Entering the "Photovoltaic + Transportation" era of sustainable development

With the tide of green development, everything related to photovoltaics is ushering in great opportunities.

The "photovoltaic" that has been constantly innovating, from iron towers, base stations, oil fields, plateaus, to high-speed rail, airports, high-speed service areas, expressways, parking lots, photovoltaic carports, photovoltaic gas stations, photovoltaic oil tankers, etc., as the scene continues to expand, Opening up more and more photovoltaic possibilities.

Scenario characteristics of "photovoltaic transportation"

Transportation, as the basic needs of people's life, has also become the carrier of photovoltaics, and has entered people's field of vision one after another. With the increasingly diversified application modes of photovoltaic power generation, various "photovoltaic transportation" projects have become commonplace.

photovoltaic highway

In October 2022, Shandong released the first domestic "Technical Specifications for Photovoltaic Power Generation Engineering on Highway Slopes", making the "Photovoltaic Highway" model popular again! The experimental project applied a new energy lightweight flexible component and a large-span flexible high-support system solution, while ensuring the accuracy and reliability of relevant data collection, it also reduced the occurrence of accidents in the special scene of the expressway. Secondary injury risk after a traffic accident.

The total mileage of the project is 2,290 meters, the installed capacity is 2.01 megawatts, the average annual power generation is expected to be 2.01 million kwh, and the annual standard coal saving is 603 tons.

photovoltaic subway

On August 18, 2021, Shenzhen Metro Line 6 will be opened, starting from the Science Museum and ending at Songgang, with a total length of 49 kilometers and a total of 20 stations, 65% of which are elevated stations. The 12 elevated stations adopt solar photovoltaic power generation technology, among which Fenghuangcheng Station is a special landscape station, which is adjacent to Guangming Culture and Art Center, Kaiming Park and Xincheng Park.

Who would have thought that the roof of the garage of the Shanghai Metro is covered with solar panels, with a total area of ​​50,000 square meters, which is equivalent to the size of five or six football fields. A total of nearly 13,000 280-watt modules have been installed, which can continuously provide energy for subway trains. Provide green and clean electricity. According to statistics, this photovoltaic power station will be connected to the grid for power generation at the end of 2019. The annual power generation capacity can be used for an 8-car line 2 train to run 200,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to traveling more than 1,560 round trips.

Photovoltaic High-speed rail

The elliptical roof outline is covered with photovoltaic modules, like sparkling waves... At the Xiongan Station of the Beijing-Xiong Intercity Railway, the energy collected by the photovoltaic roof can effectively save 30% of electricity.

The total construction area of ​​Xiong'an High-speed Railway Station is as high as 475,200 square meters, which is equivalent to 66 football fields. After completion, it will become the largest high-speed railway station in Asia. Photovoltaic project on the building surface of the station, a total of 42,000 square meters of photovoltaic building materials were laid, with a total installed capacity of 6 megawatts, an average annual power generation of 5.8 million kwh, self-use, and surplus electricity connected to the grid, bringing cleanliness to the public facilities of Xiong'an High-speed Railway Station electricity.

photovoltaic for airports

Beijing Daxing International Airport was officially put into operation in September 2019. It is one of the largest airports planned for new construction in the world within 20 years. As one of the few super-large integrated aviation transportation hubs in the world, it is currently the airport with the highest proportion of renewable energy in the country, and is known as the "New Green Gate". The roof of the airport parking building adopts a leading thin-film photovoltaic power generation system, laying 20,000 photovoltaic thin-film modules, which can save about 3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. According to the plan, the coverage rate of charging supporting facilities in Daxing International Airport is 100%, which kicks off the process of "oil to electricity" in global airports.

Daxing International Airport has built a distributed photovoltaic power generation system in three areas: the airport cargo area, the east runway, and the business jet area, with a construction scale of 5.61MW and an average annual power generation of 6.1 million degrees. Located on the south side of the airport's north runway and its cargo area, a rooftop distributed photovoltaic power generation project was launched. This project uses a new type of ingot monocrystalline photovoltaic module, which makes Beijing Daxing International Airport have the world's closest runway, The photovoltaic system laid next to the runway of the first flight area in China.

