Current situation and trends of the world's photovoltaic industry in 2024.

Market demand and installed capacity:

There is overall growth but at a slower rate. The global photovoltaic demand is still on the rise. However, compared with the previous stage of rapid development, the growth rate will slow down. Multiple institutions predict that the global photovoltaic installed capacity in 2024 is expected to maintain a growth rate of 15%-25%, returning to rationality from rapid growth. This is mainly because some regional markets are gradually becoming saturated and there are adjustments in policies and technologies. There are obvious differences in regional markets. China remains in the lead. China is still the largest photovoltaic market in the world. The implementation of domestic wind and solar power base projects in phases one, two, and three and the use of supporting ultra-high voltage transmission channels make the growth rate of domestic photovoltaic installations expected to return to a normal level. The Chinese photovoltaic industry shows strong development momentum, with both production volume and output value at the manufacturing end reaching new historical highs. The markets in Europe and the United States are relatively stable. In 2024, the United States is expected to achieve significant growth in photovoltaic installations, with about 45GW of new photovoltaic installations and a year-on-year growth of more than 40%. The European market, affected by factors such as component inventory clearance and a drop in electricity prices, has stable demand growth. The market demand in 2024 remains overall stable. Emerging markets are on the rise. Emerging regions such as the Middle East and Africa have strong demand for clean energy, providing new growth opportunities for the photovoltaic industry. These regions are rich in solar energy resources, and the governments are also actively promoting the development of renewable energy. In the future, they are expected to become important growth poles of the photovoltaic market.

Technological innovation:

Battery efficiency keeps getting better. The continuous improvement of the conversion efficiency of solar panels is a long-term trend for the photovoltaic industry. The research and development of more efficient solar cell technologies like heterojunction and perovskite new battery technologies will be the key to enterprise competition. These new battery technologies are likely to be put into commercial use in the next few years, which will further reduce the cost of photovoltaic power generation. Energy storage technology is integrated more. Photovoltaic power generation is intermittent and unstable. So, the development of energy storage technology is really important for improving the utilization efficiency of photovoltaic energy. That's why the combination of photovoltaic and energy storage will become closer. Integrated photovoltaic energy storage systems will be the future direction. They can better meet users' power needs. Intelligent operation and maintenance technology develops. As photovoltaic power stations keep getting bigger in scale, the application of intelligent operation and maintenance technology will become more common. Through technologies like big data and artificial intelligence, we can monitor and analyze photovoltaic power stations in real time. This way, we can detect and fix faults in time, improve the operation efficiency and reliability of power stations, and reduce operation and maintenance costs.

Industrial structure adjustment:

The integration of the industrial chain speeds up. The integration between upstream and downstream enterprises in the photovoltaic industrial chain will move faster. Enterprises will enhance industrial chain synergy and raise industrial concentration through means like mergers and acquisitions and cooperation. For instance, component manufacturers and silicon material suppliers will cooperate more closely to ensure a stable supply of raw materials and control costs. The trade pattern changes. Traditional photovoltaic trade will go through a major shake-up. Due to factors like intense market competition and trade barriers, photovoltaic trading enterprises will face greater challenges. Some small traders might be wiped out, while large enterprises will boost their competitiveness by expanding overseas markets and optimizing supply chains. The application ends diversify. Photovoltaic power generation will gradually seep into various fields. Apart from large-scale ground-mounted power stations and distributed photovoltaic projects, the application of photovoltaic in areas such as construction, transportation, and agriculture will keep expanding. For example, the market for building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) will gradually grow, and applications like photovoltaic carports and photovoltaic street lights will become more and more common.

There will be a continued increase in support.

The governments of various countries will keep increasing their policy support for photovoltaic power generation. This is because they want to promote energy transformation and deal with climate change. The government will encourage us enterprises and individuals to invest in photovoltaic power generation projects by setting renewable energy targets, providing subsidies, and offering preferential policies. Policies will pay more attention to quality and sustainability. As the photovoltaic industry develops, policies will focus more on the quality and sustainability of projects. For example, they will strengthen the supervision of photovoltaic projects and improve the construction standards and technical requirements of projects. This is to ensure the safety, reliability, and efficient operation of photovoltaic power generation.