The development of the standardized photovoltaic manufacturing industry has achieved remarkable results

A few days ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Market Regulation, the National Energy Administration and other three departments jointly issued the "Notice on Promoting the Coordinated Development of the Supply Chain of the Photovoltaic Industry Chain", the second part of the text, clearly put forward that the local industrial and information technology, energy authorities should deeply implement the "Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry Specification Conditions" (hereinafter referred to as the "Normative Conditions") and other policies, actively regulate the industrial development order, photovoltaic power plant investment and construction should be in accordance with the normative requirements and related standards
.
The "Normative Conditions" mentioned in the notice were implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2013 and aim to strengthen the management
of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry.
The author believes that the introduction of this document has played a very important role
in standardizing the order of the industry and improving the technical level of the industry.

Standardize market order and promote the withdrawal of backward production capacity

Speaking of photovoltaics, I have to say 2012
.
2012 is an epoch-making and important year
in the history of China's photovoltaic development.
On March 20, the fifth day of the successful conclusion of the two sessions of the National People's Congress, the US Department of Commerce announced the results of the preliminary review of the countervailing duty investigation of China's photovoltaic products, and decided to impose a countervailing duty of 2.
90% to 4.
73% on solar panels imported from China, and a tax of 90 days back
.
On May 17, the U.
S.
Department of Commerce announced the initial decision on anti-dumping, with a tax rate of 31.
14% to 249.
96%.

On October 10, the U.
S.
government finalized the final
ruling of the "double anti-"double anti".
The US Department of Commerce has decided to make an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy final ruling on imported Chinese photovoltaic products, imposing a countervailing duty of 14.
78% to 15.
97% and an anti-dumping duty
of 18.
32% to 249.
96%.
Specific taxation targets include crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, panels, laminates, panels and building integration materials produced in
China.
As soon as the US double-anti-US policy landed, regions and countries such as the European Union, Australia and Canada also "took advantage of the opportunity.
"
On July 24, the newly established European Photovoltaic Manufacturers Alliance (EUProSun), led by SolarWorld, filed a lawsuit
with the European Commission against "dumping by Chinese PV manufacturers".
Subsequently, on September 6, the European Commission issued an announcement to launch an anti-dumping investigation
into photovoltaic panels, photovoltaic cells and other photovoltaic modules imported from China.
On November 8, the EU officially launched a countervailing investigation of photovoltaic products in China, and the domestic photovoltaic industry is facing severe challenges
.

On November 8, 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was solemnly held
in Beijing.
The meeting listed vigorously promoting the construction of ecological civilization and reversing the trend of ecological environment deterioration as an important topic, and focused on strengthening the protection of natural ecosystems and environmental protection, and strengthening the construction of
ecological civilization systems 。 On December 19, in view of the serious overcapacity, the market is overly dependent on external demand, after Europe and the United States and other countries have successively implemented double countermeasures for China's photovoltaic industry, enterprises generally have difficulty in operating and other issues, and the "National Five" to support the development of China's photovoltaic industry was officially introduced, and specific measures include: accelerating industrial restructuring and technological progress; Standardize the order of industrial development; Actively explore the domestic photovoltaic application market; Improve support policies; Give full play to the role of market mechanisms, reduce government intervention, and prohibit local protection
.
At the same time, in order to standardize the order of the photovoltaic market, promote the withdrawal of backward production capacity from the market, improve the level of industrial development, strengthen the management of the photovoltaic industry, guide the industry to accelerate transformation and upgrading and structural adjustment, and promote the sustained and healthy development of China's photovoltaic industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began to organize the implementation of the "Normative Conditions"
in 2013.
After the introduction of these relevant policies, the development of the industry has gradually picked up, and the operating conditions of enterprises have improved
.
In 2013, the global installed capacity of photovoltaics was 36GW, an increase of 12.
5% year-on-year; The price of polysilicon and module rose by 47% and 8.
7%
respectively in the whole year.
The EU reached a preliminary solution to China's photovoltaic "double reverse" case, and China made a final ruling on the "double reverse" of polysilicon in the United States and South Korea, and the external environment was further improved
.
As of the end of 2013, the number of polysilicon companies in production increased from 7 at the beginning of the year to 15, most of the battery backbone enterprises turned losses into profits, the gross profit margin of major enterprises in the fourth quarter exceeded 15%, and the annual net profit of some enterprises turned positive
.

