On September 2nd, Caixin reported that the China Photovoltaic Industry Association stated that in recent times, some companies have reported to the association that the bidding process for downstream power stations has resulted in price trampling due to the price mechanism, which is an important driver of the continuous decline in the price of photovoltaic products. In order to better understand the real situation, promote upstream and downstream integration, discuss solutions, and guide the healthy development of the industry, on August 29, 2024, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association organized a roundtable discussion on the bidding price mechanism for photovoltaic power station construction in Beijing under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Electronic Information Department. The meeting was chaired by Liu Yi Yang, Vice Secretary General of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association. Wang Shijiang, Deputy Director of the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Mo Xuan Chao from the Development and Planning Bureau of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, Yu Can from the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Administration, Cao Renxian, Chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association and Chairman of Trina Solar Co., Ltd., and Gao Jifan, Honorary Chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association and Chairman of Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd., attended the meeting and gave speeches.

Through discussion, the conference unanimously agreed that the current industry-wide loss situation is not conducive to the sustainable and healthy development of the photovoltaic industry, and it is not beneficial for downstream power station owners to ensure product quality and delivery at unreasonably low prices.

The conference recommends that upstream and downstream companies further optimize the bidding mechanism for photovoltaic power station construction. This includes adopting a two-step bidding process, using a reasonable average price as the target price, and incorporating product and technological innovation, product quality reliability, intellectual property rights, sustainable operational capacity, performance capability, social responsibility, ESG (environmental, social, and governance), independent controllability, and green supply chain into the scoring system. The China Photovoltaic Industry Association will compile and release price and cost indices to better reflect the current prices of photovoltaic products and serve as important reference for price adjustment mechanisms. Taking into account the successful experience of leading photovoltaic technology bases, a certain scale of power stations will be allocated in large wind and solar energy bases to support the application and industrialization promotion of advanced and efficient technologies.

The conference urged upstream photovoltaic manufacturers to fully recognize their primary responsibility for resolving the current industry difficulties, eliminate vicious competition, make decisions and take actions from an industry standpoint, adhere to innovation-driven and long-termism, and uphold cooperation and win-win outcomes to jointly maintain a fair competition order. At the same time, further optimize and improve the downstream photovoltaic power station electricity price policies, address curtailment and abandonment of excess solar power issues, implement the "Regulations on Fair Competition Review", regulate local government's industrial support and protection measures, effectively reduce non-technical costs of photovoltaic power generation, and ensure that the benefits of cost reduction and efficiency increase in the upstream manufacturing end are truly passed on to the downstream application end.