Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released reports on Clean Energy Market Monitoring and Carbon Dioxide Emissions, which showed that the global photovoltaic installed capacity reached 420GWdc in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 85%, surpassing any other renewable energy technology. Although global energy related carbon dioxide emissions reached a historic high in 2023, the accelerated deployment of renewable energy, led by solar photovoltaics, has curbed the growth of carbon emissions.

In 2023, China's exports of electric vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries increased by nearly 30%. The "New Three Types" represent the key carriers of the development of new quality productive forces, carrying the changes in China's innovation and development process, where technological innovation and basic innovation are transformed into technology and then integrated into products.

Xu Xiang, Vice Chairman of Daquan Energy, a leading polysilicon material company, told Xinhua Finance that Daquan Energy is fully committed to promoting the construction of an intelligent control system and creating a safe, efficient, high-quality, and low-cost intelligent factory. In the future, Daquan Energy will continue to adhere to the overall strategic plan of "upward integration and horizontal expansion", committed to continuously reducing costs and improving quality, cooperating with customers for research and development, sharing more experiences and lessons with customers, building value with industry chain enterprises, and growing together.

Downstream development forces industrial upgrading

According to data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, China's polysilicon production exceeded 1.43 million tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 66.9%; The average reduction power consumption of polysilicon production decreased by 3.4% year-on-year, and the comprehensive power consumption decreased by 5% year-on-year. Further reduction in production power consumption will drive the further release of new polysilicon production capacity. In addition, the rapid iteration of high-efficiency battery technology places higher demands on polycrystalline silicon, and the demand for polycrystalline silicon is gradually shifting towards purer, higher, and better quality polycrystalline silicon.

In this context, leading polysilicon materials such as Daquan Energy have ushered in broader market development space. Currently, Daquan Energy has two production bases. The annual production capacity of the Xinjiang production base has increased from the initial 5000 tons to 105000 tons. The company plans to continue investing 15 billion yuan in Shihezi to build 100000 tons of high-purity polycrystalline silicon, 300000 tons of industrial silicon, and 2.2 million round silicon core projects. The Inner Mongolia production base is located in Baotou City, with an annual production capacity of 200000 tons of high-purity polysilicon, 1000 tons of semiconductor grade polysilicon, 150000 tons of industrial silicon, and 1.8 million round silicon cores.

It is understood that the first phase of Inner Mongolia's annual production of 100000 tons of high-purity polycrystalline silicon project has been put into normal production; The second phase of the 100000 ton/year high-purity polycrystalline silicon project is steadily under construction and is expected to be completed and put into operation in the second quarter of 2024. The energy evaluation of the 150000 ton industrial silicon project has been approved by the Development and Reform Commission of the Autonomous Region, and the electricity consumption plan for the West Mongolia Power Grid has been approved. The preliminary procedures for the project have been completed and construction has begun; The 1.8 million round silicon core project has been approved for energy evaluation and has also entered the underground construction phase.

It is worth mentioning that Daquan Energy is committed to solving the bottleneck problem of semiconductor silicon materials in China. Recently, the first batch of products from Inner Mongolia Daquan Semiconductor were successfully released, providing valuable "fresh water" for the semiconductor integrated circuit industry.

In addition, with the continuous release of new production capacity in the photovoltaic industry and the increasing demand for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, traditional management and production methods in the photovoltaic industry are no longer able to meet market development needs. Enterprises urgently need to undergo digital transformation to improve production efficiency, optimize supply chain management, reduce operating costs, and use digital means to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

At the same time, digital transformation can further unleash the optimization potential of the photovoltaic industry. By relying on advanced digital technology and management models, the production efficiency, product and service quality of photovoltaic enterprises can be effectively improved, and their business models will be more innovative and diversified, thereby achieving market expansion and building long-term development capabilities.

It is understood that Daquan Energy focuses on the innovation driven development strategy and has built a fully integrated digital platform in procurement management, production management, sales management, inventory management, etc., fully promoting the construction of an intelligent control system, and creating a safe, efficient, high-quality, and low-cost intelligent factory. Xu Xiang, vice chairman of Daqo Energy, said that the digital advantage is an important support for Daqo Energy to reduce costs. Daqo Energy is trying to build a large number of models, making full use of big data, industrial Internet, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, judging the lowest cost, the best silicon material quality, etc. through the model, and making effective replication based on it.

"Through digital construction and intelligent manufacturing, Daquan Energy fully utilizes data accumulation, establishes the optimal operating model for the reduction furnace, optimizes the control formula, achieves intelligent control of the reduction furnace, significantly improves overall operating efficiency, and significantly reduces energy consumption." Xu Xiang further stated.

Photovoltaic modules will enter the "N-type era"

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released reports on Clean Energy Market Monitoring and Carbon Dioxide Emissions, which showed that the global photovoltaic installed capacity reached 420GWdc in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 85%, surpassing any other renewable energy technology. The report also states that although global energy related carbon dioxide emissions reached a historic high in 2023, the deployment of renewable energy, led by solar photovoltaics, has curbed the growth of carbon emissions.

The new energy photovoltaic industry includes upstream polycrystalline silicon raw material preparation, midstream batteries, module equipment manufacturing, and downstream terminals, each with different technologies and products. The polycrystalline silicon industry is one of the most important links in the photovoltaic industry chain. With the continuous decrease of unit electricity cost in the photovoltaic industry, industry collaboration and innovation improvement have become the breakthrough points for the development of industry enterprises.

Unlike other leading vertical integration strategies, Daquan Energy continues to adhere to the overall strategic plan of "upward integration and horizontal expansion". Xu Xiang stated that upward integration refers to expanding industrial silicon and round silicon chip businesses upstream of polycrystalline silicon, achieving independent and controllable raw material costs and quality, and ensuring the safety and stability of the supply chain; Horizontal expansion refers to the development of semiconductor silicon materials and efforts to achieve import substitution.

According to a report from Jibang Consulting, the market share of N-type modules in the photovoltaic industry was 26.22% in 2023. It is expected that the proportion of N-type modules will rapidly increase to 68.93% in 2024, and the market will fully enter the "N-type era". In the context of technological iteration and upgrading in the polycrystalline silicon material industry, the N-shaped silicon material market has exploded and a market consensus has been formed. Daquan Energy has advanced its layout and construction, rapidly increasing the output proportion of high-quality N-shaped silicon materials, and achieving mass sales and supply.

It is understood that 70% of the production capacity of Daquan Energy's Xinjiang base can produce N-type materials, and 100% of the Inner Mongolia base can produce N-type materials. Downstream mainstream customers have reported that the quality of Daquan Energy's N-type silicon materials is among the top in the industry. Xu Xiang stated that in 2024, the company will continuously improve its quality through a series of optimizations and technological improvements in processes, technology, equipment, and environment, achieving the production of 100% N-type silicon materials and ensuring stable and high-quality quality.

"In the future, Daquan Energy will continue to forge competitiveness with professionalism and innovation, maintain its leading market position, and continue to reduce costs and improve quality, cooperate with customers in research and development, share more experiences and lessons with customers in various fields, enhance customer loyalty and stickiness, and build value with industry chain enterprises for common growth," said Xu Xiang.