On November 21, the European Parliament voted in a new round to pass the Net Zero Industry Act (hereinafter referred to as NZIA), which is committed to transferring onshore manufacturing of renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics, battery storage and wind energy to the EU .     The bill was passed with 376 votes in favor, 139 votes against, and 116 abstentions. Rather, it is an amendment, in this case MEPs expanding the scope of the draft legislation to publish a Net Zero Industry Bill technology list that covers the entire supply chain, including components, materials and components used to produce net zero technologies. mechanical.   The text passed by the European Parliament covers 17 technologies, including: renewable energy (wind energy and solar energy), nuclear energy (fission, fusion, fuel cycle), energy storage, hydrogen energy, electric vehicle charging, heat pumps, energy efficiency, thermal energy Distribution and power grids, thermonuclear fusion, electrification and efficient industrial processes for energy and carbon-intensive industries, biomaterial production and recycling, etc.   This decision of the Parliament was not only approved by representatives of the European solar industry, but also caused some concerns among them. The bill will now be clarified through negotiations with the European Council.   The EU says NZIA aims to enable Europe to meet 40% of its clean energy development needs with products manufactured in-house. Parliament voted yesterday on final amendments to the bill, extending the scope to "the entire supply chain including components, materials and machinery for the production of net-zero technologies".   "Given the complex and transnational nature of net zero technologies, uncoordinated national-level measures to ensure access to these technologies are highly likely to distort competition and fragment the single market," Parliament said in the proposal. Therefore, in order to safeguard the single market It is necessary to establish a common EU legal framework to jointly address this core challenge by improving the EU's resilience and security of supply in the field of net zero technologies."   Pre-qualification criteria: increased EU local content   NZIA recommends the use of non-price criteria and pre-qualification criteria in public tenders for renewable energy. At this stage, prequalification criteria include legislation to introduce local content requirements for projects and technologies under public procurement.   Exactly how this will be implemented remains to be clarified. However, Dries Acke, policy director at trade association SolarPower Europe, said local content rules mean some technologies produced outside Europe are not even allowed to participate in public tenders. This is a risk signal for the solar industry and those committed to the EU's energy security and climate goals.   In contrast, the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), established last year to represent EU manufacturing interests, applauded this particular development. "The European Solar Manufacturers Council congratulates the inclusion of pre-qualification criteria in public procurement and tenders to ensure that no more than 50% of the net-zero technology components in tenders originate from third countries..." it said in a statement after the vote. .This actually means that after the implementation of NZIA, the import volume of photovoltaic products from China will decrease."   Most countries in the EU have almost unanimously expressed their intention to reduce their dependence on China's photovoltaic supply. Last month, PV Tech Premium interviewed French photovoltaic manufacturing start-up Carbon. Carbon is building a completely local solar supply chain for its facilities in southern France.   Non-price criteria for photovoltaic procurement   Non-price criteria in NZIA, including product sustainability and ability to withstand global supply insecurity, will be assessed for compliance with government procurement requirements.   Acke said in a statement: "The use of non-price criteria is a good idea to reward more sustainable and localized technologies. However, we have always been clear about the fundamentals of public tenders and procurement like this. The transition should be gradual and tailored to the specific supply chain starting point for solar PV. This is also the recommendation made by the European Solar Industry Alliance.”   "It would be a mistake to apply these criteria across the board to all tenders and all technologies from day one. Six months after the passage of the bill, on how and when these non-price criteria should be applied, Parliament proposes that We are pleased that the European Commission is providing technology-specific guidance."   Earlier this month, the European Solar Photovoltaic Alliance (ESIA), launched by the European Commission, made recommendations on non-price criteria for solar PV procurement.   "Given the urgency of providing stable market conditions for the remaining EU solar manufacturers, ESIA proposes to focus on EU content from the outset. ESIA also proposes to add other non-price criteria, such as environmental, sustainable , energy saving, innovation, social standards, etc."  

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is a technology that integrates solar power (photovoltaic) products into buildings. Driven by China's dual-carbon policy, BIPV will become the key to the green transformation of the construction industry. By 2030, we estimate that the BIPV market size will reach approximately 200-800 billion yuan. BIPV can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by generating electricity through photovoltaic modules integrated with the building.     We believe that the market has already anticipated the upward cycle of the BIPV industry, but has not yet fully reflected the potential upside brought about by the improved IRR of BIPV projects and the implicit benefits that clients are gradually recognizing. In addition, we believe investors underestimate the bargaining power of construction contractors on channel resources. Therefore, under the baseline scenario, we predict that driven by continued cost reduction, incentive policies and the gradual recognition of implicit benefits, the BIPV market size may reach about 400 billion yuan by 2030, and the cumulative penetration rate will increase from 2020 to 2020. 0.1% to 5% in 2030.   Although the current cost of BIPV roofs is still high compared to ordinary roofs, we believe that through increased demand, economies of scale brought about by large-scale manufacturing, and technological advancements that improve the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic systems, BIPV costs will decrease and financial returns will increase.   Therefore, we expect BIPV to follow a development path similar to that of PV. Policy incentives will drive demand in the early stages, and later due to cost reductions, BIPV investment will become attractive even without subsidies.   IPV may provide some implicit benefits that are not yet fully recognized. These benefits include thermal effects, time benefits and safety, which we believe may be particularly attractive to owners of industrial and commercial buildings. As more pilot projects are completed, if these benefits can be gradually recognized, we believe that the market potential of BIPV will further increase. ​

