The Chinese people's "volume" is reflected in all walks of life.

In the first quarter of 2025, the ceramic industry faced an unprecedented "price war". Manufacturing is always similar, "Only brand companies are qualified to reduce prices. If there is no brand awareness, no one will care about you even if you reduce prices."

According to relevant data, the ceramic industry contributes 1% of my country's GDP, but consumes 1.7% of my country's energy. Among them, natural gas resource consumption accounts for 30% of the country; in terms of emissions, the carbon dioxide emissions of the building sanitary ceramics industry in 2021 are about 140 million to 200 million tons, accounting for 1.5% to 2% of the country's total emissions.

The largest electricity consumption in ceramic factories is the raw material preparation workshop and the polishing line. The electricity consumption of these two links accounts for more than 50% of the entire ceramic factory. In the case of power rationing, it cannot be stopped, so it can only be replaced by diesel power generation. The cost of diesel power generation is 2 yuan/kWh higher than the normal electricity price, which is a huge expense for ceramic factories.

A polishing machine consumes about 1,000 kWh of electricity per hour. If a ceramic factory has 5 polishing machines (more than 100), working 15 hours a day, it will consume 75,000 kWh of electricity a day. If diesel is used for power generation, the cost will increase by 150,000 yuan a day.

Nowadays, the top students in the ceramic industry have taken positive action. A number of brands such as Mona Lisa, Jianyi, Marco Polo, Xinmingzhu, Shuncheng, and Xiejin have invested in rooftop solar electronic panel projects at production bases to carry out photovoltaic power generation. Through the use of green power grids, carbon reduction can be achieved, reducing dependence on large power grids and replacing more carbon indicators. At present, at least 200 ceramic factory photovoltaic projects have been approved, and the largest single distributed photovoltaic project in China is in the ceramic industry.

Since 2022, ceramic companies have introduced distributed photovoltaic power generation projects into a major outbreak stage. According to incomplete statistics from the China Ceramic Information Network, in the first two quarters of 2023, well-known ceramic companies have registered nearly 80 new photovoltaic power generation projects with a total investment of more than 1.655 billion yuan.

Advantages of installing photovoltaics in ceramic enterprises

Reduce energy consumption in ceramic enterprises and ease electricity shortage. In recent years, some areas have experienced power outages, resulting in frequent policies to increase electricity prices. Ceramic factories consume a lot of electricity. After installing photovoltaics, they can use the green electricity generated by their own photovoltaic power stations to alleviate the peak period of daytime electricity consumption in high-energy-consuming ceramic enterprises.

The person in charge of a ceramic factory once said that the cost of diesel power generation is 2 yuan/kWh higher than the normal electricity cost. The cost of power restriction increases by nearly 150,000 yuan a day. Even if the minimum efficiency is guaranteed, the additional electricity cost will increase by nearly 40,000 yuan a day. The solution is to install distributed photovoltaics.

Reduce electricity consumption and save electricity expenses for ceramic enterprises. The electricity bills for industrial and commercial enterprises are much higher than those for residential electricity. The daily electricity bills are huge. After installing photovoltaic power generation, the "self-generation and self-use, surplus electricity to the Internet" mode is adopted to sell the remaining electricity and obtain a sum of electricity bill income.

Reduce factory energy consumption, improve the working environment, and establish a good image for ceramic enterprises. Photovoltaic power stations built on ceramic factory buildings can have a certain cooling effect, especially in the summer from June to August, which can reduce the temperature of the workshop by 3-6 degrees, improve the working environment of employees in the factory, and accelerate the transformation of enterprises while saving energy and reducing emissions, and establish a good corporate image.

Not restricted by region, it can effectively activate the idle resources on the roofs of ceramic enterprises. Distributed photovoltaic power stations are mainly built on the roofs of ceramic factories. Enterprises will develop and utilize a large piece of idle roof resources, activate fixed assets, and add a channel for increasing income.

