为什么要打造光伏“灯塔工厂”？
隆基绿能副总裁张海濛的回答是，这是发展的必然结果，也将带来更大的发展机遇。
2023年12月14日，世界经济论坛（WEF）发布最新一批“灯塔网络”的名单，隆基绿能嘉兴基地成为全球光伏行业唯一入围的灯塔工厂。这是光伏龙头隆基绿能创下的又一个世界第一，再次刷新了光伏制造的里程碑。
灯塔工厂作为全球制造业的璀璨明珠，代表着当今全球制造业智能制造和数字化最高水平，同时也是新质生产力加速发展和制造业转型升级的风向标。入围灯塔工厂，意味着隆基绿能的制造能力和水平又上了新的台阶。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
隆基绿能董事长钟宝申曾表示，智能制造，尤其是人工智能、工业互联网技术，在让制造企业提升生产效率方面，蕴藏着巨大的潜力。
当下，光伏行业正面临着来自技术迭代、供应链安全、地缘政治等因素带来的不确定性，数字化与智能制造有望加速光伏行业转型升级，应对挑战。而隆基绿能灯塔工厂的前瞻性探索，正引领行业从“制造”向“智造”跃迁，为行业转型升级蹚出一条新路。
一、探访全球光伏业首座灯塔工厂
秀水泱泱，文脉千年，距离上海虹桥交通枢纽一个多小时车程的嘉兴市，是人文之城和古镇之城，是红船精神诞生地，更在近年来成为绿色能源的启航地，聚集起光伏产业链上下游企业，形成了完整的光伏产业链集群。
全球光伏行业首个被世界经济论坛（WEF）认证的隆基绿能“灯塔工厂”就坐落于此。据悉，隆基嘉兴基地成立于2020年，主要生产隆基BC系列高效太阳能电池组件，隆基嘉兴基地现有三期工厂总占地面积为1300多亩，具有51条智能化生产线，整体组件产能超35GW，是行业内规模较大的产业集群。
在隆基嘉兴基地一期工厂，我们看到，巨大的厂房里，一排排数控机床和机械臂在忙碌工作，顺着自动化流水线的工序，重复着从原料到成品的诞生；全自动的AGV（自动导引车）物流车沿着设定好的轨迹行进，准确地把组件半成品送到下一道流程的工位；数字化大屏幕直观展现出工厂各个车间、不同工位的运营情况，能准确识别生产进度、产品质量、设备运行的效率和进程。
在这座自动化率超过90%的工厂内，每隔18秒，就会有一个完整的光伏组件下线，其中包含了4道检测程序。与之形成鲜明对比的是，生产线上很少看到工人操作的身影。
据隆基绿能工厂负责人介绍，隆基嘉兴基地大规模采用工业互联网、大数据、人工智能、数字孪生等新技术，开发实施了30多项数字化用例以推动智能制造，其中多项是行业首创自主专利技术。
财务数据显示，2023年全年隆基绿能研发投入77.21亿元，占营业收入5.96%，其近5年研发投入已达180亿元，目前研发人员4000余名。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
智能化技术的应用为这座工厂带来了生产效率的提升和成本的下降——通过订单全流程可视追溯系统，嘉兴基地生产的HPBC产品可以缩短交付周期达84%；通过工序的优化升级与自动化导入，使得整线工艺稳定性达到行业最优，单位能耗再降低20%。
反映到最终的整体效能上，上述负责人表示，“灯塔工厂”项目实施后，该基地用工数量下降了20%，但产能实现大幅提升，制造成本降低了28%，产量损失减少了43%，生产交货时间缩短了84%，能耗也降低了20%。
对此，世界经济论坛（WEF）认为，隆基绿能嘉兴基地以降本增效和缩短太阳能组件交货期为驱动，部署了超过30个第四次工业革命用例，并利用人工智能和先进分析技术提升制造业务效能，这些举措取得了显著成效。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
二、灯塔工厂——光伏未来制造之路
工业互联网云平台、ERP云系统、企业办公IM（即时通讯）工具、数字化能碳管理软件……应对外部复杂多变的产业环境，近两年，光伏行业越来越多地使用数字化工具——数字化已经成为了国内光伏企业进一步提升竞争力的重点方向和“看不见”的战场。
“据我们统计，通过智能化技术的应用，2016-2023年我国多晶硅、电池和组件的人均产出率相比出现了3-4倍的增长。”中国光伏行业协会副秘书长江华在近期会议上指出，智能化能带来光伏企业生产效率的提升。
钟宝申也在隆基绿能2023年的股东信中表示，“我们运用数字化、人工智能、精益生产，大幅提升了生产体系的效率、质量和客户响应能力。这些新的能力升级了我们成本领先的工具箱。”
灯塔工厂则可以视为是对于数字化、智能化的全面升级。随着产业数字转型推进，智能制造将成为趋势，灯塔工厂则代表着智能制造的领先水平。
那么与一般的数字化转型相比，灯塔工厂的独到之处在哪里？据隆基方面介绍，隆基灯塔工厂的革新不只是在生产线自动化与智能化方面的改造，而是重构了生产关系，让AI智能成为了生产管理的大脑，基于大数据模型，不断自主革新，实现真正意义的智造升级自驱力。
举例来说，隆基灯塔工厂的OEE(设备综合效率)管理系统，并联着20条生产线，让900多台设备和21万多个点位数据在网络中互通，其背后是一个高阶人工智能算法，可以对日常管理中的问题进行分析、跟进和解决。当某个组件出现质量问题，或者机台突然停下来，以前都需要熟练工人或者专家进行分析、查看，如今系统就可以自动判别，并给出改进建议。
配合这一过程，隆基培养了300多个核心骨干规模的技术人才，从数据分析师，仿真工程师到敏捷教练等，以支撑其灯塔能力的持续。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
重构生产关系后，灯塔工厂能够发挥的作用也不仅仅是降本增效。
张海濛表示，当光伏组件的能量转换效率逼近天花板，下游客户对于产品价值的关注点变得多元。面对多元化的需求，如防湿热、防积灰、定制化的尺寸等，灯塔工厂可以实现更加柔性的生产，更好更快地满足客户的多样化需求。
此外，张海濛指出，灯塔工厂标准化的用例可以更好地复制及出海，做到无论在全球任何角落生产，无论工人水平高低，都可以制造出高质量和水平的产品。基于以上多重因素，隆基绿能在一年多前坚定地选择了打造灯塔工厂，最后用了不到9个月就通过了认证。
