Incident: PV-Tech News, according to the latest certification report of the Chinese Institute of Metrology, Zhonglai achieved a battery laboratory conversion efficiency of up to 26.7% on the basis of self-developed J-TOPCON3.0 POPAID technology and M10 size n-type batteries, setting a new world record for the current n-type TopCon battery
The company's production capacity construction is in line with expectations, and the construction of the battery cell project is progressing the fastest. On April 7, 2023, the company announced that in the high-efficiency monocrystalline battery smart factory project with an annual output of 16 GW, the first batch of 4GW project production lines in the first phase of 8 GW has been fully mass-produced. The remaining 4GW project equipment in the first phase is gradually being installed and related commissioning work has begun according to the installation schedule. The company will continue to accelerate the commissioning of the project production line. With an annual output of 200,000 tons of industrial silicon and an annual output of 100,000 tons of high-purity polysilicon projects, the company has completed the establishment of a new silicon project company. The silicon project has obtained a registration certificate for an enterprise investment project in Shanxi Province. Currently, the project environmental impact assessment report and energy saving assessment report are being prepared by a third party and are in the third party evaluation stage of the preliminary approval procedure. The general-purpose (transparent, white, black, etc.) photovoltaic backpanel project with an annual output of 250 million square meters has been approved and is undergoing project EIA and other approval procedures.
We expect the company's battery project to contribute high profits during the year.
This breakthrough in battery conversion efficiency reflects the great potential that the company has been deeply involved in on the technology path that the company has been deeply involved in for many years. In terms of n-type TopCon batteries, the company used self-developed POPAID technology (plasma oxidation and plasma-assisted in-situ doping technology) to overcome the shortcomings of similar doped amorphous silicon technology. Through continuous technological innovation, it successfully developed many cutting-edge technologies such as impurity extraction in the silicon wafer region, local polysilicon layers, hydrogen content control of polycrystalline films, novel metal damage repair, and ultrafine grid printing. Using mass-produced equipment and mass-produced materials on the company's production line successfully achieved a conversion efficiency of 26.7% for subsequent TopCon batteries The upgrade points to a clear technical direction.
This breakthrough in conversion efficiency has laid a solid foundation for the company to achieve mass production application of 3.0 technology as soon as possible. The company TopCon1.0 uses LPCVD+ ion injection, but after GW mass production of the production line, it is difficult for production efficiency and yield to meet the expected requirements. In addition, this process route requires 12 processes, and the cost is high. Through hard work, the company successfully launched TopCon 2.0. The battery production line process process was reduced from 12 to 9, saving equipment investment costs, and at the same time there were no plating problems. Currently, the company TopCon 3.0 is under development, aiming to achieve mass production this year. After successful mass production, it will be of positive significance to further improve the efficiency and cost reduction of the company's TopCon batteries.
Investment advice: We expect the company's net profit to be 402/934/1,384 billion yuan respectively in 2022-2024, and the corresponding PE will be 41x/17x/12x on April 10, maintaining the “buy” rating.
Risk warning: risk of price fluctuations in the industrial chain; risk of international trade protection; risk of changes in industry policies.