LONGi Tower Photo: LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd.

The world’s leading solar technology company, LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereafter as "LONGi"),?released its semi-annual report for 2024. Amidst the continuous transformation and challenges in the PV industry during the first half of 2024, the company achieved a business revenue of 38.529 billion yuan. Silicon wafer shipments totaled 44.44 GW (with 21.96 GW sold externally), while solar cell sales reached 2.66 GW externally. Additionally, module shipments amounted to 31.34 GW, with a remarkable year-on-year increase of over 140% in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite the significant decline in industry chain prices and elevated inventory challenges, the company demonstrated strong resilience and adaptability in the market.

Asia-Pacific sales surge; HPBC 2.0 brings industry reformation

In terms of capacity and shipment, LONGi has shown strong productivity and market competitiveness. In the first half of the year, LONGi's BC series module shipments reached 10 GW, and its excellent performance is gaining widespread market recognition. The significant increase of 140% in sales volume in the Asia-Pacific region not only highlights LONGi's deep foundation in the international market but also lays a solid foundation for expanding  global footprint

Based on the high-efficiency HPBC 2.0 cell technology, LONGi has launched the Hi-MO 9 bifacial module product for the utility market. By introducing advanced composite passivation technology and high-reliability back-contact interconnection technology, and leveraging the core advantages of the company's high-quality TaiRay silicon wafers—such as high resistivity concentration, effective impurity absorption, and strong mechanical properties—the module's mass production power has reached 660W. This is more than 30W higher than similar-specification TOPCon modules.

At the same time, the conversion efficiency of Hi-MO 9 has jumped to 24.43%, the bifacial rate has broken through 70%, and the anti-crack ability has increased by 80%. It has obvious advantages over TOPCon products in aspects such as temperature coefficient, degradation, and resistance to uneven light radiation. These excellent performances not only lead the industry by a large margin but also win more opportunities and market share for LONGi in domestic and international markets.

It is worth mentioning that LONGi's module products, with their excellent performance, have won the RETC "Highest Achievement" award for the 6th consecutive year and the PVEL Reliability Test "Best Performance" award for the 7th time. This series of honors is a high recognition of LONGi's technical strength and product quality by the PV industry and beyond. In addition, the company has also won the PV-Tech module bankability highest rating of AAA for the 18th time in a row, further consolidating LONGi's leading position in the global photovoltaic financing market.

It has been revealed that in the next three years, LONGi's mono-crystalline silicon wafer annual production capacity will reach 200 GW, with "TaiRay" silicon wafer capacity accounting for more than 80%; BC cell annual production capacity will reach 100 GW; mono-crystalline module annual production capacity will reach 150 GW, providing a solid support for the company to recover ahead of the industry.

BC advantages emerge, and utility power station procurement opens BC section

In response to the rapid development and technological evolution of the PV industry, LONGi has consistently demonstrated its insight and a forward-looking strategy. In the first half of the year, the company announced the resolutions from the 2023 annual shareholders’ meeting, including the approval of the "Proposal on Public Issuance of 10 Billion Yuan of Corporate Bonds." The funds raised will primarily be allocated for the development of advanced technologies, such as "TaiRay" silicon wafers and HPBC 2.0 cell technology. The goal is to accelerate the industrial iteration of BC and other new technologies, further enhance the company’s competitiveness, and create a new growth driver for the PV industry.

Technological innovation is key to LONGi's continued leadership in the industry. As of the end of the reporting period, the company has secured a total of 3,166 authorized patents, including nearly 200 related to BC technology, establishing a strong and deep technological moat. During the reporting period, the company achieved notable recognition for its technological contributions in the photovoltaic field. Two of its scientific research projects won the 2nd prize for the National Science and Technology Progress Award and the 2nd prize for the National Technical Invention Award, respectively. This achievement makes LONGi the first private enterprise in China’s photovoltaic sector to receive the highest national science and technology honors as both the primary completing unit and the first completer.

With the progress of the first phase of the Xixian New Area’s 12.5GW project, the Tongchuan 12GW project, and other HPBC 2.0 cell and capacity transformation projects, a significant increase in production capacity is anticipated. The HPBC 2.0 product will enter the market on a large scale by the end of 2024, and it is expected that the company's BC production capacity will reach 70GW (with HPBC 2.0 capacity of about 50GW) by the end of 2025, and all domestic cell bases are planned to be fully migrated to BC products by the end of 2026. The company has achieved smooth customs clearance for shipments to the North American region, and the 5GW module factory in the United States is now officially operational. This development provides substantial support for the company's business expansion in North America. These strategic implementations not only show LONGi's deep insight into the future PV market but also reflect its determination and strength as an industry leader to promote technological progress.

It is worth mentioning that the excellent power generation performance and low decay performance of the company's BC series modules have been proven by a large number of market proofs. After 7 months of outdoor proof by the National Centre of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality (CPVT), LONGi's Hi-MO X6 anti-dust module has an average monthly power gain of 2.84% compared to conventional modules, with the highest monthly relative gain of 5.4%. This proof result not only verifies the excellent performance of LONGi's products but also provides strong data support for its further expansion in the PV market.

In addition, on August 15th, the announcement of the 2024 photovoltaic module (second batch) framework agreement procurement tender by China Huaneng Group brought new momentum to the market application of LONGi's BC module technology. Notably, the third section includes a 1GW BC module procurement, marking the first time state-owned energy giants have issued a separate tender for BC modules. This represents a significant step forward for the application of BC technology in the domestic utility-scale PV market. As a leader in BC technology, LONGi is well-positioned to capture a larger share and gain a competitive edge in this emerging market.