June 24,2025, China - The World Economic Forum's 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (Summer Davos Forum) commenced in Tianjin. Li Zhenguo, Founder and CTO of LONGi, attended the forum. During the "Checking In on the Energy Transition" roundtable at the Summer Davos Forum, Li Zhenguo (Founder of LONGi, President of its Central R&D Institute) engaged in discussions with Mohammad Abunayyan (Founder and Chairman of ACWA Power), H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat (Egypt's Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation), Pang Xiaogang (President of State Grid Corporation of China), and Elizabeth Thurbon (Professor of International Political Economy, Director, Green Energy Statecraft Project, UNSW). Together, they explored strategies for accelerating a safe, clean, and equitable energy transition.
Li Zhenguo highlighted the PV industry's value proposition with key data: "The direct electricity consumption to manufacture one watt of PV module is 0.4 kWh. However, over its 30-year lifespan, this single watt module can generate 45 kWh of electricity. The leap from 0.4 to 45 represents a tremendous energy amplification capability."
He noted that China accounts for over 80% of global PV manufacturing capacity. In the past two years, annual PV module production in China exceeded 500 GW. This translates to an annual electricity consumption of 200 billion kWh for manufacturing – equivalent to the output of 25 nuclear power plants.
"As the global PV supply chain is predominantly located in China, the energy consumption and carbon emissions from the production phase occur within China," Li stated. "From this perspective, PV products manufactured in China are undoubtedly making significant contributions to the global energy transition."
Over the past decade, China's PV industry has achieved global leadership through continuous technological innovation. As a world-leading solar technology company, LONGi has driven and spearheaded the technological advancement and cost reduction within the PV sector. Today, in the vast majority of countries and regions worldwide, PV power generation has become the most cost-effective source of electricity. This progress underpins the global energy transition and the pursuit of carbon neutrality.
"Technological progress has been rapid," Li Zhenguo frankly noted. "A decade ago, photovoltaic conversion efficiency was only around 15%. Today, that figure has reached 25%. In another ten years, PV conversion efficiency is expected to hit 35%."
Recently certified by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), LONGi's independently developed crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cell achieved a conversion efficiency of 34.85%, once again setting a new world record for crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem solar cell efficiency.
Li Zhenguo stated that LONGi's latest R&D breakthrough is already approaching the 35% efficiency mark. He expressed the hope that within the next decade, this technology can be commercialized and brought to mass production, continuing their efforts to advance the energy transition and further reduce the cost of photovoltaics.
As the first Chinese PV enterprise to pass the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) verification, LONGi actively implements its "Solar for Solar" low-carbon production philosophy. In 2024, the company achieved a 47.5% renewable energy usage rate across its global operations, reducing operational carbon emissions by 37% year-on-year. In recent years, through deep integration of technologies including Industrial IoT, big data, artificial intelligence, and digital twins, LONGi's Jiaxing Production Base has become the world's first "Lighthouse + Zero-Carbon" factory in the PV industry.
Li Zhenguo emphasized that LONGi must continue excelling at its core mission: ensuring the "0.4 kWh" consumed in manufacturing also becomes green. A decade ago, producing one watt of PV modules required 1.2 kWh of electricity; today, it consumes only 0.4 kWh. This represents tremendous technological advancement and an unprecedented reduction in energy intensity.
"LONGi remains committed to a dual mission: not only delivering more clean energy globally, but also actively minimizing energy consumption during its manufacturing process while transitioning toward using clean energy to produce clean energy," Li Zhenguo added.
That same day, Li Zhenguo also participated in the "Business Models for Climate Action" roundtable, where he highlighted the critical role of photovoltaics in combating climate change. He emphasized that technological innovation and emerging business models will play an increasingly pivotal role in the future, particularly in advancing energy equity, enhancing system efficiency, and fostering industrial collaboration. These elements, he noted, are essential for injecting sustained momentum into the global green transition.
About LONGi
Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world’s leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.
Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development. www.longi.com/