对于隆基来说，嘉兴灯塔工厂仅仅是个开始。张海濛表示，未来隆基全球范围的其他生产基地也都将以灯塔工厂为优秀案例，不断优化生产降本的措施，推动更大范围的降本增效。
从整个行业角度看，灯塔也意味着标杆，具有较强的示范效应。“灯塔工厂”的探索之路，以工业互联网、大数据、人工智能等技术为新动能，稳步推进业务变革和流程再造，为制造业通过数智化转型降本增效书写了“范本”。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
“灯塔工厂可以帮助光伏企业在同质化的竞争中巩固领先身位，同时加深加大竞争力的护城河。”麦肯锡全球董事合伙人汪小帆表示，“现在全光伏产业链都在推进数字化转型，相信在不久的将来，整个产业链都会有灯塔来持续引领更大范围更持续的转型变革。”
三、“智造力”释放新质生产力
“新质生产力”一词自从被提出，便成为中国经济热词。今年的政府工作报告部署的第一项任务就是大力推进现代化产业体系建设，加快发展新质生产力。而隆基“灯塔工厂”作为“世界上最先进的工厂”，无疑是新质生产力加速发展的重要代表。
江华认为，光伏行业本身属于新质生产力的范畴，具有高科技、高效能、高质量的特征。同时，光伏行业又孕育了新质生产力，由技术突破、生产要素创新性配置、产业深度转型升级来驱动。
当下，受产能扩张、技术迭代等多重因素影响，光伏行业竞争不断加剧，行业或面临新的一轮的洗牌。在此背景下，技术升级和降本增效就至关重要，两者是打破低效内卷、穿越产业周期的必然之举，也是打造光伏产业的新质生产力的首要方向。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
追求更先进的技术也是光伏的第一性原理，即最低度电成本的产品将拥有最好的竞争力。当前正是国内光伏产业N型电池技术迭代进行时。以TOPCon、BC和HJT为代表的新一代光伏技术，凭借高发电量、高效率、更低度电成本等显著优势，迅速占据市场主导地位。
其中，BC电池是隆基近两年不断发力、持续布局的主要方向。继去年12月创下HBC电池转换效率27.09%的世界纪录后，隆基绿能于今年5月再度将这一纪录刷新至27.30%。而其新发布的Hi-MO 9组件转换效率可以达到24.43%，其采用的HPBC 2.0电池技术效率已经超过26.5%，已经触及了晶硅电池量产效率的天花板。
上海交通大学太阳能研究所所长沈文忠近期表示，自这几年中国光伏头部企业强势介入（BC）以后，BC技术路线发展远超预期。BC组件大规模的制造时代已经来临。
在降本增效方面，全球光伏业第一座灯塔工厂，则是隆基绿能为发展新质生产力提交的另一份答卷。
“我们认为光伏行业需要灯塔，需要真正的智能制造，因此我们锻造出了隆基智造模式。” 张海濛表示，隆基会将先进用例升级成行业标杆标准，为光伏行业成为新质生产力代表提供切实可行的方案，为全球能源转型提供高质量发展保障。 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
纵观隆基的发展史，从单晶替代多晶，到金刚线、RCZ技术突破和推广应用，再到BC技术、泰睿硅片的问世，隆基一直积极投入、创新，不断为光伏行业高质量发展贡献力量。如今，在智能制造方面，隆基同样在扮演着领头羊的角色，为中国光伏企业的转型升级之路，写下关键的注脚。
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翻译：
To build the first lighthouse factory in the global photovoltaic industry, Longi Green Energy “intelligent manufacturing” to the future
Why build a photovoltaic “lighthouse factory”?
Zhang Haimeng, vice president of Longi Green Energy, answered that this is the inevitable result of development and will also bring greater development opportunities.
On December 14, 2023, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released the list of the latest batch of “lighthouse network”, and Longi Green Energy Jiaxing Base became the only lighthouse factory shortlisted in the global photovoltaic industry. This is another world first set by Longi Green Energy, the photovoltaic leader, and once again refreshed the milestone of photovoltaic manufacturing.
As a shining pearl of the global manufacturing industry, Lighthouse Factory represents the highest level of intelligent manufacturing and digitalization in today’s global manufacturing industry, and is also a wind vane for the accelerated development of new quality productivity and the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. The shortlisted lighthouse factory means that Longi Green Energy’s manufacturing capacity and level have reached a new level.
