Alongside the arrival of the grid parity era, China's domestic PV market has shifted from rapid growth to stability, with most companies adopting a rational approach to their business strategies. After weathering the impact of the "531"新政 and successfully navigating the transition period in the second half of 2018, 2019 saw overseas installations emerge as a new growth driver for the PV industry—indeed, international operations became the primary source of revenue expansion for most companies throughout the year.

In 2019, wind and photovoltaic power reached grid parity, accelerating the transition to affordable renewable energy.

At the beginning of 2019, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the "Notice on Actively Promoting Subsidy-Free, Grid-Parity Access for Wind and Photovoltaic Power Generation." This marked the arrival of a new era in which both renewable energy sources achieve grid parity. The wind and photovoltaic power equipment markets continue to be driven by cutting-edge, high-efficiency technologies, while China has largely mastered the domestic production of large-megawatt wind turbines. Meanwhile, offshore wind power is entering an unprecedented phase of rapid growth. Meanwhile, cost reductions and efficiency gains have enabled photovoltaic modules to reach output levels exceeding 400 watts, paving the way for even greater cost-saving opportunities this year as higher-power, larger-sized systems further expand their competitive edge in these two key clean energy sectors.

Photovoltaics find new ways to reduce costs and boost efficiency.

Alongside the arrival of the era of grid parity, China's domestic PV market has shifted from rapid growth to stability, with most companies adopting a rational approach to their business strategies. After weathering the impact of the "531"新政 and navigating the transition period in the second half of 2018, 2019 saw overseas installations emerge as a new growth driver for the PV industry—indeed, international operations became the primary source of revenue growth for most companies throughout the year. In the first half of 2019 alone, Longi's module shipments overseas reached 76%, far exceeding expectations, while GCL Integrated plans to increase its overseas business share to over 80% in 2019.

Global enthusiasm for investing in the photovoltaic industry is steadily rising, with Europe’s PV market showing signs of recovery and emerging markets demonstrating significant growth potential. Chinese companies are aggressively expanding overseas—whether by forming strategic alliances or collaborating closely—to leverage their strengths in equipment manufacturing, project contracting, and cost management. By establishing factories abroad and fostering local partnerships, these firms are creating mutually beneficial outcomes while driving innovation and efficiency on the global stage. To deepen its presence in overseas markets, JinkoSolar has established its first-ever R&D center overseas—located in Penang, Malaysia—marking a significant milestone as the first Chinese photovoltaic company to set up such a facility abroad. This R&D hub also ranks among the largest overseas R&D centers established by Chinese enterprises in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

In recent years, China's domestic photovoltaic industry has undergone multiple rounds of industrial upgrades, accelerating the phasing out of outdated production capacities while high-efficiency capacity has emerged as the driving force behind industry growth. The shift toward grid-parity pricing has sparked vibrant innovation and R&D across the entire value chain. By 2019, among newly added production capacities, PERC’s advanced technology gradually replaced conventional batteries as the market leader. At the same time, diverse technological approaches—such as heterojunction, half-cell, multi-busbar, Topcon, and N-type bifacial technologies—have flourished simultaneously, effectively preventing a price war centered on a single technology. According to incomplete statistics, more than 10 domestic companies have already joined the research and development and production of heterojunction batteries, with total planned production capacity now exceeding 20 gigawatts.

With the arrival of the grid parity era for photovoltaics, module power has become one of the key focuses for reducing costs and boosting efficiency in PV plants. While 400-watt modules have already become mainstream, the ongoing "large silicon wafer" battle in the 4.0 era has captured the industry's attention—and even dominated discussions—throughout the year. Silicon wafer sizes are expanding from 166mm to 210mm, and the trend in wafer development shows no upper limit—only bigger is better. In June 2019, LONGi Solar launched its M6 (166 mm) large silicon wafer product and simultaneously introduced the Hi-MO4 large-wafer module. In August 2019, Zhonghuan Shares launched its 12-inch, 210mm ultra-large silicon wafer M12 series. In December 2019, Oriental Rise debuted the world's first high-efficiency 500-watt module, utilizing 210mm monocrystalline silicon wafers.