Photovoltaic port terminal

Taiping Port Coal Storage Roof Distributed Photovoltaic Power Generation Project is a new energy project promoted by the country. Photovoltaic modules are arrayed on photovoltaic supports and laid on the roof of the closed workshop of the port's first-phase storage yard. The project is expected to generate 300,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and reduce 6,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the entire life cycle, which is equivalent to saving 120 tons of coal for the port, reducing 260 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 110 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions, and has considerable economic benefits. and good social effects.

In addition, distributed photovoltaic power stations have been successively built in Beihai Tieshan Port Wharf Operation Area, Xiamen Port, and Qingdao Port. The "Photovoltaic Port" model will effectively improve the utilization rate of green power, reduce electricity costs, and use clean energy to help energy conservation and emission reduction.

photovoltaic oil tanker

It is the first time for Sinopec to carry out photovoltaic power generation on a refueling ship. The refueling ship project is located in Xiaotang, Nanhai District, Foshan City. The modules laid on the roof surface add a layer of heat insulation to the building. The indoor temperature can be reduced by 5 to 6 degrees, effectively reducing the air conditioning load. About 20%, greatly reducing the cost of energy consumption.

photovoltaic car

1) Solar RV

The solar roof assembly generates electric energy under the condition of light, and stores it in the on-board battery through the controller. The controller has protection functions such as overcharging and anti-reverse charging, which can prolong the service life of the battery.

Electric appliances in the car are divided into two types of loads: DC and AC. DC loads such as dome lights, refrigerators, DVDs, etc. are connected to 12V batteries through the controller. AC loads such as LCD TVs, range hoods, etc. are converted to DC by inverters After being converted into alternating current for its use, the RV module uses Yingli's self-produced high-efficiency Panda monocrystalline solar cells, which is a curved surface module with independent intellectual property rights.

2) Golf Cart

The general-purpose golf cart photovoltaic module is made by radiation curing technology, and uses a hyperboloid scribing process to ensure power generation and increase aesthetics. This mode is to install the components on the top of the golf cart, and use its photovoltaic power generation to supplement power for the golf cart battery to increase the driving time.

3) Photovoltaic energy-saving and environmentally friendly vehicles

The special-shaped photovoltaic cell module is installed on the roof of the car for use, and can receive sunlight anytime and anywhere to convert it into electric energy, and provide power supplement for the electric equipment of the car, so as to achieve the energy-saving effect of reducing engine power generation load, fuel consumption, and improving engine efficiency.

After testing, in the case of an average of 3.3 hours of sunshine per day in North China and an average fuel consumption of 4.5 liters per 100 kilometers in normal driving, the car can achieve an average fuel saving effect of 6% by using the above working method.

Photovoltaic carport/parking lot

Photovoltaic carport is the easiest and most feasible way to combine with buildings. Photovoltaic integration into carports, corridors and other facilities, coupled with charging piles and other facilities, can not only improve the comprehensive utilization of urban space, but also maximize the convenience of citizens to travel . Photovoltaic carports have sun and rain protection, good heat absorption, and can also realize light (storage) charging integration, providing clean energy for new energy vehicles and battery vehicles, and have more and more applications in industrial parks, commercial areas, hospitals, schools, etc. .

Photovoltaic modules can be flexibly installed on the carport, and can also be used as a structural photovoltaic carport. Using the original wall structure, it can also become a mobile photovoltaic carport.

Photovoltaic charging pile

In the era of rapid development of new energy vehicles, there is a large demand for charging piles. The combination of photovoltaic roads and charging piles may bring new opportunities for the development of new energy vehicles and photovoltaic power generation.

Thanks to the combination with solar photovoltaic, the charging pile has three charging modes: fast charging, maximum solar charging, and expected charging.

Fast charging mode: When the car is in urgent need, this mode can be selected, and the photovoltaic charging pile will charge with the maximum available power without affecting the power consumption of other household appliances.

