, the photovoltaic industry has entered a period of explosive demand. Unlike the demand scenario, mid- and downstream module manufacturers are worrying about the recent shortage of photovoltaic auxiliary materials and price increases. Among them, the shortage of photovoltaic glass is relatively large.

The price of photovoltaic glass has risen by 70% in the past 3 months

　　As a photovoltaic product processing and combination enterprise, Li Wei's enterprise relies heavily on the cooperation of the upstream raw material industry chain.

At present, the price of photovoltaic glass raw materials is soaring.

"The company originally planned to put the successfully developed new products on the market at the end of this year, but now the supply of raw materials is tight, and the launch date of the new products may have to wait."

　　According to the latest quotation disclosed by PV InfoLink, a well-known research institution in the global photovoltaic field, on October 28, the highest quotation for 3.2mm coated glass in the spot market is 48 yuan per square meter, with an average price of 41 yuan, an increase of 10.8% from last week.

2.0mm coated glass rose to 35 yuan per square meter, up 17.9% from last week.

On August 5, 3.2mm coated glass was quoted at RMB 26.

Based on this calculation, the price of 3.2mm coated glass rose by about 70% in just three months.

　　Li Wei introduced that (above) photovoltaic glass is the upstream raw material of photovoltaic modules. Its strength and light transmittance directly determine the life and power generation efficiency of photovoltaic modules, and it is an essential material for the production of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules.

　　In order to be able to control production costs, Li Wei said that he had considered investing in building factories to produce photovoltaic glass by himself.

"Some time ago, some of the leading colleagues asked me to discuss together and invest in the construction of an assembly line for the production of photovoltaic glass. However, considering that the production of ultra-thin glass requires high technical requirements, and the establishment of a factory has two red line restrictions on environmental protection and safety. Put it aside for now."

Photo courtesy of interviewees in the interior of the photovoltaic company's factory

　　Li Wei explained that the investment and construction cycle of photovoltaic rolled glass production capacity is long, including energy-saving assessment, environmental protection assessment, civil engineering, production line construction, capacity ramping and other links. It takes a long time from project establishment to full production.

In addition, glass-producing enterprises belong to the pollutant discharge unit that the environmental protection department pays attention to. If they want to pass the project's completion acceptance, they need to obtain environmental impact assessment and other environmental protection administrative permits.

"The demand for photovoltaic glass is large, and the production side cannot keep up. According to the current situation, the existing production capacity is far from supporting the development of the photovoltaic industry."

Why is the demand for photovoltaic glass soaring?

　　A reporter from Sino-Singapore Jingwei combed Wind data and found that in the third quarter of 2020, Flatter, one of China's largest photovoltaic glass original manufacturers, achieved "profit double increase", and on the other hand, the world's largest monocrystalline silicon manufacturer Longji The net profit of the shares only increased by 0.12% from the previous quarter, but the net profit in the second quarter also achieved a high growth of 16% from the previous month.

In addition, in the third quarter, the revenue and net profit of Chint Electric, a leading company in the low-voltage electrical appliance market, fell 3.06% and 15.27% respectively from the previous quarter.

　　So, in the second half of the year, why did the demand for photovoltaic glass soar?

　　On July 31, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Department of the National Energy Administration pointed out in the announcement that the first batch of wind power and photovoltaic grid-connected projects in 2020 and 2020 must be approved (filed) and construction started before the end of 2020. Except for the limited grid-connected consumption, wind power projects must be connected to the grid before the end of 2022, and photovoltaic power generation projects must be connected to the grid before the end of 2021.

The National Energy Administration will sort out and announce the grid-connected wind power and photovoltaic power-level grid-connected projects within the specified time limit on an annual basis. The wind power and photovoltaic power-level grid-connected projects that are not connected to the grid within the specified time limit will be the first batch of wind power in 2019 and 2020. , Removed from the list of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation projects.

　　In addition, on October 15th, the General Department of the National Energy Administration issued the "Notice on Announcement of PV Bidding to Parity Online Projects". The document shows that the two types of bidding projects are directly converted to parity grid projects. There are a total of 1,229 two types of projects, and the installed capacity 7,998,900 kilowatts.

It also requested that “relevant project units should step up to complete the filing, start construction and other related work. Except for reasons of limited grid-connected consumption, the project must be connected to the grid by the end of 2021.”

