As the world is paying more and more attention into green development, topics include carbon neutrality, global green energy, and the future of clean energy are being discussed at the ongoing 2023 Boao Forum for Asia held in south China's Hainan Province.
CGTN sat down with Zhu Daocheng, vice president of photovoltaic products manufacturer JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd., and discussed topics about new photovoltaic technology and Chinese contribution to global development.
New generation of solar cells
The new generation of solar cells is one of the most concerned topics in the photovoltaic industry. Zhu told CGTN that the commonly used P-type PERC solar cell has reached the bottleneck of mass production.
"Over the past decade, all of the developers have focused on the mass production and expansion of P-type cells," he said, adding that the relatively new solar cell, the N-type cells are now slowly entering the stage of mass production.
"Especially the TOPCon and HJT solar cells, are two promising new products in N-type cells that we have seen so far," Zhu said.
He explained that the TOPCon solar cell is relatively compatible with the supply of P-type PERC solar cells due to its technical craft, and its initial investment cost is relatively small.
"The mass production of the TOPCon solar cell has already started in 2022," Zhu said.
For the HJT cell, Zhu thinks it will be able to achieve relatively large scale production in the next year or two with the cost coming down further.
"The HJT cell can achieve lower costs and thinner raw materials for silicon wafers, and it has an advantage in terms of carbon footprint," he told CGTN.
'Energy storage is the next big thing'
There are still pain points that need to be solved in terms of the development of the photovoltaic energy storage industry.
Zhu thinks that energy storage is a new technology, and it's a direction of urgent solution and breakthrough in the field of photovoltaic power generation.
"These types of new energy are basically intermittent energy, which varies with the influence of the weather and the wind. Therefore, energy storage plays a key role in the future development of the storage of electricity," he said.
"For the development of other new energy industries such as electric vehicles, energy storage is also needed. So at the moment, storage is going to be the next big thing in the energy and electricity industry," he said. "We believe that the total market size will soon exceed 1 trillion yuan (about $145 billion)."
Chinese company's global contribution
The vice president said the company has been further strengthening the cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region since the beginning of this year.
"In particular, in all the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, we have stepped up our contacts and publicity with local businesses, striving to spread the concept of new energy and photovoltaic to more enterprises or government agencies," Zhu said.
The photovoltaic products manufacturer has also tracked some of the overseas projects of Chinese companies.
"Through them, we also have access to some heavy and badly polluted industries, such as coal power, steel and cement," Zhu told CGTN. "We work with them based on their services, and hopefully to make some contribution to their energy transformation."
Videographer: Ding Zhiyang
Video editor: Liu Binling
Graphic designer: Yin Yating