In recent years, while the photovoltaic industry broke out year after year, reducing costs and increasing efficiency have also become the main theme of the industry. With the further reduction of subsidies, how the photovoltaic industry can continue to reduce costs has become a topic of greatest concern among people in the industry. Expert analysis shows that at present There is not much room for price reduction for inverters, brackets and other accessories. More price reduction tasks still need to be achieved through component-side price reductions. Is there any room for price reduction at the component end?
Recently, Qian Jing, vice president of the component leader Jingji Energy, said in an interview with OFweek solar photovoltaic network that due to technological progress, the efficiency of components has been continuously improved, coupled with the expansion of major companies to make upstream silicon materials, wafer prices Although there is still room for decline in the price of components, the space is limited and the rate of decline will slow down. In this round of component price declines, there may be some second-tier and third-tier companies that do not have technical advantages will face greater challenges.
Jin Jing Vice President Qian Jing
Component shipments approached 10 GW in 2017
As the leading company in the component field, JinkoSolar's component shipments in 2016 reached 6.65GW, ranking first in the world. Qian Jing expressed to OFweek solar photovoltaic network, Jinco 2017 component shipments in 2016 Based on an increase of 47%, nearly 10GW, and continuing to lead the world, it is the first company in the world to reach a 10GW threshold. Compared with 2016, Jinke's more significant progress is in a more uniform global layout. In the sector's industrial map, the domestic market accounts for 40%. This figure dropped to about 30% in 2017. At the same time, the proportion of other markets has risen. The United States accounts for about 18%, South America accounts for about 16%, and Europe. Japan accounted for about 8%, and the Middle East accounted for about 8%. Currently, Jinko has formed a globally evenly distributed industrial map. It is precisely because Jingke has been sticking to the strategy of uniform global distribution. In the past year, the domestic market was extremely hot. With almost half of the total installed capacity in the world, Jinko’s domestic shipments have not been significantly improved. This also makes Jinke’s financial report data may not be as bright as those of other solar companies in the betting China market. But in the long run, in the global PV market ups and downs, the global distribution of crystal families are healthy and sustainable development. In this regard, crystal families are rare in the industry with global operations capabilities of enterprises.
In addition, the achievements in the household market are the highlights of Jinkee 2017. Last year was a year when the Jingke Households team officially started work. By the end of 2017, Jingke’s dealerships had reached 600, and shipments reached About 180-200 megawatts. If the standard is based on 3KW, Jingke households installed 6-7 million household photovoltaic power plants in the past year. Within a year, they achieved such impressive results. Qian Jing attributed to two points. The first point is that the user's awareness of PV power plants has changed. At present, the price of a 3KW household power station is around 20,000-30,000 yuan. This price is acceptable for rural houses and villas. In some new rural areas, their economic abilities and environmental awareness are relatively strong. Compared with capacity and price, they are more concerned with brands and quality. For example, in the Guangdong region, users in this part of the country value quality and brand very much. The second point is Jinko’s The business model is unique, and most of the photovoltaic company's household brands will configure components such as components, brackets, and inverters, and then sell the entire photovoltaic system to the terminal through dealers. However, Jinko currently only supplies components to distributors. The other parts of the system only provide suggestions and references, which are configured by the distributors themselves. This allows the household system to be more flexible and gives dealers greater profit margins. The earth has stimulated the enthusiasm of distributors. At the same time, in order to ensure that end users are provided with quality products, the management of distributors has always been the focus of Jing Ke Family Business Unit. Qian Jing stated that Jing Ke has a set of dealer-oriented products. Supervision, evaluation mechanism, timely detection of distributors' problems, and reasonable controls to ensure end-user experience.
Single crystal, polycrystalline two-pronged two-pronged approach
In the first quarter of 2018, the 'price war' of polycrystalline and single crystals became the focus of the industry. Regarding the development of single crystals and polycrystals, Qian Jing stated that because of the popularity of the diamond wire cutting process, the cost of single crystals has increased dramatically. In recent years, the polycrystalline industry has begun to use wire cutting, and it has once again had a cost advantage. This is the background of the 'price war' at the beginning of the year. Single crystals and polycrystals are currently forming a healthy competition. Pattern, which is conducive to the development of the industry. Many in the industry believe that crystal is based on polycrystalline, in fact, is not. Crystal Division has a layout of polycrystalline and single crystal, crystal polycrystalline production capacity ratio is about 4 Than 6.
Qian Jing believes that the future PV market needs a variety of products, so whether monocrystalline or polycrystalline, it will be used in different scenarios. In terms of component products, different types of components are suitable for different application scenarios. For example, PERC single crystal components are more suitable for front runners who have certain technical threshold requirements. The most important feature of the half-chip assembly is that shadow shading has less influence on it, so it is suitable for projects that will be affected by the inevitable shadow shading. Surface components are suitable for snow and other areas with strong ground reflections. So the future trend is that different products have different application scenarios. The time when a product hits the world will become a thing of the past.
Actively participate in the leader 0.32 yuan ultra low price has its rationality
Recently, the latest batch of front runner bases began to be competitively pleasing, attracting many PV companies to compete, bidding prices all the way down, and even reported a historical minimum price of 0.32 yuan/kWh. Qian Jing said that the current leader projects There is only one step away from parity Internet access. The active participation of state-owned enterprises by central SOEs is the highlight of the bidding competition for this leader. Each firm’s determination of bidding price will be considered from the three latitudes of project profitability, corporate long-term strategic planning, and business model. These three latitudes determine the bidding strategy of a company. For example, some companies take the leader's project as part of their long-term strategic plan. Some companies assess their own technical level and capabilities, and ultimately guarantee the bottom end. The profit point comes from the price that oneself can accept. From these perspectives, every price quoted by the company has its rationality. For Jinke, the profitability of the project will be the key consideration. In this round of front-runner bids, Jing Ke will use the three different latitudes to derive the most reasonable quotation plan. Involved leader.
No return to A-share plan
In recent years, many well-known photovoltaic companies such as Trina Solar, Artes Solar, and JA Solar have delisted from US stocks, making the 'privatization' of PV shares a trend. As one of the Chinese PV companies listed on US stocks, What are the considerations for JinkoSolar and do they have plans to return to A shares?
In this regard, Qian Jing stated that the reason why peer companies delisted from US stocks was mainly because photovoltaic stocks were seriously undervalued in the U.S. capital market. If they are in A shares, the same companies are completely different in market capitalization and other aspects. The story. Whether or not Jinko will return to A-shares. This will be based on the long-term strategic planning and positioning of Jinke. The long-term planning of Jinko is to be a global company, global manufacturing, global production, and global investment. From this strategic point of view, it is reasonable for Jinko to currently hang on the US stock market. Other companies may be more optimistic about the Chinese market and want to return to A-shares and bet on the domestic market. This is understandable. From the start, Jinko is currently not considering returning A shares.
The market is hot and it needs calm
As a result of several consecutive years of outbreaks, major PV companies have started expanding their production in 2017. In 2018, polysilicon, silicon wafers, components, etc., all have greater capacity to release. Qian Jing stated that there must be some expansion of the company's production. For its own considerations, for Jingke, when the industry is booming, companies need to be more calm, so there is no significant expansion plan for Jinko. The wave of expansion in the industry will lead to a drop in the prices of upstream industry chains. In a short period of time, the midstream companies will be slightly better.