The Indonesian government has released a draft Comprehensive Investment and Policy Plan (CIPP), setting out Indonesia’s decarbonization initiatives to 2050, which include targets to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century and expand installed photovoltaic capacity to 264.6GW. .     The CIPP draft is currently in the public comment stage with a deadline of November 14. This is Indonesia's contribution to the implementation of the Just Energy Transformation Partnership (JETP) plan.   Last year, the Indonesian government agreed to the JETP plan at the G20 Summit in Indonesia and received US$20 billion in funding to support its decarbonization goals.   JETP has proposed a series of plans for Indonesia's future energy structure, including achieving 44% of renewable energy power generation by 2030, and the CIPP draft is the Indonesian government's first attempt to achieve these goals.   The most eye-catching aspect of the CIPP draft is Indonesia's commitment to solar power, which is expected to account for more of Indonesia’s installed capacity and power generation than any other energy source. The government targets solar installed capacity to reach 29.3GW by 2030 and 264.6GW by 2050, which will account for more than half of Indonesia's total installed power capacity (518.8GW).   This stems in large part from Indonesia's huge solar power potential. The government estimates that Indonesia's installed solar power capacity is expected to reach 3.3TW based on the amount of sunshine in Indonesia. This is the highest of all renewable energy sources, with offshore wind potential in second place at 94.2GW.   Likewise, the report is optimistic about the potential of floating PV in Indonesia. Earlier this year, Masdar and PT Indonesia announced plans to triple the capacity of the 145MW Cirata floating photovoltaic power plant. The government estimates that the capacity potential in the floating PV sector alone will reach 28.4GW. Therefore, Indonesia has strong interest in developing new floating photovoltaic projects.

The world's largest building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) project was completed in China.     Hefei, China-based Sungrow is supplying inverters for a 120MW BIPV project in Jiangxi Province, China.   Located on the roof of the ceramics production facility, the system consists of 11 individual rooftops covering 665,000 square meters and will provide the facility with 100% renewable electricity.   The first phase of the project will come online in June 2022 and is the “world’s largest” BIPV project to date, according to the Chinese manufacturer.   China will become one of the leading countries in the deployment of BIPV systems in the Asia-Pacific region, and the global market is expected to reach a staggering US$100 billion by 2031.   “While this market is still in its infancy, this 120-MW plant is a milestone in the history of BIPV,” said James Wu, Vice President of Sungrow.   Earlier this year, the Chinese inverter maker opened a 10GW inverter factory in India to cater to the country's fast-growing solar PV market and expand its production facilities in Asia with inverter launches scheduled for 2021. Nearly 50GW of inverters have been shipped.   In May last year, Sungrow signed a 2GW distribution agreement with Australian distributor Solar Juice to supply photovoltaic inverters and battery energy storage products, further expanding the Chinese inverter manufacturer's influence in Australia.

The German government is considering the possibility of erecting trade barriers on solar modules and parts imported from China, a move that has caused concern to trade body SolarPower Europe.     The concept of trade barriers, while considering subsidies and state aid, comes after the European Solar Energy Manufacturing Council (ESMC) issued an open letter calling on the EU to protect European manufacturers from "deliberate attacks on Chinese photovoltaics," Reuters reported. The "manufacturers" undercut European prices and forced them down in the form of an influx of cheap products.   Representative trade body SolarPower Europe has also called for measures to protect the price of solar photovoltaic power, which it said has fallen by 25% in recent months, posing "concrete risks" to European manufacturers.   Germany is the first European country to formally study protectionist measures for solar manufacturing.   In response to its statement, SolarPower Europe said: "Trade barriers are not the solution. History shows that investigating and enforcing solar trade barriers is ultimately a lose-lose strategy for Europe."   Instead, it calls for measures to reward and incentivize solar manufacturing. Specifically:   “Adjustment of the EU State Aid Framework (Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework) to allow member states to support the operating costs of plants, i.e. opex Allowing for specific flex auctions within member states under rapidly passing EU Net Zero Industry Bill Establishing EU-level financing instruments, such as the Solar Manufacturing Bank, specifically for solar PV produced in Europe”. “We need solar supply chains that are diverse, sustainable and resilient,” said Aristotelis Chantavas, President of SolarPower Europe. “Trade barriers are not the way to do this. We urge EU leaders to develop and implement an agreement with the U.S. IRA The same clear and ambitious solar industry strategy. Balanced and effective measures are ready.”   Gunter Erfurt, Board Director of SolarPower Europe, added: “We must incentivize solar installations originating from European solar production, rather than sanctioning the entire industry through tariffs. This way, solar deployment can continue without disruption, while European solar manufacturing can Steady growth."   Whether European manufacturing will revive remains to be seen. The US's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides meaningful incentives for businesses to set up shop stateside, while the EU's Green New Deal plans have yet to reach the same level.

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) refers to the use of solar panels, shingles and modules in buildings to generate electricity, where the panels are integrated into roof tiles, facades, awnings, windows and other building components. BIPV is essentially a new-age building material that can replace traditional building materials. For example, in a BIPV project, spandrel glazing (vaulted spaces), skylights or roofing materials will be replaced by architecturally equivalent photovoltaic modules, thus fulfilling the dual function of building a roof membrane and generating a generator. Integrated photovoltaic arrays in buildings are used as a secondary or primary source of electricity in many domestic and industrial buildings. BIPV systems are anchored to the utility grid and can be designed as stand-alone and off-grid systems. The grid-tied BIPV system powers the on-site production facility, which is larger during peak building loads. Peak shaving and demand-side management (DSM) features save energy costs.     Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global building-integrated photovoltaics (BiPV) market was estimated at USD 10.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach a revised size of USD 20.1 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 12.4% over the analysis period. C-Si, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% and reach $16.3 billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business impact of the pandemic and the economic crisis it has caused, the growth of the thin film segment has been recalibrated to a CAGR of 13.6% over the next seven years.