Under the general trend of the country's "dual carbon" goals and dual control of energy consumption, distributed photovoltaic power generation may become the optimal solution for many high-energy-consuming enterprises. Distributed photovoltaic power generation on the roof of the factory building of an enterprise is currently the most direct and convenient form of clean energy utilization. It can not only save energy and reduce emissions, but also save electricity bills for self-use, and make money by selling surplus electricity. It can also beautify the roof factory building while insulating heat, which is truly a win-win situation.

After the ceramic production base is installed with photovoltaic power, when its various indicators reach a certain level, it can also be awarded a national "Green Factory Evaluation Certificate" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. According to Xiaohezi, many local policies clearly state that "green factories" can receive a certain amount of rewards, usually in the millions.

However, according to industry insiders, there are still some problems to be solved in photovoltaic power generation in ceramic factories. For example, at this stage, some ceramic factory roofs still use relatively simple tiles, which makes photovoltaic power generation construction difficult; in addition, ceramic factories have a lot of dust, and the maintenance, upkeep, and long-term operation and maintenance of photovoltaic power generation projects are also a big difficulty.

Classic cases of ceramic enterprises

In April 2021, a ceramic production base in Jiangxi was featured on CCTV because the ceramic factory covered the roofs of the workshops in the entire factory area with a total of 680,000 square meters of photovoltaic panels, which is equivalent to the size of 100 football fields, and the annual photovoltaic power generation is "more than 100 million kWh".

Theoretically, 1 kWh of electricity consumes 0.1229 kg of standard coal, and 100 million kWh of photovoltaic power generation can save 12,290 tons of standard coal; but in fact there will be losses. The National Bureau of Statistics uses 0.404 kg of standard coal per kWh. According to this standard, 100 million kWh of photovoltaic power generation can save 40,400 tons of standard coal.

The photovoltaic project of this ceramic production base is also the largest single distributed photovoltaic project in China. The project adopts the "self-generation and self-use, surplus power to the grid" model. The photovoltaic power generation is first used by the factory where the project is located, and the unused power is sold to the local power grid. More than 90% of the photovoltaic power generation of the project can be digested and used by itself.

On March 30, 2024, the grid connection ceremony of the Mona Lisa 85MW integrated smart energy project in Teng County, Guangxi was successfully held.

The total installed capacity of the project is 85.34MWp, covering a roof area of ​​640,000 square meters, equivalent to the area of ​​about 90 standard football fields. It is the largest single BIPV project in South China, and its installed capacity is also among the top in similar projects in the world.

The project adopts the "self-generation and self-use, surplus power to the grid" operation mode, and the proportion of self-use of power generation exceeds 90%. The factory's electricity is more supplied by clean energy, which can not only achieve efficient use of energy, reduce the energy consumption and electricity bills of ceramic companies, but also effectively improve the working environment of technicians and enhance the social image of the company. It is expected that after commissioning, the project's annual average power generation will reach 81.6644 million kWh, saving 25,500 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon emissions by 66,000 tons each year, which will promote high-energy-consuming and high-pollution traditional ceramic companies to accelerate into the fast lane of green development and low-carbon development.

In April 2024, the first phase of the photovoltaic power generation project of the Jingyi Youpin Ceramic Factory of the Jomoo Group, jointly built by the Jomoo Group and the photovoltaic industry giant Longi Sente, was officially launched.

According to reports, the project layout has a total installed capacity of 10.397MW of distributed power stations, with an estimated annual power generation of about 11.1825 million kWh. During the operation period, it will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and coal consumption, and inject a steady stream of green electricity into the factory, promoting global green development and climate change response.

In response to the needs of ceramic factories, the project adopts the BIPV photovoltaic building integration solution, which is suitable for installation methods in different scenarios such as renovation, extension, and new construction, and successfully solves the complex construction problems of old metal roofs, concrete roofs and new factory roofs.