The Shadow Behind "PV Miracle"

There is a school of thought that the advantages of enterprises should come from entrepreneurial innovation and management. The government should not directly intervene in competition among enterprises, and it should not help companies to obtain unfair advantages.

However, reviewing the development history of China's photovoltaic industry, whether it is the government’s biased policies prior to the bubble or the national salvation of the government after the bubble, the relationship between China’s PV companies and the government has always been ambiguous. There is reason to doubt Chinese PV companies' achievements in the international market.

However, since the trip has reached this point, how to find the way to break through as soon as possible is the most important thing.

Since the financial crisis, the reforms or revival plans of various countries have focused on new energy, and the photovoltaic industry is the star of the stars. All countries have high hopes for their own photovoltaic companies.

However, the greater the hope, the greater disappointment. After a serious imbalance in the supply and demand of global PV modules, the prices of PV modules in the international market rapidly declined. The profit of PV modules and battery companies in Europe and the United States has become increasingly thin, and many companies have lost their businesses. Many of these European and American companies that have closed down or are on the verge of collapse are star companies that are highly valued by European and American leaders and industries, such as Solyndra, Evergreen, and Qcell.

The main reason for the global imbalance in supply and demand of photovoltaic capacity is the sharp increase in production capacity from China. It is estimated that at present, China's module production capacity is close to 40 GW, and last year, the global demand for photovoltaic modules was only 24 GW.

Just five years ago, China's PV module production capacity was only 3 GW, which is still less than the current production capacity of a Suntech company. In five years, the production capacity has increased 13 times.

China's "photovoltaic miracle" has always had the shadow of the government. This has also become the "original sin" of China's photovoltaic industry in the eyes of European and American market regulators.

At the time when PV was the craziest, almost every province and city's development zone had a photovoltaic industrial park. The investment teams of each local government were trying to attract PV companies to settle down. The government not only provides cheap loans, cheap land and electricity, but also helps companies recruit workers, build infrastructure, and even local governments donate local real estate to PV investors.