Zhong Baoshen, chairman of Longi Green Energy, has said that intelligent manufacturing, especially artificial intelligence and industrial Internet technology, has great potential in allowing manufacturing enterprises to improve production efficiency.
At present, the photovoltaic industry is facing uncertainty from technology iteration, supply chain security, geopolitics and other factors, digitalization and intelligent manufacturing is expected to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the photovoltaic industry to meet the challenges. The forward-looking exploration of Longji Green Lighthouse factory is leading the industry to jump from “manufacturing” to “intelligent manufacturing”, and wade out a new road for the transformation and upgrading of the industry.
1. Visit the world’s first lighthouse factory in the photovoltaic industry
The beautiful water is magnificent, the cultural background of thousands of years, more than an hour’s drive from Shanghai Hongqiao transportation hub, Jiaxing city, is the city of humanity and ancient town, is the birthplace of the red boat spirit, but also in recent years has become the start of green energy, gathering photovoltaic industry chain upstream and downstream enterprises, forming a complete photovoltaic industry chain cluster. 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
The global photovoltaic industry’s first Longi Green Energy “Lighthouse factory” certified by the World Economic Forum (WEF) is located here. It is reported that Longji Jiaxing base was established in 2020, the main production of Longji BC series high-efficiency solar cell modules, Longji Jiaxing base has a total area of more than 1,300 acres of plants, with 51 intelligent production lines, the overall module production capacity of more than 35GW, is the industry’s largest industrial cluster.
In the first phase factory of Longji Jiaxing Base, we see that in the huge workshop, rows of CNC machine tools and robot arms are busy working, repeating the birth of raw materials to finished products along the process of automatic assembly line; The fully automated AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) logistics vehicle travels along the set track, accurately delivering the semi-finished components to the station of the next process; The digital large screen intuitively shows the operation of each workshop and different stations in the factory, and can accurately identify the production schedule, product quality, efficiency and process of equipment operation.
