One-time contracting of all village rooftops! Is the future of household photovoltaic power generation the development of entire villages?

In 2025, the release of Document No. 136, like a policy thunderbolt, pushed the household photovoltaic industry into the deep waters of market-oriented reform.

 

With the official opening of the curtain on the full entry of photovoltaic power generation into the market, household photovoltaic power generation, with its weaker risk resistance, has become the most affected market—shifting from the "fixed subsidy era" to the "market competition era," the comprehensive grid-connected electricity price of household photovoltaic power generation will most likely face a downward trend, asset value will face reassessment, and short-term market fluctuations are inevitable.
 

 

Faced with this drastic change, some have chosen to withdraw, some have chosen to wait and see, but more people are thinking: Where is the next way out for household photovoltaic power generation?

 

Where will household photovoltaic power generation go next?

 

Throughout the history of industry development, whenever there are major fluctuations in the industry's profit structure, the business model will inevitably iterate. This law is particularly significant in the field of household photovoltaic power generation.

 

In the early stages of the development of the household photovoltaic market, the "install and reward immediately" model was implemented—companies only needed to complete equipment installation to receive national rewards, and did not even need to wait for grid connection. This extensive reward method quickly gave rise to a large number of speculative activities in the household photovoltaic market, and was eventually replaced by the "subsidy era."

 

During the subsidy stage, the state provided installation subsidies or electricity subsidies based on grid connection (the electricity price in some areas was as high as 1 yuan/kWh), thus forming a complete closed loop of "installation-grid connection-subsidy." Supported by generous subsidy policies, the economic viability of photovoltaic projects was greatly enhanced, and the "photovoltaic loan" model emerged—supporting farmers or enterprises to install photovoltaic systems with low investment and greater speed through loans.

 

After "531" in 2018, the state accelerated the decline of photovoltaic power generation subsidies, and the reduction of subsidies reduced the expected return of power stations, and the loan policies and repayment conditions of photovoltaic loans were also affected. For example, the original credit term may be adjusted from 5 years to 8 years to better match the expected return of power stations without subsidies. After that, the photovoltaic loan model gradually withdrew from the market.

 

What replaced it was the "operating lease" model. Under this model, enterprises lease equipment to users at a profit sharing ratio of about 15%, and achieve risk sharing through a floating income mechanism (annual average single-panel rent of about 50 yuan)—when power generation is high, user income increases, and when power generation is low, enterprise costs also decrease simultaneously.
 

 

In recent years, with the price of photovoltaic components falling by more than 70%, power increasing to 600W+ and stability significantly enhanced, the development of household photovoltaic projects has gradually shifted to a "pure rooftop lease" model, with fixed rent, achieving profitability through large-scale development...

 

 

So, in the new market environment, what adjustments will the development model of the household photovoltaic market usher in?

 

The industry generally believes that as household photovoltaic power generation enters the electricity market, a decline in electricity prices is almost inevitable, and the investment return rate of projects will decrease accordingly. Against this background, reasonably controlling the development and construction costs of projects has become the top priority for enterprises.
 

 

And the first knife that most enterprises use to reduce project development costs is to cut high channel fees.

 

Because it is difficult for development enterprises to directly sink to the front line to connect with the public, the development of household photovoltaic projects mostly adopts a dealer model, relying on channel resources. In the past few years, competition in the household photovoltaic sector has been fierce, and enterprises have had to compete on price to seize market share, thus continuously pushing up "channel fees," with market development fees in some areas even exceeding 1 yuan/W!

 

Since the release of Document No. 136, leading development enterprises have already begun to significantly reduce the channel fees and installation fees for photovoltaic power station development on a large scale, preparing for price reductions after "430" and "531." According to an agent engaged in household photovoltaic power generation in Jiangsu, the installation fee previously provided by the platform was 1000 yuan/piece, which has now been reduced by nearly 40%.

 

However, simply reducing channel fees is not a long-term solution. How can we reduce reliance on channel resources and still expand business on a large scale? Household photovoltaic enterprises are accelerating the exploration of new routes.
 