The "Normative Conditions" has been implemented for ten years and has achieved four major results

The "Specification Conditions" apply to polysilicon, silicon rods, ingots, silicon wafers, batteries, modules, inverters and other manufacturing enterprises in China, which are voluntarily applied for by enterprises and do not have the pre-approval and mandatory
administrative approval.
So far, the "Normative Conditions" has released four versions
: the 2013 version, the 2015 version of the 2018 version, and the 2021 version (currently being implemented).
The entire document of the "Normative Conditions" is divided into 8 parts (2013 version, 2015 version, 2018 version), including production layout and project establishment, production scale and process technology, comprehensive utilization of resources and energy consumption, environmental protection, quality management, safety, health and social responsibility, supervision and management, by-laws, etc
.
In 2021, the chapter on smart manufacturing and green manufacturing was added, and the entire document was changed into 9 parts
.

With the rapid development of China's photovoltaic industry and technological progress, many indicators of the "Normative Conditions" have changed, so every once in a while, it is necessary to revise
.
The main changes are in the advancement of technology, the reduction of energy consumption, and the increase in intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing
.
The technological progress is mainly copper indium gallium selenium (CIGS), cadmium telluride (CdTe) cell module photoelectric conversion efficiency, multi/monocrystalline cell (module) conversion efficiency, photovoltaic inverter China weighted efficiency, multi/single crystal module subsequent annual attenuation rate, each revision has been improved
to varying degrees.
The reduction of energy consumption is mainly due to the reduction of power consumption and comprehensive power consumption of polysilicon projects, the average comprehensive power consumption and water consumption of battery projects, and the average comprehensive power consumption of crystalline silicon cell module projects
.
The increased content of intelligent manufacturing and green manufacturing is mainly to encourage enterprises to actively carry out intelligent manufacturing
by running automation, informatization and intelligence through all aspects of design, production, management and service.
Encourage enterprises to carry out evaluation of
green design products, green factories, green supply chains and so on.
Encourage enterprises to give priority to the use of green and clean electricity in the production and manufacturing process, and can meet green manufacturing requirements by purchasing green power certificates and other methods
.

With the gradual implementation of the "Normative Conditions", its importance in the industry has increased
year by year.
Many policies began to be bound to the "Normative Conditions", such as public listing, obtaining financing, power plant construction requirements, and the procurement catalogue of central state-owned enterprises
.
In this way, more and more new photovoltaic companies want to join the industry "normative conditions", and enterprises that join the industry's "normative conditions" need to meet all the requirements of the industry's "normative conditions", which standardizes the development of
the industry.

It is embodied in four points: First, the pursuit of technological progress
.
Because the technical requirements in the industry's "Normative Conditions" will be increased every once in a while, this will drive photovoltaic companies to continue to pursue breakthroughs and drive the progress
of technology.
The second is to improve quality requirements
.
In accordance with the requirements of the "Specification Conditions", photovoltaic manufacturing enterprises have established a sound quality management system, equipped with quality inspection agencies and full-time inspectors
.
More and more photovoltaic companies build laboratories with CNAS accreditation to ensure the quality of
products by improving laboratory capabilities.
The third is to adhere to environmental protection
.
Environmental protection is not only a public welfare and social responsibility issue, but also promotes the development of green markets and reduces the risk of climate change, but also a trend
that is increasingly sweeping the world.
The "Normative Conditions" stipulates that enterprises should conduct environmental impact assessments in accordance with the law and carry out environmental protection acceptance
of completion in accordance with regulations.
Enterprises should obtain pollutant discharge permits in accordance with the "Catalogue of Classified Management of Pollution Discharge Permits for Fixed Pollution Sources" and discharge pollutants in accordance with the provisions of the discharge permits
.
Enterprises should continue to carry out cleaner production audits, and waste gas and wastewater discharge should comply with national and local air and water pollutant discharge standards and total quantity control requirements
.
Encourage enterprises to pass ISO14001 environmental management system certification, ISO14064 greenhouse gas certification, PAS2050/ISO/TS14067 carbon footprint certification
.
The fourth is to pursue low energy consumption, the pursuit of intelligence and green manufacturing
.
More and more photovoltaic companies use various ways to save energy and reduce consumption, reduce the use of electricity, and reduce costs
.
At the same time, more and more intelligent factories have emerged, and more and more photovoltaic companies have built green factories, produced green design products, and applied for green supply chains
.