In this factory with an automation rate of more than 90%, every 18 seconds, a complete photovoltaic module will be off the line, which includes four detection procedures. In stark contrast, workers are rarely seen operating on the production line. 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
According to the person in charge of Longji Green Energy Factory, Longji Jiaxing Base adopts industrial Internet, big data, artificial intelligence, digital twin and other new technologies on a large scale, and has developed and implemented more than 30 digital use cases to promote intelligent manufacturing, many of which are the first independent patented technologies in the industry.
Financial data show that in 2023, Longi Green Energy R & D investment of 7.721 billion yuan, accounting for 5.96% of the operating income, its research and development investment in the past five years has reached 18 billion yuan, and there are more than 4,000 R & D personnel.
The application of intelligent technology has brought production efficiency and cost reduction to this factory – through the visual traceability system of the entire order process, HPBC products produced in Jiaxing base can shorten the delivery cycle by 84%; Through the optimization and upgrading of the process and the automatic introduction, the process stability of the whole line reaches the best in the industry, and the unit energy consumption is reduced by 20%.
Reflecting the final overall efficiency, the person in charge said that after the implementation of the “Lighthouse factory” project, the number of workers at the base fell by 20%, but the production capacity was greatly improved, manufacturing costs were reduced by 28%, production loss was reduced by 43%, production delivery time was shortened by 84%, and energy consumption was reduced by 20%.
In this regard, the World Economic Forum (WEF) believes that Longi Green Energy Jiaxing base is driven by cost reduction and reduction of solar module delivery time, the deployment of more than 30 fourth Industrial Revolution use cases, and the use of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics technology to improve the efficiency of manufacturing operations, these initiatives have achieved significant results.
2. Lighthouse factory – photovoltaic future manufacturing road
Industrial Internet cloud platform, ERP cloud system, enterprise office IM (instant messaging) tools, digital energy carbon management software…… In response to the complex and changing external industrial environment, in the past two years, the photovoltaic industry has increasingly used digital tools – digital has become the focus of domestic photovoltaic enterprises to further enhance the competitiveness of the direction and “invisible” battlefield.
”According to our statistics, through the application of intelligent technology, the per capita output rate of polysilicon, batteries and components in China from 2016 to 2023 has increased by 3-4 times.” Jiang Hua, deputy secretary-general of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, pointed out at a recent meeting that intelligence can bring about the improvement of the production efficiency of photovoltaic enterprises. 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
Zhong Baoshen also said in Longi Green Energy’s 2023 shareholder letter, “We have used digitalization, artificial intelligence and lean production to greatly improve the efficiency, quality and customer responsiveness of the production system.” These new capabilities upgrade our cost-leading toolbox.”
The lighthouse factory can be regarded as a comprehensive upgrade of digitalization and intelligence. With the advancement of industrial digital transformation, intelligent manufacturing will become a trend, and the lighthouse factory represents the leading level of intelligent manufacturing.
So what makes lighthouse factories unique compared to digital transformation in general? According to Longji, the innovation of Longji Lighthouse factory is not only the transformation of production line automation and intelligence, but the reconstruction of production relations, so that AI intelligence has become the brain of production management, based on big data models, and constantly independent innovation to achieve the true sense of intelligent manufacturing upgrade self-drive.
For example, the OEE(Equipment Integrated Efficiency) management system of Longi Lighthouse factory connects 20 production lines in parallel, so that more than 900 devices and more than 210,000 point data are interoperable in the network, and behind it is a high-level artificial intelligence algorithm that can analyze, follow up and solve problems in daily management. When a component has a quality problem, or the machine suddenly stops, it used to require skilled workers or experts to analyze and view, and now the system can automatically identify and give suggestions for improvement.
In conjunction with this process, Longi has trained more than 300 core backbone scale technical talents, from data analysts, simulation engineers to agile coaches, etc., to support the continuation of its lighthouse capabilities. 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
After the reconstruction of production relations, the lighthouse factory can play a role not only to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Zhang Haimeng said that when the energy conversion efficiency of photovoltaic modules approaches the ceiling, downstream customers’ attention to product value becomes diversified. In the face of diversified needs, such as moisture and heat protection, ash accumulation prevention, customized dimensions, lighthouse factory can achieve more flexible production, better and faster to meet the diversified needs of customers.
