When industry cycles meet Document No. 136! How the inverter industry reconstructs its core competitiveness

In 2025, the Chinese distributed energy market will reach a historic turning point. The National Energy Administration and the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly issued two "new photovoltaic policies." The photovoltaic industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation from "policy nurturing" to "market tempering." New policies combined with new industrial cycles have filled photovoltaic companies with variables.
This coming-of-age ceremony, named "market," is reshaping the survival rules for millions of photovoltaic companies. The profit model that once relied on guaranteed feed-in tariffs has collapsed, replaced by accurate prediction of user electricity curves, the wisdom of bidding in spot trading, and technological breakthroughs to cope with grid capacity.
Against this backdrop, both emerging and established companies need to consider their next breakthrough strategy.

Zhengtai Power's Turkey energy storage project

Four major challenges! New policies lead to in-depth transformation of distributed photovoltaics
In 2025, China's distributed photovoltaic industry will usher in a major policy shift.
On January 17, the National Energy Administration officially issued the "Management Measures for the Development and Construction of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation." Before April 30, industrial and commercial distributed photovoltaics can be fully grid-connected; after April 30, small industrial and commercial users can only use self-generated electricity and grid-connected surplus electricity, not fully grid-connected; large-scale industries can only be fully self-used or participate in spot trading.
On February 9, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Notice on Deepening the Market-Oriented Reform of New Energy Grid-Connected Prices and Promoting the High-Quality Development of New Energy" (Document No. 136), clarifying the "new and old separation." Before May 31, old projects will continue to implement existing guaranteed policies; after May 31, all electricity generated by new projects will enter market trading.
The introduction of these two documents has a profound impact on the distributed photovoltaic industry.
In terms of profit models, the previous reliance on full guaranteed grid-connected tariffs and fixed electricity price models is gradually being phased out. Enterprises need to shift to self-generation and self-use or market-based trading models. This places higher demands on enterprises' capabilities in predicting user-side electricity demand and judging market-based electricity trading prices.
From a technical perspective, the new regulations emphasize the proportion of self-generation and self-use and grid capacity. This compels enterprises to optimize system design, such as reasonably configuring energy storage facilities and improving operational capabilities to adapt to the new market environment. The new distributed regulations popularize the "four capabilities" function nationwide, strongly promoting the development of distributed photovoltaics towards a more intelligent, efficient, and reliable operation model, thereby achieving synergistic optimization of photovoltaic absorption capacity. As a key hardware device connecting photovoltaic components and the grid, inverters not only bear the heavy responsibility of data acquisition and power regulation, but are also the core of system control. Under the new distributed regulations, their technical threshold has significantly increased.
In terms of industry competition, the new regulations promote the development of photovoltaic systems in a refined direction, especially the impact of photovoltaic equipment efficiency on photovoltaic power plant income is increasingly critical. In addition, due to the large volatility of photovoltaic new energy power, inverters need to have high/low voltage ride-through and frequency response functions to ensure the stable operation of the grid. Products with higher efficiency, stronger intelligence, and better grid coordination will stand out in the competition.
In terms of power station operation and maintenance, the time-of-use fluctuation of market-based electricity prices makes energy storage a standard configuration for photovoltaic projects, and inverters need to be compatible with energy storage systems. At the same time, photovoltaic power stations participate in electricity spot market transactions, requiring inverters to have real-time data interaction functions and integrate intelligent communication modules. By leveraging smart grid scheduling and real-time data monitoring, the matching of power generation and electricity consumption is optimized, and the curtailment rate is reduced.

Comprehensive upgrade! The innovative breakthrough of veteran photovoltaic inverter companies
The implementation of the new distributed regulations and Document No. 136, coupled with the photovoltaic industry cycle, will force photovoltaic inverter companies to upgrade and transform. Advantageous companies will stand out, while disadvantaged companies will inevitably be eliminated. Therefore, how to break through has become a real problem faced by many photovoltaic inverter companies.
Zhengtai Power, a veteran photovoltaic inverter company established as early as 2009, has obviously accumulated rich experience in dealing with industry cycle fluctuations and industrial transformation.
 

• Breaking through industry involution with technological accumulation!

After years of accumulation, Zhengtai Power has accumulated leading product technologies in the industry, possessing advanced technologies such as DC arc detection technology, five-level transformerless inverter circuits, and virtual grounding technology, as well as more than 100 core patented technologies, and has obtained certifications from developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, and South Korea.
In the field of photovoltaic inverters, the current 300kW+ high-power string inverters are the mainstream models in the industry, especially in central state-owned enterprises integrated projects, accounting for a high proportion. However, 300kW+ models are technically challenging, and high failure rates require long-term technical accumulation to achieve product stability. Zhengtai Power's technical accumulation in high-power string inverters is particularly profound, laying a solid foundation for the continuous development of new products.

Zhengtai Power's Poland project
 

• Start early, stop late! High yield!

