Recently, with the continuous development of large photovoltaic stations, how to further reduce photovoltaic energy storage costs has once again caused heated discussions in the industry.

▲ 图为光储高压先进技术发布仪式现场 阳光电源/供图

Sunshine Power, which has ranked first among Chinese companies in global energy storage system shipments for eight consecutive years, is about to set off a new round of changes in the optical storage industry. Recently, with the continuous development of large photovoltaic stations, how to further reduce photovoltaic energy storage costs has once again caused heated discussions in the industry.

As one of the core forces of clean energy, photovoltaic power generation plays an increasingly important role in the wave of global energy transformation due to its advantages of cleanliness, safety and abundant resources. At present, China's photovoltaic industry fully maintains its global leadership position. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2023, China exported 13.92 trillion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 2.9%, accounting for 58.6% of the total export value. Among them, the total export of "three new" products such as electric manned vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells was 1.06 trillion yuan, exceeding the trillion mark for the first time.

Wang Bohua, honorary chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, said that from the perspective of global development trends, the photovoltaic industry will continue to maintain rapid development. There is a consensus that global installed capacity of renewable energy will triple in 2030. By 2030, global installed renewable energy capacity will triple that of 2022, reaching more than 11000 GW. The cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaics will increase from 1055 GW in 2022 to 5457 GW in 2030.

Wang Bohua also pointed out that while achieving the above achievements, the current industry development is also facing relatively severe challenges. "For example, photovoltaic consumption problems are serious and have spread widely to the distributed photovoltaic field. The problem of lack of grid-connected access capacity is emerging in more and more regions; irrational investment and bankruptcy occur frequently, which leads to low-price bidding. Industry issues such as price inflation still plague the development of the industry."

▲ The picture shows the sunshine power supply/supply diagram at the release ceremony of high-voltage advanced technology for optical storage

Among them, the consumption problem can be solved by relying on new energy storage, and the development of new energy storage has also promoted the development and consumption of new energy sources. Tao Ye, deputy director of the Renewable Energy Development Center of the Energy Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, said that as of the end of 2023, the installed capacity of new energy storage and energy storage will be approximately 12.36 million kilowatts, mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu and other provinces with rapid development of new energy. "The development of new energy storage has improved the safe and stable operation of the system. The installed capacity of independent energy storage and shared energy storage has reached 15.39 million kilowatts, accounting for an increasing trend. Shandong, Hunan, Ningxia and other provinces with large system regulation needs. In addition, energy storage for industrial and commercial users in Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces has developed rapidly, helping users to serve flexible and efficient energy."

"In terms of increment, according to industry analysts, the annual new global photovoltaic capacity will exceed 500 GW this year, and the annual new installed capacity of energy storage will exceed 700 GW. Under this general trend, we believe that optical storage is actually accelerating towards the main energy source." Li Han, vice president of Sunshine Power Optical Storage Group, said that at the same time, the capacity of a single station is gradually increasing. "In previous years, the largest station was only a few hundred megawatts. Now we have seen many single stations with a capacity of gigawatts, and many power stations in the Middle East have even exceeded two gigawatts. "If photovoltaics and energy storage are to truly become the main energy sources, costs need to be further reduced. According to Bloomberg's forecast, by 2030, the electricity cost of photovoltaic is expected to drop below 0.20 yuan, and the electricity cost of energy storage is expected to reach 0.35 yuan. If we want to further reduce electricity costs and continue to improve economy under the trend of large stations, it is not enough to rely solely on the scale effect of existing products. A series of innovative solutions are needed to accelerate this process."

On March 21, Sunshine Power's optical storage high-voltage 2000-volt system technology was successfully released at the "PAT2024 Love Photovoltaic for a Lifetime" advanced technology seminar held in Hefei, Anhui. Li Han said that from the perspective of system-level innovation, it is imperative to increase the number of series connections and increase the system voltage. "Compared with the 1500-volt system currently used in the industry, the 2000-volt photovoltaic system CAPEX can save 0.04 yuan/watt, OPEX can save 0.0125 yuan/watt, system efficiency is improved by 0.5%-1%, and full life cycle investment saves 16.5 billion yuan/100 GW. The energy storage system CAPEX saves 0.045 yuan/watt, OPEX saves 0.075 yuan/watt, system efficiency improves 0.4%-0.7%, and full life cycle investment saves 12 billion yuan/100 gigawatt hours."

It is worth mentioning that in July last year, the world's first 2000-volt high-voltage system built by Huaneng Shaanxi and Sunshine Power has been operating stably in Yulin, Shaanxi Province. High-voltage technology has further alleviated the shortage of photovoltaic land. "Before the release of 2000V technology, we teamed up with Huaneng Shaanxi to jointly build the world's first 2000V high-voltage system, and successfully connected to the grid for power generation in Yulin, Shaanxi Province. We put into operation the newly developed DC 2000V high-voltage inverter by Sunshine Power Supply. It has been stable for 8 months. Compared with the 1500-volt system, it saves about 3.6% in floor space. Currently, the entire photovoltaic land is in short supply, and the proportion of newly built photovoltaic installed capacity needs to be further increased. Therefore, for a photovoltaic power station that has been formed of a certain scale, increase its energy density, so that the more electricity generated by an above-ground photovoltaic panel, the more cost-effective the project construction will be." Li Han said.

▲ The picture shows the sunshine power supply/supply diagram at the release ceremony of high-voltage advanced technology for optical storage

However, although the 2000-volt system can significantly improve efficiency, large-scale application still faces three major challenges: standards, technology, and supply chain. Song Ge, assistant general manager of Huaneng Shaanxi Power Generation Co., Ltd., said that the current industry environment still poses certain challenges in promoting 2000-volt systems. "The promotion of 2000-volt high-voltage technology will not be achieved overnight. It also requires the coordinated promotion of market mechanisms and national policies. After applying various complex scenarios, it will take two to three years to achieve large-scale development."

It is understood that in the past few years, Sunshine Power has carried out research and development from three levels: hardware, software and system, and has overcome key technologies of 2000-volt high-voltage systems. Sunshine Power relies on strict hardware standards, extreme architecture design and intelligent algorithms, and relies on AI technology. Empowering hardware and using algorithms to achieve precise control of hardware, significantly improving the entire system in terms of safety, efficiency and intelligence. It is actively promoting the formulation of standards in conjunction with the industry. At the same time, we will work together with upstream and downstream to jointly define and design product components and system components, and continuously improve the 2000-volt optical storage system industry chain.