As LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. publicly announced that it was betting on unpopular technology routes, the long-dormant photovoltaic industry has once again attracted a lot of attention. On September 5, at its 2023 semi-annual results briefing, Chairman Zhong Baoshen said: "LONGi has a very clear view that in the next 5-6 years, BC cells will be the absolute mainstream of crystalline silicon cells, including bifacial and single-sided cells, and a large number of LONGi's products will move towards the BC technology route." ”
The photovoltaic industry chain can be roughly divided into four manufacturing links: silicon materials, silicon wafers, cells and modules. In addition to the upstream polysilicon link, the silicon wafer and cell markets have been carved up and have begun to "involute" frantically.
While other leaders in the industry are betting on TOPCON (tunneling oxide passivation contact) cell technology, it is not surprising but understandable that LONGi chose the BC ("back contact cell technology") path. Martin Green, the "father of solar energy in the world", has previously said that while the competition between Topcon and HJT is fierce, BC has the potential to be a winner in the long run.
The BC cell structure has high conversion efficiency and is very beautiful, which is suitable for distributed photovoltaic scenarios. Moreover, it is versatile, and TopCon, HJT, PERC, etc. can be combined with BC technology, and the superimposed process continues to improve the efficiency advantage. In addition, as the "crown jewel" of crystalline silicon technology, BC cells also have the advantages of excellent performance indicators, low attenuation, good reliability and large cost reduction space.
However, in 2023, LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. was surpassed by JinkoSolar and Trina Solar in the shipment rankings, and the company's revenue and net profit both fell into a "negative growth" situation in the third quarter, which caused dissatisfaction and confusion among many shareholders.
For the energy industry, the cost and efficiency of products are the two core factors that determine life and death, so the correct choice of battery path determines the competitive landscape of the photovoltaic industry in the future to a large extent. LONGi chose BC, which is not advantageous in terms of cost and efficiency, but its performance stalled in the third quarter and module shipments fell short of expectations, and the inopportune choice of this choice has been reflected at the specific market level.
Li Zhenguo, founder and president of LONGi Green Energy, once published an article in Engineering that high efficiency and low LCOE ensure the competitiveness of photovoltaic power, and both rely on technological progress in the photovoltaic industry. In the next 10 years, crystalline silicon cells will still be the mainstream technology in the photovoltaic industry, but in order to achieve cell efficiencies higher than 28%, it is still necessary to deeply understand the factors affecting the photoelectric conversion efficiency of cells and explore ways to effectively control these factors. He has also said more than once in public that the photovoltaic industry has obvious overcapacity, and the industry should return to the main track of "technology competition".
LONGi's strategy may be a big gamble: to endure the disadvantages of the BC technology path on the cost side in the short term, rely on its own strong cash reserves and R&D investment, survive the industry reshuffle period, promote the full popularization of BC batteries with better power generation performance, reduce the cost of electricity, and build a zero-carbon solution from electricity to hydrogen.
It is gratifying that the conversion efficiency of LONGi Green Energy's BC technology series cells is continuously improving, and the conversion efficiency of mass-produced HPBC cells has increased to 255%, and the conversion efficiency of HPBC+ battery mass production reaches 258%。LONGi Green Energy may continue to adhere to this choice, continue to invest in R&D, have a deep insight into application scenarios and customer needs, and prove the correctness of its decisions in the future.
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