Maximum utilization of solar charging mode: When there is sufficient time, this charging mode will make maximum use of the solar energy of the photovoltaic power station to charge your electric vehicle, which is the most economical and carbon dioxide-neutral charging method, and truly realizes zero emission of electric vehicles.

Market prospect of "photovoltaic transportation"

As far as photovoltaic transportation is concerned, its current broad market advantage may be its confidence to maintain its vigorous vitality. Since the general urban rail transit is equipped with large-area parking lots, depots, ground and elevated stations, elevated sections, ground entrances and exits, etc., there is a broad space for the application of photovoltaic power generation systems.

In addition, because "photovoltaic transportation" has a very strong scene embedding ability, it can rely on idle land, roofs, building facades, slopes, etc. to play a role in producing solar green electricity, which can be described as "creating resources without occupying resources". This characteristic of photovoltaic applications is also reflected in the field of "photovoltaic transportation". Once the "photovoltaic transportation" model is widely promoted and applied, it will become a new blue ocean of application growth in the photovoltaic industry.

Another advantage that makes photovoltaic transportation confident in the energy arena is that it unswervingly follows the development direction of new energy. The transportation sector is one of the main battlegrounds for energy conservation and carbon reduction. Under the background of the policy of carbon peaking before 2030, the transportation field will vigorously develop green transportation, and the potential of energy saving and carbon reduction will be fully tapped and released. Clean energy represented by photovoltaics will become an important part of green transportation construction and carbon peaking in the transportation field. selection, and transportation infrastructure construction, The fully integrated "photovoltaic transportation" application model such as new kinetic energy supply is releasing massive development space, and the market scale will reach 100 billion.

Therefore, photovoltaic carports, photovoltaic roads, photovoltaic gas stations, and photovoltaic oil tankers have become unique landscapes in the construction of a green transportation system. There is no doubt that the policy accelerator of "photovoltaic transportation" has been pressed.

Policy Support for "Photovoltaic Transportation"

As one of the main "carbon sources", transportation emissions account for about 10.4% of my country's total carbon emissions, and the realization of low-carbon transformation and development of the transportation industry is of great significance. In recent years, the integrated development policy of photovoltaics and transportation has received strong support from the central government to the local government and from top to bottom, and a series of policies have been issued to support the construction of photovoltaic expressways.

Jointly issued by five departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on January 5, 2022 "Action Plan for Innovation and Development of Smart Photovoltaic Industry (2021-2025)" , the main tasks of which include helping to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in various fields including "smart photovoltaic transportation". Accelerate the promotion and application of integrated development projects such as "photovoltaic transportation", and promote the demonstration construction of photovoltaic power stations and charging piles in the transportation field;

Issued by the State Council on January 18, 2022 "The 14th Five-Year Plan" Modern Comprehensive Transportation System Development Plan , Encourage the rational deployment of photovoltaic power generation along transportation hub stations, highways, railways, etc.

Jointly issued by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Science and Technology on April 8, 2022 "The 14th Five-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in Transportation" , it is proposed to improve the safety, intelligent and green technology and standardization level of transportation equipment, create an autonomous transportation system technology system, and propose breakthroughs in intelligent green transportation equipment technology, special operation support equipment technology, new vehicle technology, etc.;

Issued by the Ministry of Transport on May 20, 2022 "Notice on Solidly Promoting the Implementation Work Plan of Major Transportation Projects in the 14th Five-Year Plan" , requiring the construction of a batch of distributed new energy, energy storage, and micro-grid projects on highways, ports, etc.;

June 27, 2022 "Video Promotion Conference on Relief and Difficulties in the Transportation Industry" Held in Beijing, it is proposed to speed up the construction of green and low-carbon transportation infrastructure, promote the rational layout of photovoltaic power generation facilities along highways, service areas and other areas according to local conditions, and the integration of photovoltaic transportation is expected to speed up;

The state has spared no effort to provide support, and local governments have also responded. Issued by Shandong Provincial People's Government "Technical Specifications for Photovoltaic Power Generation Engineering on Slope of Expressway" Became the country's first "highway photovoltaic" standard.

