On June 25th (reporter Guo Songqiao research associate Zhang Yuhong), the World Economic Forum's 15th New Leading Annual Conference (Summer Davos Forum) was held in Dalian from June 25th to 27th.

During the forum, Caixin reporter interviewed Vice President Qian Jing of JinkoSolar (688223.SH), one of the leading photovoltaic companies in the capital market.

The following is the transcript of the interview:

Caijing: The theme of this year's Davos is "The New Frontier of Future Growth." Combined with the photovoltaic industry, what are your thoughts on this theme?

Qian Jing: Energy storage is at the forefront of future growth, as it is the basis and the end of everything. Energy density of energy storage = (technological capability + technological application) x trust. We have already mastered strong technological capabilities to make photovoltaics the cleanest, most economical, and most highly distributed energy source today. Next, we need to accelerate the application and consumption of energy storage technology, making climate responsibility a new value for every organization.

China's advantage lies in the diversified applications of photovoltaics. In fact, it is not just focusing on policies, technologies and innovations in manufacturing but we should also pay more attention to the application scenarios of photovoltaics. For example, the combination of light storage, photovoltaics and electric vehicles, electrification, hydrogen energy, and smart grids.

Everyone thinks that photovoltaics are expensive, but the price is not a problem now. The production cost of photovoltaic power generation terminal in more than 90% of the countries has already been lower than that of thermal power generation, and with the current development of photovoltaic technology, the cost will continue to decrease. The most crucial factor is the application scenario. If the bottleneck problem in the application end and the consumption end are solved, the demand will be released more quickly.

Caijing: What are your expectations for the future development trend and competition pattern of the industry?

Qian Jing: Looking at the recently concluded Shanghai Photovoltaic Exhibition, although the exhibition was the largest scale in history, there are still many concerns in the industry.

For those who have been deeply involved in the photovoltaic industry for 20 years, we can see that overcapacity and excess production have always been a common topic in the photovoltaic industry. If we objectively look at this issue, it is actually a dynamic process. Excess production leads to lower prices, market demand is then unlocked, and then there is another wave of production capacity. Of course, this wave of production capacity will be more fierce. The previous two years were too hot, including various policy incentives from local governments and the support of the capital market, etc.

However, for JinkoSolar, we have a different perspective on the market. We expect a turnaround in the third and fourth quarters, and prices will have a trend of stabilizing and rebounding. At the same time, we say that backward production capacity will always be excessive while high-quality production capacity will always be insufficient. JinkoSolar's shipment guidance for this year is 100-110GW, and the current order visibility is over 80%, indicating that demand for high-quality production capacity is still strong.

Caijing: Under the increasingly fierce competition in the photovoltaic industry, many companies are actively expanding into overseas markets. How does JinkoSolar's overseas expansion situation fare?

Qian Jing: JinkoSolar has been laying out overseas markets early. As early as 2015, we built a photovoltaic cell plant in Malaysia. JinkoSolar has 14 factories, with three overseas in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the United States.

In the future, overseas production capacity layout will mainly consider several factors: policy risks, national credit, China's relationship with the region, funding, markets, the ambitions and actions of local governments in developing new energy, infrastructure including electricity prices, labor quality, and other factors.

Caijing: How is JinkoSolar's current energy storage business developing?

Qian Jing: Integrated photovoltaic and energy storage is the direction of JinkoSolar's future growth, and energy storage business is JinkoSolar's second growth curve. JinkoSolar's goal is to become the world's leading energy storage enterprise in the next 3-5 years. At present, the layout is mainly in China, and the sales areas are mainly facing China, Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. In addition, JinkoSolar Energy will focus on the integration of photovoltaic and energy storage control technology, especially intelligent control technology.

Energy storage will definitely rise in the industry and commerce, because there is a business model. From a global perspective, only in areas with large differences between peak and valley electricity prices can good development be achieved, such as Australia and California, USA. The demand for energy storage in industry and commerce is very strong, which is also the reason why JinkoSolar is entering this market. The development potential of distributed photovoltaics and energy storage in industry and commerce is relatively large, and energy storage can achieve break-even through a business model.