The photovoltaic industry chain only accounts for "10%"

It is a consensus that the photovoltaic industry is currently in a slump. Not long ago, the reporter visited photovoltaic companies. Although he felt the chill brought to the photovoltaic industry by the international market situation, he also felt that no matter when, continuous innovation and improving R&D capabilities will always create space for enterprises to survive and develop.

On November 23, the reporter visited Anhui Yihe New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. in Chizhou City, Anhui Province. This is a young private enterprise established in 2007. Its main products are photovoltaic inverters and high-voltage inverters. Although it has not been established for a long time, it is currently the company with the most complete photovoltaic inverter product series and the most various certifications in China, with an annual output of 1000MW of photovoltaic inverters.

The person in charge of the company told reporters that when the company was first established, the founder conducted a detailed investigation of the photovoltaic industry market. "It was 2006, and the capital and technical thresholds for components were relatively low, with a starting cost of 2 million yuan; the investment in silicon smelting was high, requiring hundreds of millions of yuan; the technical content of system integration was not high, and all was exported at the time. The company's management team came from the semiconductor industry, and we eventually chose inverters that were similar in profession and had higher technical thresholds," said Xie Fuhua, the company's general manager, to reporters.

In the workshop, the reporter saw that small inverters were about the size of household water heaters, while large inverters were huge, more than a person tall. In the entire photovoltaic industry chain, the value of inverters only accounts for 10%, which does not attract much attention. In fact, inverters have high technical content, such as temperature control: when the temperature is too high, it is easy to burn out the circuit. In the operation of many ground power station projects, due to improper use of inverters, short circuits and fires and inverter malfunctions have caused great losses.

Making inverters requires money, but money alone is not enough. "It is necessary to conduct secondary research and development on the laboratory technology in order to achieve industrialization. Many investors do not understand this. As far as I know, many people in Wenzhou have failed in making inverters because they are looking for quick results. When we first established the company, we predicted that it would take three years for the inverter market to explode. In the past three years, we have focused on enriching and improving the product structure, seeking to make great achievements after years of accumulation." Xie Fuhua said.

Quality is the life of a product. When developing products, the capabilities of competitors are an important reference indicator. Compared with internationally renowned brands, the overall performance of Yihe's products is not much different. "We have tested the products of the top three companies in the world, and we are not inferior to them in terms of technical performance indicators. Of course, there is still a gap in process level and a large gap in brand."

In the workshop, a staff member opened the "door" of a large inverter and told the reporter: "This is called sheet metal. Don't underestimate it because it looks like a door. It is imported and is a patented product of a foreign company."

“Can’t we do it in China?”

"It can be done, but the quality is not good. The installation process is not up to standard, and it shakes when turned on. As for capacitors and switches, we use foreign brands. They have a long life and guaranteed quality. Now some key components are controlled by foreign manufacturers."

“What about the cost?”

"Our parts are almost the same as those abroad. But our costs are about 70% of those of our foreign counterparts, and some products are even 50% of theirs because of the cheap labor. If these components are all domestically produced, the cost will be reduced even more."

High quality and low price are the magic weapon that made Yihe stand out in just a few years, and R&D capability is the key to the success of the enterprise. Yihe used to mainly sell small and medium-sized inverters for foreign users. Now, as the situation changes, the market has turned to the domestic market, and the products are mainly large grid-connected inverters. This is determined by the difference between the domestic and foreign markets, but to achieve this transformation, strong strength is needed behind it.

"Some companies don't have this capability, because large inverters require higher R&D capabilities and testing levels. For example, some companies don't have a constant temperature and humidity laboratory. How can they do testing if they don't even have a laboratory?"

Although the shrinking European market, the main export destination, has affected product sales, Xie Fuhua is not worried about the future. "Since the introduction of the national incentive policy, especially the benchmark electricity price, the domestic photovoltaic market has improved significantly, filling the gap in the European market. Some time ago, I went to Delingha and Golmud, where it was really in full swing, with photovoltaic projects one after another. All the industry leaders are enclosing land and carrying out construction. As far as I know, Qinghai Province alone has proposed a target of 22 GW in the 12th Five-Year Plan. This is a huge effort, and I think this goal is feasible." Xie Fuhua is full of confidence in the prospects of photovoltaic power generation in the country, especially in the western region. "Now the cost of photovoltaic power generation in the western region is less than 80 cents, and the price of 1.15 yuan is very attractive. The key is that the power grid must be strong and have the ability to absorb it."