Recently, the wechat official account of “Photovoltaic Information” (PPV -info) learned that on July 25th, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association held a seminar on the review of the development of the photovoltaic industry in the first half of 2025 and the outlook for the second half of the year in Datong, Shanxi Province. In his speech, GUI Xiaoyang, deputy director of the New Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, pointed out that while the large-scale construction of photovoltaic power generation is continuously improving, The upstream and downstream of the industry are also facing many challenges. In the upstream manufacturing sector, the problem of irrational competition caused by the temporary imbalance between supply and demand has not been fundamentally resolved. The situation of foreign trade is becoming increasingly severe. The contradiction of power consumption in the downstream development and application fields is becoming more and more prominent. There are still many red counties and districts with insufficient carrying capacity of distributed photovoltaic power. The uncertainty of returns brought by the full entry of new energy into the market is also increasing day by day.

In response to these issues and the development situation, GUI Xiaoyang put forward four suggestions.

First, we must further strengthen our confidence in development. Article 1 of the Energy Law clearly states that efforts should be made to promote the green and low-carbon transformation and sustainable development of the economy and society, and to actively and steadily advance carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.? To address this challenge, the solution lies in vigorously developing new energy. These are the greatest sources of confidence for our photovoltaic new energy industry to cope with various changes and numerous uncertainties.

Second, we must be more proactive and take the initiative to act. In the face of power consumption and full market entry, the entire industry should enhance learning, thoroughly understand policies, take the initiative to seek changes and act proactively. The western regions, especially the three northern areas, should enhance multi-energy complementarity and promote the integrated and coordinated development of new energy and related industries. The central, eastern and southern regions should actively explore new models and forms of business such as direct connection of green electricity, building-integrated photovoltaics, new energy microgrids and vehicle-to-grid interaction. In areas with the necessary conditions, efforts should be intensified to promote new energy hydrogen production and other initiatives to ensure the local and high-proportion consumption of green electricity.

At the same time, efforts should be made to intensify research on the mechanism of policies for the entry of new energy into the market and enhance the capacity of new energy to fully participate in the electricity market. The New Energy Department of the National Energy Administration will also study policies and measures to promote the integrated development of new energy, accelerate the upgrading and transformation of photovoltaic power stations and other management methods, formulate continuous guidance and promote local authorities to implement the requirements of Document No. 136 as soon as possible, and introduce detailed implementation rules for the power market that adapt to local energy characteristics.

The third is that the agreement resolves the development issues of the industry. The current photovoltaic industry is facing and resolving issues such as intensified irrational competition, low-price winning bids, and intellectual property disputes. The entire industry should actively confront and address these problems. It is hoped that the industry will establish a development consensus that prioritizes product quality and technological level, strengthen safety production, adhere to ecological priority, abandon the notion of winning bids only at the lowest price in bidding and tendering, and continuously improve the basic standards of photovoltaic products. Promote the realization of high-quality and high-priced products in the industry.

The fourth is to continuously enhance the capacity for scientific and technological innovation. Technological innovation is the fundamental way for the development of the photovoltaic industry. In recent years, China has gained a global edge in the photovoltaic industry by vigorously implementing independent innovation. However, at the same time, it has been recognized that the technological moat in some domestic links is not deep enough, and the risk of overtaking in the international curve always exists. Whether it is to deal with international competition or to solve the problem of low-level and homogeneous competition in the domestic market, technological innovation is an inevitable path for the industry. We should continue to increase investment in research and development for key areas of assistance, enhance support for the research and development of key common technologies for photovoltaic power generation, target the needs of the power system, improve the safe and reliable substitution capacity of photovoltaic power generation, enhance the application level of advanced technologies through large-scale application, and accelerate the formation of a new mechanism.