Originally, the photovoltaic industry focused mainly on the generation side:Manufacturing solar modules, solar mounting system,building power plants, and connecting to the grid.
Firstly the transformation logic has extended to the consumption side:Focusing on how electricity is used, how to improve efficiency, and how to integrate energy storage, smart consumption, and electricity trading.
With the full integration of new energy into the power market reform, the development logic of the photovoltaic market is being rewritten.Zhu Gongshan, the chairman of GCL Group, said that the full entry of green electricity into the market, for example,with “market return rate” driving the industry’s optimized development model. “Photovoltaic has evolved from a simple power source role to a hub connecting energy production, storage and consumption, and expanding from the ‘single power generation and grid connection model’ to the ‘multi-power supply model of grid-connected and off-grid power’.
The market no longer takes grid-connected capacity as the sole criterion. Meanwile,Reconstructing the revenue model, cross-border integration to expand the value boundary, and promoting the transformation of photovoltaic from a ‘participant in the energy revolution’ to a ‘zero-carbon system architect’.”
1)A new development cycle of the power system
Hou Jinlong, a director of Huawei and president of Huawei Digital Energy, pointed out that the photovoltaic industry has entered a new development cycle of the power systemwith new energy. “In the past 10 years, we took the opportunity of innovation on the power generation side. The future development opportunities will shift from the power generation side to the power consumption side, covering power transmission, distribution and consumption in the power system.”
Based on the above background, Zhu Gongshan(Chairman of GCL) believes that this round of photovoltaic technology singularity is not isolated but is a chain reaction of parallel development of photovoltaic and energy storage, mutual assistance of power grids, and AI collaboration. In addtional, “Long-term energy storage will be fully commercialized in five years, and the photovoltaic-to-energy storage ratio in large-scale power stations will increase to 10:7, significantly expanding the photovoltaic and energy storage market.
Coupled with the global energy interconnection of superconducting power grids, AI’s precise prediction and instantaneous dispatching, it provides core support for building a new power system mainly based on wind and solar energy.”https://gobicsteel.com/industries/profile-c/
2) Cell industry is rapidly transitioning from a product-driven to a commodity-driven phase.
More over, In the view of Zhang Manliang, executive director and president of JunDa Co., Ltd., under the impetus of the marketization policy of electricity prices, “The photovoltaic cell industry is rapidly transitioning from a product-driven to a commodity-driven phase.”. “Only when the commodity attributes of photovoltaic cells and solor mounting system are fully utilized and a fully competitive market is established can the photovoltaic industry be more resilient. This requires enterprises to explore new business models.”
Lu Chuan, chairman of Zhengtai New Energy said that hardware manufacturing is “yesterday’s” business, and power station development and operation is “today’s” business. The company has anchored its future growth point in “tomorrow’s” business – operation and maintenance, power trading, and virtual power plants and other comprehensive energy services.That is to say “Under the background of having hardware, Our core strengths are rooted in continuous algorithm iteration, strong service capabilities, and innovative business models.”
Above all, At this 2025 SNEC exhibition, new energy companies have shifted their focus from product and solar panel mounting system manufacturing to integrated energy development. Wind, solar, energy storage, hydrogen, intelligent O&M, virtual power plants, and microgrids are all taking the stage, as companies actively map out the future landscape of photovoltaic development.