 

More and more enterprises are turning their attention to the development of entire villages.

 

 

The wind of "whole village development" is rising

 

The whole-village development of household photovoltaic power generation is not a new thing. In recent years, with the sharp increase in the installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic power generation, the problem of grid absorption has become increasingly prominent. On the one hand, the capacity that can be accessed on the distribution side is limited, and on the other hand, the absorption on the power consumption side is insufficient, leading to low-voltage reverse power transmission to high-voltage in some areas. To alleviate the contradiction between absorption and access, the whole-village development model of household photovoltaic power generation has emerged.

 

So-called "whole-village development" is to coordinate rooftop and land resources as a unit, replacing the traditional single-household scattered installation model, usually using "centralized confluence, step-up grid connection" technology to concentrate and step up the scattered household photovoltaic power generation before connecting to the grid.

 

System principle, source: Zhengtai Aneng Zhidian

 

Technical comparison Source: Zhengtai Aneng Zhidian

In the traditional model, the uncontrollability of the installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic power generation is an important reason for the reverse overload of some distribution transformers. In the "whole-village development" model, the development enterprise configures step-up transformers according to the village's developable capacity, thus solving the problem of overcapacity power generation and insufficient transformer capacity.

 

Theoretically speaking, if a certain area has no access capacity in the low-voltage distribution network, but there are still installable rooftops or courtyards, and the villages are relatively concentrated, and the power supply office in that area supports the addition of transformers, and the upper-level substation has sufficient capacity, then "whole-village development" business can be carried out, effectively addressing the situation of transformer overload.
 

 

Returning to the issue of dependence on channel resources, for household photovoltaic enterprises, shifting from decentralized development to centralized development will help reduce the enterprise's dependence on channel resources.

 

In the traditional single-household model, it is necessary to connect with farmers one by one, involving rooftop resource negotiation, installation design, and grid connection approval. Enterprises need to rely on a large number of local channel merchants (such as agents and distributors) to cover the scattered needs of farmers.

 

Whole-village development integrates scattered rooftop resources into large-scale projects through centralized confluence and unified planning, allowing enterprises to cooperate directly with village committees or local governments, reducing reliance on scattered channels. For example, Zhengtai Aneng cooperates with local governments through the "whole-village development Pro plan" to directly connect with village collective resources.

 

Zhucheng whole-village development project in Shandong

 

In fact, in addition to the consideration of reducing channel dependence, the strong guidance of national and local policies in recent years is also an important reason for photovoltaic enterprises to focus on whole-village development.
 

 

As early as November 2023, Shi Jingli, a researcher at the National Development and Reform Commission's Energy Research Institute, suggested promoting a centralized power collection model in areas where household photovoltaic systems have reached a certain proportion. Many places, including Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Guangdong, have also issued documents encouraging the implementation of a whole-village "centralized power collection" grid connection model and encouraging the implementation of "centralized power collection + substation energy storage".

 

In 2025, the new version of the distributed photovoltaic management measures issued by the National Energy Administration once again clearly stated that it encourages non-natural person household distributed photovoltaics to access the power grid through centralized power collection.

 

Subsequently, in the distributed photovoltaic management measures or draft opinions issued successively in many provinces, there are more or less mentions of encouraging whole-village development and on-site consumption.
Among them, the "Implementation Opinions on the Implementation of the Management Measures for the Development and Construction of Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation (Draft for Comments)" issued by Jiangsu on April 10 is the most clear and specific.
The document proposes: prioritizing the promotion of whole-village development, encouraging project investors to utilize the same natural village or concentrated residential area, based on fully respecting the wishes of farmers and protecting their legitimate interests, to prioritize the large-scale development of non-natural person household photovoltaic systems in whole villages. Allowing the merger of registration and centralized power collection access for whole-village household distributed photovoltaic projects. Supporting banks, securities, and other financial institutions to issue green loans and REITs to specifically support the whole-village development of distributed photovoltaics.

