Work on the country's first power plant using thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules will begin this year, amid prospects for a brighter future if the long-awaited price-setting mechanism for solar power is put in place, analysts said Thursday.
China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development Co Ltd (CGN SEDC) and First Solar Inc signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Wednesday to execute the first phase of the pre-announced 30-MW AC solar PV plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. First Solar said that in the next 10 years the power plant will scale up to 2,000MW.
Under the MOU's terms, CGN SEDC will be the majority owner and operator, carrying out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) functions of the project. First Solar will supply its advanced thin-film solar PV modules to the project and support CGN SEDC with EPC and O&M advisory services, according to a press release.
"Construction of the Ordos project will begin this year," Bruce Sohn, First Solar president, disclosed at the press conference.
An industry watcher said CGN SEDC entered into cooperation with First Solar mainly due to the lower cost of the latter's thin-film PV module that most domestic companies do not produce.
"The cost for a power plant using thin-film solar PV modules is around $0.77 per watt now, nearly half the cost of using amorphous silicon solar cells that most domestic companies produce," Li Shengmao, a senior analyst with CIC Industry Research Center, said Thursday. "But the quantum efficiency of solar PV modules is much lower than that of silicon solar cells. The two have an average photon-to-electron conversion efficiency rate of 10 and 19 percent respectively," he added.
More than 90 percent of domestic companies that produce amorphous silicon solar cells sell them overseas, especially in Europe, where solar electricity industry is mature given the relatively high cost of unclean energy, said Li.
Domestically, solar electricity is used on a small scale, partly because the long overdue price-setting mechanism for solar electricity has not yet been launched in a country where the cost of solar power is much higher than that of polluting energy, according to Li.
"It is hard to fix a timeline for the government as the cost of solar electricity will change with technological upgrades, but the mechanism might be introduced this year," Li said.
Li Daxiao, director of the research institute with Yingda Securities Co, told the Global Times Thursday that the Ordos project has a bright future as it has chosen "the right place and the right time."
China Guangdong Nuclear Solar Energy Development Co Ltd (CGN SEDC) and First Solar Inc signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Wednesday to execute the first phase of the pre-announced 30-MW AC solar PV plant in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. First Solar said that in the next 10 years the power plant will scale up to 2,000MW.
Under the MOU's terms, CGN SEDC will be the majority owner and operator, carrying out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) functions of the project. First Solar will supply its advanced thin-film solar PV modules to the project and support CGN SEDC with EPC and O&M advisory services, according to a press release.
"Construction of the Ordos project will begin this year," Bruce Sohn, First Solar president, disclosed at the press conference.
An industry watcher said CGN SEDC entered into cooperation with First Solar mainly due to the lower cost of the latter's thin-film PV module that most domestic companies do not produce.
"The cost for a power plant using thin-film solar PV modules is around $0.77 per watt now, nearly half the cost of using amorphous silicon solar cells that most domestic companies produce," Li Shengmao, a senior analyst with CIC Industry Research Center, said Thursday. "But the quantum efficiency of solar PV modules is much lower than that of silicon solar cells. The two have an average photon-to-electron conversion efficiency rate of 10 and 19 percent respectively," he added.
More than 90 percent of domestic companies that produce amorphous silicon solar cells sell them overseas, especially in Europe, where solar electricity industry is mature given the relatively high cost of unclean energy, said Li.
Domestically, solar electricity is used on a small scale, partly because the long overdue price-setting mechanism for solar electricity has not yet been launched in a country where the cost of solar power is much higher than that of polluting energy, according to Li.
"It is hard to fix a timeline for the government as the cost of solar electricity will change with technological upgrades, but the mechanism might be introduced this year," Li said.
Li Daxiao, director of the research institute with Yingda Securities Co, told the Global Times Thursday that the Ordos project has a bright future as it has chosen "the right place and the right time."