In addition, many provinces and cities including Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Foshan, Hangzhou, etc. have issued documents supporting the development of "photovoltaic transportation". Some provinces and cities clearly stipulate to encourage the construction of photovoltaic power generation systems in multiple traffic scenarios such as expressway service areas, port terminals, hub stations, service areas, gas stations, and along highways.

Technological innovation of "photovoltaic transportation"

Apart from many other advantages, compared with traditional pavements, it not only needs to meet all the functional requirements of the road itself, but also takes into account the requirements of power generation efficiency, and the factors affecting power generation efficiency are more complicated. The restrictive factors of photovoltaic transportation still exist, and technological innovation has become a new battlefield for the industry to compete.

Disadvantages of the application of photovoltaic roads

For example, for photovoltaic roads, road performance is one of the key requirements for photovoltaic pavement technology. For now, light Volt highway technology still faces many challenges before large-scale application, mainly including new materials, road performance issues of new structure pavements, photovoltaic power generation efficiency issues, and charging efficiency issues during driving.

The strength of the new material pavement, the warping of the pavement caused by thermal expansion and contraction, the low-temperature cracking of the pavement material, and the ultraviolet aging of the material, etc., the complex structure of the pavement requires extremely high construction technology, and the service life of components, waterproof, anti-corrosion, and durability , deformation, and poor light conditions, the problem of power generation efficiency, the failure rate of photovoltaic modules, the problem of stable power supply, the problem of low energy conversion efficiency of the solar panel itself, the problem of complex photovoltaic power generation potential adjustment problems, and the huge electromagnetic resonance coil. Due to the problem of low induction transmission power, etc., photovoltaic pavement structures and materials can only be put into large-scale implementation and utilization if they meet the road performance.

Rail transit is difficult to land

"Photovoltaic Railway" still leaves a series of questions for photovoltaic practitioners: How can photovoltaic panels be integrated into railway tracks? How to solve the problem of power consumption and cost?

When the train is running fast, it will generate huge pressure and impact force, so some component products with very good anti-seismic performance are required;

Another problem with photovoltaic railways is that the railway line is long, and the area of ​​a single photovoltaic panel is small, so the loss of grid connection will be relatively large. The output power of photovoltaic power plants needs to consider many factors, such as temperature, dust and pollution, shading, module orientation and inclination, inverter efficiency, cable loss, etc., and the same is true for railway photovoltaics;

Cost is another problem that needs to be faced. "The sleepers are all very narrow strips. The step of laying photovoltaic panels and storing electricity will be cumbersome when the lines are connected to the grid. It takes a little effort to reduce the cost." down.

Technical constraints of energy storage transportation

As the core component of new energy vehicles, power battery energy storage can not only use clean and renewable energy to power vehicles, but also provide huge energy storage potential for power systems. Electric vehicle energy storage will primarily be used as a "valley filling" means for the power system to slow down the growth rate of oil demand in the transportation sector.

With the improvement of power battery performance and the maturity of smart grid technologies such as V2G and distributed renewable energy generation, electric vehicles will gradually release their energy storage potential and become a key component of future flexible power systems. At present, the development of electric vehicle energy storage in my country is still restricted by many factors. In addition to continuing to invest in power battery research and development, relevant competent authorities need to increase support in industrial development planning, standard formulation, connection with renewable energy power generation, infrastructure, business operation models, and market cultivation.

At present, the development of electric vehicle energy storage in my country is still restricted by many factors. Power battery research and development investment has become an essential part.

Build a technical "moat"

At present, if photovoltaic enterprises want to dig deep into various "photovoltaic" application scenarios such as "photovoltaic transportation", one of the roads they must take is to persist in core technology research and build a technological "moat". He Jie, a researcher at the Financial Research Center of the State Council Counselor's Office, believes that , The rise of emerging industries must be accompanied by trial and error of multiple technical routes. But it is only a matter of time before breakthroughs in applied discovery are realized.

at last

Zhang Guobao, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and director of the National Energy Administration, described the photovoltaic industry as " A Grassroots Industry Rising in China ".

With the continuous development of photovoltaic technology, the integration of the two has become a trend, the expressway "transforms" into a power station, and "photovoltaic transportation" enters a development period.