 

 

Why does the policy level strongly promote the whole-village development of household photovoltaics? We believe there are at least three considerations.

 

From the perspective of promoting new energy development, the significance of whole-village development of household photovoltaics lies not only in alleviating the contradictions of access and consumption, opening up incremental space for distributed photovoltaic installations, but also in improving grid friendliness through strong control—using village collectives as units for high-voltage grid connection, strongly implementing unified monitoring and protection, and effectively ensuring grid safety.

 

At the same time, encouraging whole-village development is also conducive to guiding the household photovoltaic market to explore diversified business models, such as solving financing problems through cooperation models such as "government + enterprise + bank".

 

In addition, objectively speaking, whole-village development is also conducive to promoting the standardization of household photovoltaic development and pushing enterprises to shift from extensive expansion to refined operation.

 

From the perspective of promoting power market-oriented reforms, non-natural person distributed photovoltaics and general industrial and commercial distributed photovoltaics are the main forces for distributed photovoltaics to participate in power market-oriented transactions in the future. "Whole-village development," using the model of general industrial and commercial grid connection, is in line with the direction of power market development. And under the "whole-village development" model, it is also easier to achieve "observable, measurable, adjustable, and controllable" distributed photovoltaics, laying the foundation for fully participating in market-oriented transactions.

 

Zhangqiu 2.18MW whole-village development project in Shandong

 

From the perspective of assisting in the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, compared with the traditional model, the "whole-village development" model of household photovoltaics is more effective in driving increases in village collective income and promoting employment. Farmers obtain stable income through roof leasing or power sales, while village collectives increase public funds through project operation, which can be used for infrastructure construction and public welfare undertakings. In addition, photovoltaic installation and maintenance can also create local jobs and promote the transformation of rural labor.

 

In recent years, more and more regions have linked photovoltaic whole-village development with rural revitalization work. For example, in September 2024, Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province, issued a notice on the "Implementation Plan for the Thousand Villages and Ten Thousand Households "Photovoltaic +" Rural Revitalization Demonstration Project in Danfeng County," which will select one administrative village in each town (office) in the county, select photovoltaic or photothermal project construction models, with a construction capacity of about 2 megawatts per village, and conduct whole-village photovoltaic (photothermal) project demonstrations. By the end of 2024, about 12 whole-village rooftop distributed photovoltaic and photothermal demonstration projects with a total capacity of about 24,000 kilowatts will be built in the county.

 

In terms of implementation model, village collectives will establish village new energy project companies. Townships (offices) are encouraged to raise funds as 10% of the registered capital, project implementation companies provide 10% of the registered capital, and banks and guarantee institutions provide loans and guarantees.

 

 

Opportunities and challenges coexist

 

From building single-household photovoltaic power station systems to developing whole-village centralized power collection and grid-connected projects, it undoubtedly presents both opportunities and challenges. In the implementation process, there may be difficulties in technical support, regional selection, project investment, and promotion coordination, testing the resource coordination and platform operation capabilities of enterprises.

 

A developer frankly stated that many difficulties were encountered in the process of operating the first whole-village development project. First, at the technical level, the technical implementation of whole-village development is different from single-household development, and the professional step-up equipment, high-voltage drawing design, etc., involved require proactive supplementation; second, in terms of project coordination, each project has more or less unpredictable problems, so it is essential to screen a sufficient project list in the early stage.

 

In addition, it is worth noting that although whole-village development reduces reliance on traditional channel merchants, enterprises still need to rely on channel partners (such as large energy enterprises or regional service providers) with government relations or local resource integration capabilities to promote project implementation.

 

In the future, if a large number of enterprises enter the whole-village development track, it will undoubtedly further increase the development threshold and place greater demands on the resources and "relationships" of development enterprises.

 

Will "whole-village development" be a solution to the development problems of household photovoltaics? What are your thoughts on this? Welcome to share your unique insights in the comments section~