Sucrejianeng Photovoltaic Module Project

In 2020, the total production capacity of PV module was about 244.3GW, and the output was 124.6GW, a year-on-year growth of 61.4% and 26.4%.

Solar PV modules are made up of PV cells, which are most commonly manufactured from silicon but other materials are available. Cells can be based on either wafers (manufactured by cutting wafers from a solid ingot block of material) or “thin film” deposition of material over low cost substrates.

Global solar PV manufacturing capacity has increasingly moved from Europe, Japan and the United States to China over the last decade. China has invested over USD 50 billion in new PV supply capacity – ten times more than Europe − and created more than 300 000 manufacturing jobs across the solar PV value chain since 2011.

Government policies in China have shaped the global supply, demand and price of solar PV over the last decade. Chinese industrial policies focusing on solar PV as a strategic sector and on growing domestic demand have enabled economies of scale and supported continuous innovation throughout the supply chain.

Although some standards are available, many key areas are not covered in comparison with conventional PV. The most critical of the required standards is 'IEC 61853, Photovoltaic (PV) module performance testing and energy rating', which has been in draft for over two years.

The key consideration during project development is the balance of expenditure and risk. There is no definitive detailed “road map” for developing a solar PV project. The approach taken will depend on the developer's priorities and requirements such as risk profiles or deadlines, as well as site dependent parameters.