In addition, Zhang Haimeng pointed out that the standardized use cases of the lighthouse factory can be better copied and put to sea, so that no matter the production in any corner of the world, no matter the level of workers, you can produce high-quality and high-level products. Based on the above multiple factors, Longi Green Energy firmly chose to build a lighthouse factory more than a year ago, and finally passed the certification in less than 9 months.
For Longi, the Jiaxing Lighthouse factory is just the beginning. Zhang Haimeng said that in the future, Longi’s other production bases around the world will also take the lighthouse factory as an excellent case to continuously optimize production cost reduction measures and promote a wider range of cost reduction and efficiency. 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
From the perspective of the entire industry, lighthouses also mean benchmarking, with a strong demonstration effect. The exploration road of “Lighthouse factory” takes the industrial Internet, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies as the new driving force, steadily promotes business transformation and process reengineering, and writes a “model” for the manufacturing industry to reduce costs and increase efficiency through the transformation of digital intelligence.
”The lighthouse factory can help photovoltaic companies consolidate their leading position in the homogenized competition, while deepening the moat of increasing competitiveness.” McKinsey Global managing partner Wang Xiaofan said, “Now the entire photovoltaic industry chain is promoting digital transformation, I believe that in the near future, the entire industry chain will have a lighthouse to continue to lead a wider range of more sustainable transformation.”
3. “Wisdom” to release new quality productivity
The term “new quality productivity” has become a hot word in Chinese economy since it was put forward. The first task deployed in this year’s government work report is to vigorously promote the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces. Longji “Lighthouse Factory”, as “the most advanced factory in the world”, is undoubtedly an important representative of the accelerated development of new quality productivity.
Jiang Hua believes that the photovoltaic industry itself belongs to the category of new quality productivity, with high-tech, high efficiency, high quality characteristics. At the same time, the photovoltaic industry has nurtured new quality productivity, driven by technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading.
At present, affected by multiple factors such as capacity expansion and technology iteration, competition in the photovoltaic industry is intensifying, and the industry may face a new round of reshuffle. In this context, technology upgrading and cost reduction are crucial, both of which are the inevitable move to break the inefficient internal volume and cross the industrial cycle, and are also the primary direction to create new quality productivity of the photovoltaic industry.
The pursuit of more advanced technology is also the first principle of photovoltaic, that is, the product with the lowest electricity cost will have the best competitiveness. At present, it is the domestic PV industry N-type battery technology iteration. The new generation of photovoltaic technology, represented by TOPCon, BC and HJT, rapidly occupies a dominant position in the market with significant advantages such as high power generation, high efficiency and lower kilowatt-hour power cost.
Among them, BC battery is the main direction of Longi’s continuous efforts and continuous layout in the past two years. After setting a world record for HBC battery conversion efficiency of 27.09% in December last year, Longi Green Energy renewed this record to 27.30% in May this year. The newly released Hi-MO 9 component conversion efficiency can reach 24.43%, and its HPBC 2.0 battery technology efficiency has exceeded 26.5%, which has touched the ceiling of crystalline silicon battery mass production efficiency.
Shen Wenzhong, director of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, recently said that since the strong involvement of China’s photovoltaic head enterprises (BC) in recent years, the development of BC technology route has far exceeded expectations. The era of large-scale manufacturing of BC components has arrived.
In terms of cost reduction and efficiency increase, the first lighthouse factory in the global photovoltaic industry is another answer sheet submitted by Longi Green Energy for the development of new quality productivity. 数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）
”We believe that the photovoltaic industry needs a beacon and needs real intelligent manufacturing, so we forged the Longi intelligent manufacturing model.” Zhang Haimeng said that Longi will upgrade the advanced use cases into industry benchmark standards, provide practical solutions for the photovoltaic industry to become a representative of new quality productivity, and provide high-quality development guarantee for the global energy transition.
Throughout the history of Longi’s development, from single crystal replacement of polycrystal, to diamond wire, RCZ technology breakthrough and promotion and application, and then to BC technology, the advent of Terui silicon wafers, Longi has been actively invested in innovation, and continue to contribute to the high-quality development of the photovoltaic industry. Today, in terms of intelligent manufacturing, Longi is also playing a leading role, writing a key footnote for the transformation and upgrading of China’s photovoltaic enterprises.
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本文由数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）转载而成，来源于证券日报之声；编辑/翻译：数字化转型网宁檬树。
