January 14, Suzhou. The opening ceremony of Carbon Quest 2025 · The 4th Solar Energy Cup Innovation Sharing Session kicked off, with Professor Shen Hui, Director of The Yangtze Institute for Solar Technology (YIST), delivering an opening speech. His core viewpoint cut straight to the industry’s essence: photovoltaics is not merely an industry, but a great and sacred cause.
From Negation to Global Leadership: Hard-Won Industrial Achievements
Recalling the development journey of China's PV industry, Shen Hui admitted that the current technological leadership and dominant position in the industrial ecosystem have not come easily. In the early years, the West widely dismissed the feasibility of crystalline silicon technology, and relevant ministries in China once held similar views. Today’s accomplishments have been gradually accumulated through long-term industry exploration and practice – with PV enterprises and local governments making significant efforts to this end.
Breaking the Geopolitical Dilemma:
Deep Integration into the Global Energy System
Faced with current geopolitical challenges, Shen Hui proposed a solution: this cannot be driven solely by enterprises. The key lies in a mindset shift – to deeply integrate photovoltaics, a clean energy source shared by all humanity, into the global energy system and fully unlock its core value.
He also called on the industry to stay true to its original aspiration of green development and avoid blindly chasing hot trends.
Industrial Governance and Innovation Ecosystem:
Multi-Stakeholder Co-Governance and Opposition to Involution
When addressing key issues in industrial development, Shen Hui put forward two propositions:
- Policy-making level: Relevant stakeholders including enterprises should be fully involved. Industrial governance can be refined through multi-party advice, suggestions, criticism and self-criticism.
- Ecosystem development level: Build a united and harmonious development ecosystem, and reject extreme publicity and vicious competition. He frankly stated that China's PV industry has not yet achieved original breakthroughs at the core technological level, urging the sector to uphold the philosophy of "reflective thinking", strengthen learning, exchanges and in-depth deliberation, and consolidate the foundation for innovation.
Space Photovoltaics and Future Layout: A Long-Term Strategic Vision
Regarding the trending field of space photovoltaics, Shen Hui emphasized that research must be grounded in long-term data spanning ten years or even decades.
He revealed that YIST has identified the aerospace sector as a key priority. Currently, four satellites equipped with the institute’s silicon battery modules are being tested in more diverse application scenarios.
Conclusion: A Hundred Flowers Blossom, with a Bright Future
Shen Hui expressed his hope that the PV industry will embrace a "hundred flowers blossom" development pattern, unite as one, and refrain from rejecting any technical route. He firmly believes that the future of the PV industry is bright and promising.