The cross-industry trend in the photovoltaic sector: Hype or Hard work

Cross-border photovoltaic has become a new trend. According to statistics from Photovoltaic Network, since 2022, there have been nearly a hundred enterprises venturing into the photovoltaic industry. One obvious change is that in the past, cross-border enterprises mainly invested in power stations.

Photovoltaic is a capital-intensive industry. The manufacturing lines of related batteries and modules often require an investment of hundreds of millions to several billion yuan. Among the enterprises involved in photovoltaic, there are those that have suffered consecutive losses and are aiming to turn the situation around through photovoltaic, as well as those that have adjusted their business layout to "add the finishing touch".

Who among the "outsiders" has mastered the photovoltaic business well nowadays?

Overall, cross-industry enterprises can be said to be engaged in various industries. Some of them are even the leaders in their original industries, such as the king of water buffalo milk, Royal Group, the glass fiber giant China Jushi, the King of construction machinery, Zhengye Technology, the leading industrial inspection company, and Bangjie Co., LTD., a clothing enterprise, etc.

Tracking has found that some enterprises that crossed over into the photovoltaic industry in 2021 and 2022 have made substantial progress. For instance, the clothing enterprise Bangjie Co., Ltd. has established a business structure of "seamless clothing + photovoltaic" dual main businesses. In 2022, the company completed the introduction of strategic shareholders and formed a complete team covering project engineering construction, operation, technology, process, sales, and management. At present, its 10GW high-efficiency photovoltaic cell project in Yangzhou is still under construction. In April 2023, Bangjie Co., Ltd. issued an announcement stating that it intends to participate in the recruitment of investors for the bankruptcy reorganization of Jiangsu Zhongli Group Co., LTD.

Royal Group spans two major fields: photovoltaic power station development and photovoltaic manufacturing. Through its subsidiary, Royal Agricultural and Photovoltaic, it has entered the photovoltaic business field with the concepts of "agricultural and photovoltaic complementarity" and "pastoral and photovoltaic complementarity", jointly developing household photovoltaic systems. By building photovoltaic power stations in pastures and dairy processing plants, it has effectively reduced electricity costs and lowered the company's carbon emissions. The manufacturing sector has laid out the construction of the TOPCon ultra-high-efficiency solar cell project at the front end of the industry and has carried out strategic cooperation with central enterprises such as Huaneng, China National Petroleum Corporation, and China National Building Materials Junxin, as well as well-known enterprises in the industry.

The 2022 annual financial report shows that the revenue from photovoltaic module sales, EPC business and other revenue reached 12.09 million yuan, accounting for 0.42% of the total revenue. In the first quarter of 2023, the operating revenue of Royal Group increased by 53.83% year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in photovoltaic module sales and EPC business revenue. On January 31, 2023, Royal Agricultural Photovoltaic Complementary Company and Black Crystal Optoelectronics signed the "Cooperation Framework Agreement on New Generation Solar Cells: Perovskite/Crystalline Silicon Tandem Technology", jointly promoting the research and development, production and application of TOPCon/ perovskite tandem cell product technology.

Recently, the progress of the photovoltaic cell business was announced. In November 2022, the first monocrystalline silicon rod produced by Silicon Energy was successfully rolled out in the energy industrial park, marking the official entry of Silicon Energy into the production and operation stage. In December 2022, the launch of Silicon Energy's photovoltaic module products marked its official entry into the vertical integration camp of the photovoltaic industry. Its business covers the independent research and development and production capabilities from crystal pulling, slicing, cells to modules. It is understood that currently, Silicon Energy has over 10GW of silicon wafer, new battery and module factories under construction.