According to the news of Aiko on July 16, the empirical data of Ningxia Electric Power Design Institute shows that the power generation per watt of Aiko ABC module is 9.55% higher than that of TOPCon. Previously, LONGi Green Energy Investor Conference disclosed that the power generation of BC modules is 6%-8% higher than that of TOPCon products, and the average premium of this product is about 20% compared with the company's own TOPCon products.
Over the past few years, the development of BC technology has been constrained by issues such as cost, process, and yield. It is precisely because of these problems that it is difficult to commercialize BC technology and enter the mass market. It is understood that from the perspective of the development of China's BC cell industry, domestic enterprises choose differentiation on the basis of basic IBC cells. Among them, in 2017, Trina Solar achieved a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 24.13% on 6-inch N-type monocrystalline silicon through independent research and development. Subsequently, in 2019, the Yellow River Hydropower established the first IBC cell mass production line in China, and obtained a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 23.7% for mass production IBC solar cells. Since then, LONGi has launched HPBC technology and Aiko has launched ABC technology. The commercialization process of BC cells has accelerated.
LONGi's has accelerated BC technology deployment, and plans to reach a total BC production capacity of 70GW by the end of 2025. In terms of production capacity, LONGi is actively accelerating the replacement of BC production capacity to meet the rapidly growing market demand, and the company's annual monocrystalline silicon wafer production capacity will reach 200GW in the next three years, of which the "Terui" wafer production capacity will account for more than 80%. The annual production capacity of BC cells will reach 100GW. The annual production capacity of monocrystalline modules will reach 150GW. By the end of 2025, the second-generation HPBC production capacity will reach about 50GW, and the first-generation BC production capacity will be roughly around 20GW. In addition, the company expects the cost of BC modules to be at or below TOPCon by the end of 2025. Over the past seven years, the company has been developing base metals based on different process technologies, and is making good progress in these areas. In the second half of 2025, the company is expected to solve the problem of silver consumption. With the gradual implementation of the technical achievements of base metal instead of silver paste, the company is expected to further significantly reduce the cost of BC technology and provide strong support for product competition and performance growth.
Aiko's three bases in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Yellow River Delta have a planned ABC production capacity of 100GW. Aiko has invested in the research and development of the next generation of cell technology BC since 2016, developed the first generation of ABC technology in 2019, completed the development of ABC mass production technology in 2020, and began mass production of BC products in three major projects from 2021 to 2023. 30GW is planned for Zhuhai base and 10GW has been put into operation with 20GW of preparatory construction space. 30GW is planned for Yiwu base, 15GW is being put into operation, and 15GW is under construction. 40GW is planned for Jinan base, 10GW is under construction and 30GW of space is planned. As of the 23rd annual report, the average mass production conversion efficiency of the company's ABC cells has reached 27%, and the conversion efficiency of module mass production delivery can reach up to 24.2%. While pursuing the ultimate efficiency of the front, the company overcame the pain points of XBC modules in the past due to the low bifaciality and could not be widely used in centralized and other scenarios. Through in-depth research and development, the company overcame the way to improve the bifaciality of ABC modules, and further enabled the bifaciality of ABC modules to reach 70%.
Source：Topsperity Securities