At the end of December 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the National Energy Administration jointly issued a notice on the issuance of the "Smart Photovoltaic Industry Innovation and Development Action Plan (2021-2025)", proposing to enhance the development level of the industry by accelerating industrial technological innovation, improving the level of
intelligent manufacturing, and achieving green development of the whole chain.

It is also necessary to keep pace with the times and continue to be honest and innovative

Photovoltaic manufacturing enterprises voluntarily submit applications, prepare relevant declaration materials in accordance with the "Normative Conditions", and submit them to the Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology through the provincial industrial and information technology authorities.
The department conducts a formal review (supplementary materials notified by incomplete materials), and on-site verification
is carried out after expert review.
Enterprises that enter the directory shall submit the self-inspection report of the previous year before March 31 of each year, and fill in the production and operation of the previous quarter before the 20th of the first month of
each quarter.
When there is a change in the enterprise, the application for change should be submitted in time (such as the change of the name of the enterprise, the change of the production capacity of the enterprise, the relocation of the enterprise, etc.

).

Since the implementation of the regulatory conditions in 2013, there have been 11 batches of enterprise applications so far (the 11th batch is being verified on site
).
A total of 109 companies entered the list in the first batch, 52 companies entered the list in the second batch, 19 companies entered the list in the second batch, 36 companies entered the list in the fourth batch, 13 companies entered the list in the fifth batch, 10 companies entered the list in the sixth batch, 9 companies entered the list in the seventh batch, 9 companies entered the directory in the eighth batch, 13 companies entered the list in the ninth batch, and 25 companies entered the directory
in the tenth batch.
In this process, five batches of enterprises have been revoked from the list of enterprises in the photovoltaic industry manufacturing specification announcement, of which the first batch of 19, the second batch of 23, the third batch of 36, the fourth batch of 7, the fifth batch of 7.

Where it is proposed to revoke the qualification for the announcement, inform the relevant enterprises in advance and hear the statements and defenses
of the relevant enterprises.
Enterprises whose announcements have been revoked shall not be accepted
within two years from the date of the revocation of the announcement.
The conditions for the photovoltaic manufacturing industry specification stipulate that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shall organize industry associations and testing agencies to inspect enterprises, regularly announce the list of enterprises that meet the conditions of this specification, and organize industry associations and testing institutions to conduct spot checks on the products of announced enterprises from the market in conjunction with relevant departments, and implement social supervision and dynamic management
.
By updating the directory of enterprises with the normative conditions of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry, the high-level development of
the manufacturing end is stimulated.

In order to make the policy more close to the needs of the industry, the author has three suggestions: First, according to the actual situation of technological progress and energy efficiency reduction in the industry, continue to regularly revise the "Normative Conditions"; The second is to pay attention to smart photovoltaics, pay attention to carbon neutrality, carbon peaking; The third is to continue to implement the "Normative Conditions" in depth, guide the industry expansion and market development to advance in synergy, and guide the standardized development of
the industry.

(Author: Wang Dong, Director of CTC National Photovoltaic Center)