During the opening ceremony of the 19th International Solar Photovoltaic and Smart Energy Conference held today, the event's executive chairman shared his vision for the next phase of the photovoltaic industry's transformation.
The chairman, who also serves as President of the Global Green Energy Council and the Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association, stated that the latter half of the industry's paradigm shift involves harnessing energy from space.
He explained that if the first half of the revolution was the symbiosis of power and computing, the second half is the convergence of materials science and aerospace. This represents an epic expansion of the energy frontier from land and sea to extraterrestrial orbit.
Energy collection will break free from the filtering of the atmosphere and the day-night cycle on Earth's surface, conducting a more direct form of "photosynthesis" in the near-ideal environment of space. Reusable rockets are continuously lowering launch costs, while massive commercial satellite constellations are creating scalable demand, bringing space-based solar power into the realm of engineering economics.
He revealed that breakthroughs have been made in the verification of perovskite and tandem cell technologies. Progress is ongoing in engineering reliability validation, batch manufacturing, and system cost optimization. Once the challenge of radiation-resistant packaging is overcome, this technology could enter the sequence for space applications within five to ten years.
He believes the future will see the linear chain of "generation-transmission-distribution-consumption" compressed into point-to-point energy delivery between space and Earth. Space-based power stations would enable "wireless, targeted delivery," breaking geographical constraints to reach remote bases, islands, and emergency nodes, eliminating the need for thousands of kilometers of transmission lines.
In space, the synergy between computing and power would reach its ultimate form, with energy being produced and used immediately to generate computing power on the spot. Concurrent with this photovoltaic revolution will arrive a complex technological cluster spanning power electronics, digital technology, advanced materials, aerospace engineering, communications, wireless power transmission, and synthetic biology, far exceeding the scope of the industry's traditional technological pathways.
"The paradigm shift opens up infinite possibilities, but the path ahead is not without challenges," he stated. "Between the old and new paradigms lies a transitional zone that must be traversed with full force—this requires us to adopt a more multi-dimensional strategic vision to break through." He added, "Planning for one year is the art of survival; looking ahead three years requires vision in choosing the right path; contemplating a decade demands the courage to define the future."
GCL TECH (HKEX: 03800)
The company's chairman outlined a forward-looking vision for space-based solar power and the role of advanced photovoltaic technologies like perovskites, positioning the industry for a significant paradigm shift beyond terrestrial applications.
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