Zhengtai inverters use low-start-voltage MPPT circuits that can start operation at lower DC voltages. They can capture power generation opportunities in the weak sunlight of early mornings. Compared to traditional inverters, they can start power generation earlier, maximizing the use of time-of-use electricity price policies and generating higher returns during peak electricity price periods. Their MPPT voltage range covers 200-1000V (depending on the specific model), adapting well to the fluctuation of early morning and evening light irradiation and effectively reducing shutdowns caused by voltage exceeding the range, ensuring stable output during favorable electricity price periods.
At night or under extremely low light conditions, the inverter automatically enters sleep mode with standby power consumption below 1W, greatly reducing ineffective energy consumption while ensuring that it can be quickly awakened and put into normal operation the next day. According to incomplete statistics, 20 provinces across the country have implemented low-valley or deep-valley electricity price policies during the midday period. The normal peak power generation period of photovoltaic power plants has become a low point in market electricity prices. After the release of Document No. 136, this trend will become even more significant. Therefore, the early start and late stop characteristics of Zhengtai Power inverters can better adapt to market-based electricity price policies, ensuring higher returns for users.
In addition, the Trina Solar inverter can respond quickly in 30ms, completing active/reactive power adjustment within a millisecond window, perfectly adapting to VPP virtual power plant scheduling and grid frequency regulation needs; real-time data interaction, supporting 4G/WIFI/RS485/CAN/PLC multi-channel communication, data upload in seconds and minutes, and string-level fault location accuracy of 99%. Users can also preset electricity price period operation strategies through the Trina Solar MatriCloud platform or local EMS, allowing the inverter to automatically execute the optimal economic mode.
 

• Seizing the central state-owned enterprise market!

In numerous photovoltaic inverter procurement projects led by central state-owned enterprises, Trina Solar has repeatedly won bids based on its own strength.

Central state-owned enterprises occupy a dominant position in the photovoltaic inverter market, with extremely high standards and requirements for product quality, enterprise supply capacity, and after-sales service. Trina Solar's success in winning bids in multiple central state-owned enterprise centralized procurement projects fully demonstrates its strong strength.

Trina Solar North American Project
 

• Differentiated layout of overseas markets!

 

Trina Solar has always adhered to the guiding ideology of "localized applicability", customizing product designs based on the installation, use, and maintenance habits of different regional markets. Through this approach, the installation and maintenance costs in overseas markets have been effectively reduced, making the company's products highly competitive both domestically and internationally.

 

Trina Solar's products have gained widespread market recognition in many regions around the world, including North America, Asia, Europe, and South America. According to data from S&P Global, in 2023, Trina Solar's market share in the South Korean inverter market reached 29.5%, ranking first in the market; in the US market, Trina Solar's market share in the commercial and industrial inverter market is approximately 28.1%.

 

The reason lies in the excellent performance of Trina inverters. Taking the Trina 320kW model as an example, through continuous design optimization, it can still maintain a rated power of 320kW at 50℃ high temperature, while similar products generally start to derate at 35℃. This advantage ensures higher power generation under the same conditions and greater customer returns. Therefore, it is welcomed by markets worldwide.

 

In the current environment of increasing involution in the photovoltaic industry and gradually decreasing gross profit margins in overseas markets, including Europe, Trina Solar, with its advanced strategic foresight, firmly controls high-value markets, which undoubtedly provides solid support and confidence for navigating the current industry cycle.

Accelerated technology iteration, who will define the next generation of competitiveness?
Three-dimensional layout of the technological moat! Trina Solar has always adhered to the philosophy of "establishing a market position through technology". Over the years, continuous investment in technological research and development and experience accumulation have built a profound technological foundation. It possesses a rich product series and masters many advanced technologies, including DC arc detection technology, five-level transformerless inverter circuits, and virtual grounding technology, and holds nearly one hundred core patented technologies.
Scenario-based solution capabilities! Trina Solar's string inverter products have achieved wide coverage across various power ranges and scenarios. Currently, the company's string inverter products cover various application scenarios, including ground power stations (250kW-350kW), commercial and industrial (25kW-125kW), and household (2kW-25kW). In terms of energy storage products, Trina Solar's products are suitable for 11 application scenarios, making it one of the few manufacturers on the market that can be applied to more than 10 scenarios.

Trina Solar Romania Project
Ecological collaborative innovation practice! Trina Solar's parent company, Trina Group, is a world-renowned provider of smart energy system solutions. Trina Solar is a top ten global photovoltaic battery component manufacturer, and Trina New Energy is a photovoltaic power plant investment, construction, operation, and external EPC company. Trina Aneng is a leading private photovoltaic power plant enterprise, and in addition, Trina Group also has Trina Zhiwei, a professional photovoltaic power plant operation and maintenance company. As an important member of the Trina family, Trina Solar has unique advantages in upstream and downstream synergy in the photovoltaics and energy storage industry chain. Through close cooperation with various companies within the group, Trina Solar can achieve full industrial chain resource integration and collaborative innovation, from photovoltaic battery component production and photovoltaic power plant construction to post-operation and maintenance, providing customers with one-stop photovoltaic and energy storage integrated solutions, effectively enhancing market competitiveness and injecting new vitality into the development of the photovoltaic industry.
Looking to the future, Trina Solar is expected to continue to leverage policy and technological tailwinds, relying on its profound technological accumulation, complete product system, strong market development capabilities, and excellent collaborative innovation advantages, to continue to advance in the fierce competition of the photovoltaic industry, contributing more to the global energy transition and green development, and leading the photovoltaic industry to a new level of development.

 

Source: Photovoltaic Headline