(Yicai) June 13 -- The Chinese government should prevent excess capacity in the solar power industry and help protect intellectual property, according to industry insiders speaking at the ongoing SNEC 2024 International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Conference & Exhibition.

The competition is homogeneous, there are redundant projects, and in the past year or two, the main advantage of winning bids has usually been their low price, resulting in more fierce competition than ever, as well as a serious mismatch between supply and demand, Zhu Gongshan, chairman of Golden Concord Holdings, said to Yicai at the expo in Shanghai today.

Product prices have declined rapidly due to the competition, said Shi Yonghong, vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products. From January to April, exports of photovoltaic products jumped 30 percent from a year ago but prices slumped, the VP added.

The central government should make comprehensive plans instead of local governments' rushed schemes to attract high-quality investments so that the nation could avoid unfinished projects and the resulting huge local losses, said Gao Jifan, chairman of Trina Solar.

As the industry expands and product prices fall, the core driving force is technology innovation, said Zhong Baoshen, chairman of Longi Green Energy Technology. China should make greater efforts to protect IP in the PV industry and promote healthy development, he said, adding that if IP violations are not punished, industry players cannot achieve innovation-driven high-quality development.

Green energy is entering more generation scenarios from concentrated solar power stations to rooftop PV systems but there are no standards for solar panels used in construction so the entire industry needs to work together to form protocols for diversified scenarios, Zhong added.

The expo, which showcases the entire industrial chain of PV materials and equipment, gathers over 3,600 companies, and more than 500,000 visitors are expected, per the organizer.

Editor: Emmi Laine