Financial Association News October 14th (Reporter Liu Mengran) Offshore photovoltaics, as a new way of utilizing marine energy and developing photovoltaic resources, has been widely regarded in recent years. In September this year, according to CCTV news, the first set of anti-wave floating photovoltaic system independently developed by China Huaneng Group successfully went offshore, marking a crucial step towards the large-scale development of offshore photovoltaics in deep seas in China.

As an extension of onshore photovoltaics, companies began researching offshore photovoltaics as early as 2021, but specialized products did not see a surge until last year. The Financial Association News reporter noticed that component manufacturers including JA Solar Technology (002459.SZ), Trina Solar Co., Ltd., Zhengtai New Energy, Guangdong Quanwei Technology (300716.SZ), Huasheng New Energy, among others, have launched products specifically for offshore photovoltaics.

According to institutional statistics, the current offshore photovoltaic projects under construction or planned have reached around 30GW. Thanks to the strong support of national policies and the active promotion by local governments, the offshore photovoltaic industry is experiencing a new phase of rapid development. However, various technological and ecological constraints remain the main challenges for the current promotion of offshore photovoltaics.

Wang Le, Head of the Technical Engineering Center for Trina Solar Co., Ltd., told Financial Association News reporters that offshore photovoltaics exhibit the characteristics of "three highs and two strengths" - high temperature, high humidity, high salt spray, strong wind, and strong waves pose high requirements for components and systems. With the widespread adoption of technologies like double-layer coatings, orderly development of offshore wind power, and promotion of distributed new energy development, offshore photovoltaics are expected to become an important force for China to achieve energy saving, carbon reduction goals, and steadily achieve the "carbon neutrality" goal.

Further verification of reliability.

The important background for the development of offshore photovoltaics lies in the increasing scarcity of land resources for constructing large-scale power stations on land. Wang Le told Financial Association News reporters that most of China's major power-consuming provinces are located in coastal areas, providing geographical advantages for offshore photovoltaics; meanwhile, with less shading and vast sea areas, offshore photovoltaics can generate power continuously. The minimal sea clouds are conducive to increasing power generation.

However, compared to land-based photovoltaics, offshore photovoltaics require the extension of optimal lifespan, reduction of later-stage operation and maintenance costs for power station systems and customers, facing challenges like salt spray corrosion, marine parasites, bird droppings erosion, and environmental water vapor permeation.

To solve the difficulties and pain points in the offshore scenarios, the industry has been conducting technical trials for many years. The Chairman of Wuxi Benkang High-Tech Materials Co., Ltd., Zou Wankang, told Cailian Press that offshore photovoltaics face extremely harsh natural environments, such as high temperatures, high humidity, high salt mist, temperature fluctuations, and alternation of wet and dry conditions. As early as 2017, the company cooperated with trina solar co., ltd. to develop double-layer coating technology to prevent water vapor from corroding the glass.

Transitioning from a single-layer coating to a double-layer coating would increase costs, and the technical advantages and potential benefits were not clear at the time, so this technology was initially not well received. Additionally, the single-layer coating production line was running well at the time, the factory length was limited, and introducing double-layer coating meant the need for production line modifications. During the development process, the glass factory was evidently resistant.

However, by the end of 2018, trina solar co., ltd. successfully introduced double-layer coating technology to the market. In the following year, this technology was widely applied. By 2019, with improved power generation of photovoltaic modules, significantly enhanced corrosion resistance, and other features, newly constructed glass production lines began considering and incorporating double-layer coating technology.

Currently, double-layer coating technology has become a standard feature of photovoltaic glass. In offshore photovoltaic scenarios, the application of double-layer coating and accessories such as sealed junction boxes has greatly improved water resistance and anti-corrosion performance. According to a set of field data provided by Zou Wankang from Yinchuan outdoor base, the attenuation rate of double-layer coating is much lower than that of single-layer coating components, resulting in a significant increase in power generation: an increase of 0.85% in the first year, 1.06% in the second year, 1.1% in the third year, 1.5% in the fourth year, and reaching 1.99% in the fifth year.

