As the dust settles on the “April 30” grid-connection cutoff, distributed PV dealers and EPC contractors who beat the deadline can breathe—yet anxiety remains. With less than a month until the “May 31” policy node, from investors and industry leaders to small platforms and resellers, the entire distributed solar sector is on edge. What deep shifts are underway, and how can participants seize the next growth opportunity?
Investment Logic Transformed
The release of Document 136 marks the end of government-set pricing for distributed solar and ushers in full market competition on both volume and price. Projects are no longer graded merely on available rooftop area; grid-load matching is now king. According to Longi Green Energy’s China Head Niú Yànyàn, investor focus has shifted from “where can I install?” to “how much power can I absorb?” In Q1 2025, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang led new installations—underscoring that high-consumption industrial parks and data centers, despite irregular roofs and complex tariff needs, offer the strongest offtake resilience.
Under this new “value screening” regime, decision-makers weigh load profiles, tariff structures and self-consumption ratios (ideally over 60–70%) rather than raw capacity. While residential leasing models face significant contraction, commercial & industrial setups with high self-use remain attractive. And although short-term volumes may dip, the policy paves the way for storage, green-power trading and virtual-plant services.
Regional Dynamics Accelerate
Since April 30, at least ten provinces—including Ningxia, Jilin, Guangdong and Jiangsu—have issued local rules. Most require 30–80% self-consumption, but Guangdong, Jiangsu and Guizhou, with robust offtake, set no limits. These “low-restriction, high-consumption” hubs are now the prime battlegrounds for high-quality distributed solar growth.
Product & Scenario “Micro-Innovation”
To meet evolving site needs—from humid southern rooftops to bespoke villa installations—Longi applies an IPD (Integrated Product Development) model across functionality, usability and safety. Its anti-soiling modules, first on market, cut dust losses (up to 23% in the North) and achieved a 0.02–0.03 $/W price premium. Over 10 GW of these modules now power 10,000+ stations. In March, Longi launched its “three-protection” panels—anti-soiling, anti-hotspot and anti-fire—built on the HPPC 2.0 platform; they sold out immediately.
“Clients often don’t realize they need custom solutions until we innovate,” Niú explains. These micro-innovations unlock new deployment scenarios and user experiences.
Quality & Long-Term Yield Prevail
With self-consumption outranking scale, owner-investors demand reliable, high-efficiency modules. Longi’s Hi-MO X10 “three-protection” panels use HMBC 2.0 tech and bypass diodes to cap hotspot temperatures at ~80 °C (vs. IEC’s 120 °C limit), slashing fire risk. Their shunt-current design reduces shading losses by over 70% vs. TOPCon. Field data: anti-soiling modules boost annual yield by 2.33% on average.
On a 10,000 m² rooftop, 660 W Hi-MO X10 panels generate 189,000 kWh more per year than 630 W TOPCon, adding ~¥113,000 (≈ US $16,000) annually at ¥0.6/kWh—over ¥3 million across 30 years, enough to buy a luxury car. A 40 kW site saw daily peaks of 230 kWh vs. 180–190 kWh for peers—nearly 30% higher output.
Outlook: A New Value Benchmark
Some argue that lowest panel price will dominate in a fully deregulated market. Niú insists this misses the point: lowest levelized cost of electricity and robust module quality determine real returns. As tariffs and grid access evolve, the sector’s next upgrade will favor efficiency and reliability over bare-bones pricing.