　　According to a report from the Securities Market Weekly, in the list of photovoltaic bids to parity grids announced this time, Jinko Technology won a total of 7 projects with a total of 203.341MW.

Among them, 5 ground projects total 200MW; 2 distributed projects total 3.341MW.

　　The financial report shows that Jinko Technology has developed 28 new projects in the first half of 2020, with a total installed capacity of approximately 1,470 MW, and affordable projects accounted for more than 85%.

Relying on its own advantages, all fair-price projects have been declared successful.

According to the 2020 list of photovoltaic parity grid-connected projects announced by the Energy Development and Reform Commission (2020) No. 588 on July 31, 2020, Jinko Technology's parity projects are among the top three residential enterprises in terms of bids.

　　Although it has the joy of winning the project, Jinko Technology also faces the pressure of grid-connected photovoltaic projects, and naturally faces problems such as the shortage of photovoltaic auxiliary materials needed for the project.

Similar winning bidders include leading photovoltaic industry suppliers such as Longji and Trina Solar.

　　Earlier, Trina Solar had issued a risk warning in the 2020 semi-annual report that the company uses silicon as the basic raw material and processes it into silicon wafers and solar cells on this basis, and finally assembles them into photovoltaic modules.

“If large silicon material manufacturers experience unpredictable production capacity fluctuations, or the downstream market’s phased outbursts of unexpected demand, it will cause silicon material prices to fluctuate significantly, which will affect the price of silicon wafers and solar cells, and ultimately affect the company’s costs and Profitability.” Trina Solar said in its financial report.

Expert: Improving the matching degree of the upstream supply chain is good for the future development of photovoltaics

　　According to the Securities Times, on November 3, the six leading photovoltaic module manufacturers of Risen Energy, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, Longi, Trina Solar, and Canadian Solar issued a joint proposal, calling on relevant departments to resolve photovoltaics. The problem of glass shortage.

The above-mentioned companies stated that, in the context of the positive development of the photovoltaic industry, the current glass production capacity upstream of the industrial chain is facing a serious shortage, which has seriously affected the production and delivery capabilities of photovoltaic modules.

　　According to the analysis in the research report of West China Securities, the sharp drop in the short-term supply of silicon materials has led to a price jump. The sudden supply and demand contradiction will be relieved to a certain extent with the subsequent supply recovery. However, the new supply of silicon materials has been limited in the past two years, considering the upward trend of demand. It is expected that subsequent silicon materials will continue to maintain a tight supply pattern.

　　It is worth mentioning that the shortage of photovoltaic glass has attracted the attention of relevant departments.

According to the Shanghai Securities News, relevant departments are currently studying and formulating documents on promoting the development of the photovoltaic glass industry. They plan to implement a policy different from traditional float glass for photovoltaic glass, so as to release production capacity as soon as possible, ease supply tightness, and curb price increases.

In addition, a differentiated policy will be implemented for the replacement of photovoltaic glass production capacity to prevent new overcapacity.

　　Ren Guozheng, a researcher at the Central University of Finance International Research Institute of Green Finance and Director of the Health Finance Laboratory, said in an interview with Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client that China has become the world’s largest manufacturer and exporter of photovoltaic products, and the scale of photovoltaic power station applications is also among the world’s top It can be said that the survival and development of Chinese photovoltaic companies affects the global photovoltaic industry market to a certain extent.

　　Ren Guozheng pointed out that there are objective reasons for such a sharp price increase of photovoltaic glass companies, but it will have a greater impact on the entire industrial chain in the long run.

"If the policy can give relevant enterprises more autonomy, expand the main body of enterprises, strengthen investment and financing services, reduce the cost of photovoltaic kilowatt-hours as much as possible, and improve the matching degree of the upstream supply chain, it will benefit the healthy and healthy development of the future market, which is also in line with The task of developing strategic emerging industries and accelerating the promotion of green and low-carbon development in the "14th Five-Year Plan"." Ren Guozheng said.

　　As of the close of November 5, upstream and downstream companies related to the photovoltaic industry have been sought after by capital in the secondary market.

Among them, the two glass giants Xinyi Solar and Flatt rose 7.36% and 3.66% respectively; Longji shares, a photovoltaic portfolio company, rose 6%; JA Tech rose 2.35%; Risen Energy rose 4.31%.

(Zhongxin Jingwei APP)

(At the request of the interviewer, Li Wei is a pseudonym in the text)

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