To ensure the stable operation of photovoltaic power stations, in terms of structural design, the high-seal design of offshore photovoltaic module junction boxes and connectors is used to enhance water resistance. High corrosion-resistant frames are utilized to ensure the stable operation of photovoltaic power stations. For floating offshore photovoltaics, where cables are immersed in seawater for long periods, trina solar co., ltd. and industry partners have completed the development and testing of waterproof cables and obtained the industry's first joint certification for offshore photovoltaic waterproof cables 2PFG 2962.

Offshore photovoltaic modules are emerging one after another.

Currently, pile-based offshore photovoltaics are predominant, but from a long-term economic perspective, floating solar is expected to be the main form of offshore photovoltaic applications in the future. According to trina solar co., ltd.'s "Offshore PV Module White Paper", over 60 countries worldwide are actively promoting the construction of offshore floating photovoltaic power stations, with more than 35 countries having 350 floating photovoltaic power stations.

In the current domestic planned projects, construction of offshore photovoltaics is mainly concentrated in coastal provinces such as Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, etc. For example, Shandong Province has proposed the layout of two large-scale offshore photovoltaic bases, "CNI Bohai" and "Along the Yellow Sea", with a total scale of over 42 million kilowatts; in August of this year, Shanghai released the "Shanghai Wind and Light Same Field" Offshore Photovoltaic Development Construction Plan. It proposes to start the first round of competition for offshore photovoltaic projects in 2024, with a scale of no less than 1 million kilowatts.

Driven by market demand, photovoltaic modules for offshore use have frequently appeared in the past two years. Trina Solar Co., Ltd. can provide module solutions for both floating and pile-mounted systems. Earlier this year, JA Solar Technology launched offshore photovoltaic modules. In addition to using n-type battery technology, to address the challenges of the marine environment, this series of products also features resistance to salt mist, UV resistance, resistance to high humidity, and resistance to hot spots.

According to JA Solar Technology's previous responses on interactive platforms, its products have been used in offshore photovoltaic projects in Shandong, Anhui, and Guangdong. The company will continue to optimize product performance, enhance the adaptability and stability of products in marine environments, expand more applications and regions, provide customers with higher quality and more efficient offshore photovoltaic solutions, and drive energy transformation.

Quanwei Technology launched the "Hujing XII" series of high-efficiency heterojunction cells in April this year. Its main application scenario is in the offshore photovoltaic field. Certified by TUV NORD, the highest power can reach up to 742.7W. According to company sources, Quanwei Technology's "double-circulation self-cleaning anticorrosive glass" and "zero water permeation special process" technologies improve reliability and reduce customer operation and maintenance costs.

In discussions with Caixin journalists, Wang Le mentioned that offshore photovoltaics face operational challenges, especially in terms of cleaning and obtaining freshwater resources. He pointed out that there is currently a lack of in-depth research on offshore operations in the industry but has already attracted attention. To address the problems faced by offshore photovoltaics and reduce costs, Trina Solar Co., Ltd. has taken the lead in establishing an offshore photovoltaic application ecological platform. Starting from typical marine environments and focusing on the challenges of "three highs and two strengths", a component and material performance evaluation system has been established.

It should be noted that the construction cost of offshore photovoltaics is still significantly higher than that of land-based photovoltaics. However, optimistic forecasts suggest that the growing market demand has further reduced the cost per kilowatt-hour, which is conducive to larger-scale popularization, forming a growth loop. In the future, offshore photovoltaics will be integrated with industries such as aquaculture and hydrogen production to maximize value. In addition, floating photovoltaics do not require complex and time-consuming infrastructure, facilitating rapid project construction, and are set to become the mainstream for offshore photovoltaics.

Furthermore, as offshore photovoltaics continue to develop, the concept of offshore "wind and light together" is considered an important direction for the future development of marine energy. According to Wang Le, floating offshore photovoltaics can utilize idle sea areas within offshore wind farms; offshore photovoltaics can reuse cables and transmission line equipment with offshore wind power; wind and light resources can effectively complement each other from a resource perspective; offshore photovoltaics can share pile foundations of offshore wind power, providing a more convenient anchoring and installation method; this can significantly increase resource intensity, improve power generation field output, and economic benefits.