Improving component efficiency has also placed new demands on inverters. Inverter systems operating at higher voltage levels—specifically, 1,500V inverters—have quickly gained industry-wide acceptance due to their significant advantages in maximizing power plant capacity. According to data from ground-mounted solar projects in 2019, 1,500V inverters have largely replaced their 1,000V counterparts. Looking back on the year, the photovoltaic equipment sector has clearly embraced the "large-scale" trend—whether it’s in battery wafers, modules, or inverters. Scaling up is the overarching trend, driven by the dual goals of enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.
 

Entering the global forefront of offshore wind power manufacturing

Over the past decade, onshore wind power costs in China have dropped by 70%, and today, in most regions, wind energy has already achieved grid parity. China’s wind power equipment and technology are now being exported to more than 30 countries, accelerating the development of wind resources in an increasing number of areas. Currently, China’s onshore wind industry has entered a mature phase of robust growth, while offshore wind power—still in its early stages of development—is also gaining momentum as it sped up its pace in 2019, firmly entering the fast lane of expansion.

Technological advancements are a crucial prerequisite for wind power to truly enter the era of grid parity. The trend toward larger-scale wind turbine units is steadily becoming an inevitable direction in global wind energy development.

The era of grid parity has arrived. Aligning with the growing trend toward larger megawatt-class wind turbines, China installed nearly 5,000 MW of wind power capacity from 3 MW and above in 2019. Currently, the focus of onshore wind development in China remains firmly centered on low-wind-speed regions in the southeast and central parts of the country. However, the ongoing shift toward larger turbine sizes is now enabling onshore wind projects to expand into an increasing number of areas previously deemed less viable. In 2019, Mingyang Smart Energy unveiled its MySE5.0-166 model, ushering onshore wind turbines into the 5-MW era—and making them competitive with thermal power plants in price bidding, thus achieving true grid parity. In just a few short years, China’s onshore wind industry has made remarkable strides: single-unit capacities have rapidly shifted from primarily 2–3 MW models to those exceeding 3 MW, and by 2019, 4–5 MW-class onshore turbines were already being introduced one after another. As a result, the gap between wind energy costs and grid parity continues to narrow steadily.

The 2019 Government Work Report clearly stated the need to "vigorously develop renewable energy" and "strongly promote the blue economy, building China into a maritime power." As of October 2019, China's cumulative installed offshore wind capacity reached 5.1 million kilowatts, already achieving 77% of the "13th Five-Year Plan" target. Thanks to robust government support, China's offshore wind industry has experienced rapid growth.

In the field of offshore wind power technology, China has seen continuous improvements in its manufacturing, construction, and operation & maintenance capabilities. As a result, both the cost of electricity generation has been declining year by year, and the installed capacity continues to grow steadily.

In 2019, domestically produced offshore megawatt-class wind turbines continued to be put into practical use, with their capacity steadily breaking new ground. Offshore wind turbines ranging from 5 to 6 megawatts have already achieved large-scale deployment, while 10-megawatt models from Dongfang Wind Power and Mingyang Smart Energy have been successively rolled off the production line. This marks a significant milestone, as China has now mastered the critical core technologies needed for the R&D and manufacturing of high-capacity offshore wind turbine units, narrowing the technological gap between China and Europe in this field and positioning the country among the global leaders in offshore wind energy development. However, with the rapid pace of iteration in China's megawatt-class turbine designs, there is an urgent need to enhance the domestic supply chain capabilities for key components such as wind turbine blades and gearboxes.

The rapid advancement of complete machine manufacturing technology owes much to the collaborative support of the entire industry chain. Meanwhile, China’s fleet of offshore wind power construction equipment—boasting independent intellectual property rights—is steadily expanding, enabling domestic offshore construction projects to achieve multiple "China Speeds" and even "China Miracles." Moreover, several offshore wind power manufacturing base industrial parks, including those in Yangjiang and Huizhou, Guangdong Province, as well as Sheyang in Jiangsu Province, are now breaking ground across China’s southeastern and central provinces. These initiatives are collectively working toward building a trillion-yuan-level offshore wind power industry cluster, providing a robust foundation for China’s future expansion into deeper and more remote maritime regions.

Source: China Electric Power News Network