Yunnan fuels photovoltaic industrial development

km.gov.cn|Updated: September 1, 2023

After years of industry cultivation, the photovoltaic industry chain of Yunnan province reached a value of 107.3 billion yuan($14.78 billion) by 2022.

In the first half of 2022, the output value of green silicon in the province reached 53.54 billion yuan, solidifying the position of Yunnan’s photovoltaic industry.

The installed capacity of Yunnan’s industrial silicon and monocrystalline silicon wafers rank second in the country, playing a pivotal role in the upstream manufacturing.

By fully leveraging its advantages in green energy, silicon ore and photovoltaic resources, Yunnan has strengthened its competitiveness across the entire industry chain.

The achievements are mainly attributed to the cooperation between the province and the leading enterprise in the photovoltaic industry - LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd., with whom they signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in 2016 to jointly build a billion-yuan monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic industry cluster.

Up to now, LONGi Green Energy has successively invested in silicon photovoltaic industry projects in Lijiang, Baoshan, Chuxiong, Qujing, making Yunnan its largest production base for ingots and wafers globally.

LONGi Green Energy’s capacity expansion in Yunnan has resulted in rapid revenue growth.

The successful experience of LONGi Green Energy has attracted the attention of many other photovoltaic companies, and new capacity from companies such as JA Solar and Solargiga Energy Holdings Limited to also settle in Yunnan.

The gradient transfer of the photovoltaic manufacturing capacity has fostered the emergence of a billion-yuan industry in Yunnan, with the continuous prominence of upstream advantages.

The installed capacity of industrial silicon and monocrystalline silicon wafers accounts for 18.3 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively, in the country.

Yunnan has also accelerated the construction of key projects in polycrystalline silicon, and actively supported the development of battery cells and photovoltaic components.

At Qilin Industrial Park in Qujing city, construction of the 200,000-ton polycrystalline silicon is in full swing, supported by the 20,000-ton silicon dioxide project of Xinyi Solar Holdings.

"The installation of the upper works of the project is currently being initiated, with the goal of completion by the end of this year,” said Sun Xiaohui, Marketing Manager of Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited.

In February of this year, Xinyi Glass Holdings invested 23 billion yuan in Qujing to build projects related to polycrystalline silicon supported with silicon dioxide, photovoltaic module covers, and high-quality float glass.