How hot is PV investment? From industry leaders to cross-border giants, the prosperity of the photovoltaic industry has improved, many companies have accelerated the layout of production lines, and investment enthusiasm has risen from wave to wave. According to statistics, since the beginning of 2022, the expansion plan of 1.1 million tons of polysilicon, 89.3GW of cells, 252.5GW of silicon wafers, and 118GW of modules in the photovoltaic industry has been released!

Polysilicon: 1.1 million tons

The market all said that silicon material will be out of the photovoltaic circle in 2022. Not only does the price rise once a week move the pulse of the market, but the high net profit of silicon material enterprises is even more surprising. In just over three years since the beginning of the year, more than 100 billion yuan of investment has been invested in the polysilicon manufacturing side. The hot scene makes this link particularly eye-catching.

According to statistics, there are 7 companies investing in silicon manufacturing in 2022, with a clear investment scale of 1.1 million tons and a total investment of over 100 billion. It is worth mentioning that among the 7 companies that have announced investments on the silicon side, 6 of them are cross-border investments. Obviously, silicon has become a "sweet pastry" in the eyes of more and more investment companies, and they are scrambling to invest in this industry. segment influx.

Xinte Energy is the only silicon material company in the silicon material expansion army in 2022. As a leading silicon material company, Xinte Energy has made great efforts. While embarking on the construction plan of 200,000 tons of polysilicon, it is busy with A-share listing to expand financing channels to consolidate the leading position.

Other investment companies involved in the photovoltaic manufacturing industry include SNC and Jolywood. As a photovoltaic mid-stream and downstream manufacturing enterprise, SNC has successfully crossed the border in the silicon wafer link, and its tentacles have once again reached the upper reaches, taking every step of the way. The battery manufacturing company Zhonglai Co., Ltd. has suffered a lot in 2021. In the announcement, it stated that the sharp increase in the price of raw materials is one of the main reasons for the loss. In the face of the continuous rise of silicon materials, in order to maximize profits, upstream The layout seemed urgent.

Hopson Silicon Industry, Geely Technology, Qingdian Energy, and Baofeng Group "cross-border" leading enterprises in various industries are very determined to cross-border in the photovoltaic industry. These four companies alone have brought more than 800,000 tons The company's polysilicon investment and construction plan shows its ambition to attack photovoltaic manufacturing at a glance.

Silicon wafers, silicon rods: 252.5GW

Compared with silicon materials, the expansion momentum of the silicon wafer segment is also not far behind. According to statistics, since the beginning of the year, the scale of production expansion of crystal pulling, slicing, and silicon wafers has reached 252.5GW. In terms of scale, this wave of expansion has accounted for about 74.5% of the total investment in 2021.

In fact, since 2020, the wafer segment has been the largest segment in the entire manufacturing industry chain with the largest expansion scale. In 2020 and 2021, the expansion scale will reach about 313GW and 339GW, respectively. It is precisely because of the huge expansion scale of the silicon wafer side. The resulting demand for raw materials has driven the continuous increase of production capacity at the silicon material end.

Judging from the expansion scale of silicon wafers (including slicing and crystal pulling) in 2022, Jiangxi Yuze and Qingdian Energy have the largest investment scale, with a total investment plan of 60GW. Secondly, the photovoltaic leaders LONGi and Jinko have expanded their production scales in slicing and silicon rods to 30GW respectively; Shuangliang Energy, which focuses on large-sized silicon wafers, has invested in a 20GW large-scale silicon wafer project in Baotou. It is reported that Shuangliang Energy Saving is currently in hand silicon Film orders have exceeded 60 billion yuan.

Batteries and modules: 119GW+148.5GW

Compared with other manufacturing links in the photovoltaic industry, the scale of battery expansion is relatively slow, and with the acceleration of integration in 2021, the expansion of the battery link is mainly based on leading component companies to balance the gap in the industrial chain.

According to statistics, since 2022, the total capacity expansion of the battery sector has reached 119.3GW, of which LONGi has planned a 30GW project on the battery side, Risen Energy has expanded its capacity to 15GW, and JA Solar has deployed a total of about 11.3GW; the former "Slipper King" Jinyang New Energy has also launched intensive expansion since it officially entered the silicon wafer segment in 2020. After announcing the expansion of 20 GW of large-sized heterojunction silicon wafers in 2021, it announced a 20 GW battery expansion plan in 2022. Although the integration trend is accelerating, the expansion of specialized battery companies has not slowed down. Akcome Technology also announced an 8GW battery capacity expansion plan in 2022.

As the fastest technological iterative link in photovoltaic manufacturing, battery technology iteration is the top priority for enterprises. Judging from the company's clear expansion technology route in 2022, the layout of heterojunction technology is accelerating, and the overall expansion scale has reached 48GW. Among them, Risen Energy and Akcome Technology have the largest pace in the layout of heterojunction technology. Regarding the growth rate of heterojunctions, the equipment company Maiwei shares once stated that the order scale of the entire heterojunction line equipment in 2021 will increase by 330% to 8.1GW compared with 2020. It is expected that the overall heterojunction market expansion plan will be in 2022. at 20-30GW.

The module segment is a relatively stable link in the photovoltaic manufacturing industry chain. The total scale of expansion in 2022 will be 148.5GW. In contrast to the enthusiasm of new silicon companies to participate in investment, the expansion companies in the module segment are basically old players in the industry, such as LONGi , JA Solar, Jinko, Risen Energy, Canadian Solar, etc., there are only two new players Baofeng Group and Shuangliang Energy Saving.

It is worth mentioning that Baofeng Group is deploying the entire photovoltaic industry chain, from silicon material to the power station end to enter the photovoltaic industry. Shuangliang Energy Conservation officially entered the silicon wafer field in February 2021, and achieved mass production of monocrystalline silicon rods in October. However, in 2022, it has already begun to expand its component business and squeeze into the most competitive component segment.

Under the dual-carbon goal, photovoltaics has become one of the current top-notch tracks. With the help of capital, the production capacity of the photovoltaic industry is expanding rapidly, and the market competition will be more intense. Editor/Sang Xiaomei