Revitalizing the Solar Industry: The Strategic Shift Towards Energy Storage

How Can the Struggling Photovoltaic Industry Embrace Energy Storage?

For photovoltaic (PV) companies and professionals, embracing energy storage has become a strategic necessity. This topic has gained increasing urgency. Over the past two years, the solar industry has faced unprecedented challenges. Following explosive growth, there has been a drastic reversal in supply and demand dynamics, resulting in overcapacity, tightened capital, and widespread layoffs. While the photovoltaic sector is grappling with these issues, the energy storage industry is thriving. The critical question now is: how can photovoltaic companies integrate energy storage into their operations?

1. Product Integration: From Photovoltaics to Energy Storage Systems

In the downstream photovoltaic sector, both modules and inverters possess a natural advantage for developing integrated “solar-storage” products. Currently, companies like Canadian Solar in the crystalline silicon supply chain view energy storage as their second growth curve, while JA Solar is also committed to making energy storage a key growth area. In the inverter market, Sungrow Power Supply has seen its energy storage business surpass inverters to become its primary product line, while GoodWe has launched the strategy of “source, network, load, and storage intelligence.” For companies producing modules and inverters, leveraging existing brand recognition, distribution channels, and market resources to expand product lines into the energy storage sector is a natural progression. As photovoltaic technology becomes more market-oriented and energy storage costs continue to decrease, the economic viability of solar power increasingly relies on energy storage. In other words, without integrating energy storage, future standalone solar products will face significant limitations.

2. Development Strategies: From Solar Power Plants to Integrated Solar-Storage Solutions

In recent years, the photovoltaic industry has rapidly evolved, giving rise to a variety of solar development enterprises. These include centralized solar development, commercial and industrial solar projects, as well as residential solar installations. The application scenarios for solar power plants closely align with those for energy storage plants, corresponding to large-scale storage (power-side or grid-side), commercial storage, and residential storage. Particularly in commercial scenarios, developers are increasingly incorporating energy storage, pushing forward integrated “solar-storage” or “solar-storage-charging” solutions, along with concepts like source-network-load-storage, zero-carbon parks, and microgrids. Companies such as Sungrow New Energy, Skyworth Solar, and Honghua Energy exemplify this trend. For photovoltaic development companies, transitioning from solar power plants to integrated solar-storage solutions relies heavily on established channels and scenario advantages, allowing them to provide richer solutions based on similar customer needs. With the introduction of Document No. 136, the market dynamics for new energy have shifted, challenging the traditional “grid connection model” for solar plants. As energy consumption becomes paramount, the simple development model of solar power plants is becoming unsustainable, making the trend to “embrace energy storage” even more pronounced.

3. International Markets: From Residential Solar to Home Energy Storage

In international markets, the residential solar sector is particularly illustrative. The residential solar market, especially in Europe and America, has long been established. Recently, the maturation of home energy storage solutions has opened up new opportunities for residential solar companies. On one hand, solar module manufacturers can enter the home energy storage market, with companies like Canadian Solar creating dedicated home storage brands. On the other hand, inverter companies are branching into storage inverter solutions, as seen with DEYE Technology establishing a business framework for storage inverters and battery packs. In the residential market, solar and storage are almost inseparable partners, and the current international market is relatively mature. As the solar and energy storage industries undergo profound transformations, it is crucial for photovoltaic companies, particularly those in the downstream sector, to participate in energy storage. Otherwise, they risk being left behind, merely needing to leverage their competitive advantages to enter this field.