The photovoltaic industry

is one of China's fastest-growing

strategic emerging industries

and one of its most internationally competitive

advantageous industries

It is also a miracle in the history of modern Chinese industry

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of photovoltaic (PV) development in China

the China Media Group has created

Chasing the Light, China's first large-scale documentary on the PV industry

On July 14

Tongwei makes a grand appearance in

the Episode 2 of Chasing the Light, titled "Beyond the Sky"

featuring an exclusive interview with Liu Hanyuan, Deputy to the NPC

Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce

and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tongwei Group

The episode deeply focuses on Tongwei's high-purity crystalline silicon production base

decoding for a global audience

how Tongwei, the world's first Fortune 500 company in the global PV industry

has helped China's PV industry

win a global leading position and promote sustainable development worldwide

through continuous technological innovation

This is also Tongwei's second appearance on a national-level platform

after its debut in the large-scale industrial documentary

The Pillars of a Great Power

on CCTV in 2021

The second episode, "Beyond the Sky", not only traces the origin of PV but also leads the audience into the most cutting-edge photovoltaic manufacturing sites, from the production of polysilicon raw materials to the manufacturing of monocrystalline silicon wafers, and then to solar cells and high-efficiency modules, witnessing the collaborative innovation of the industrial chain to create a "Chinese solution" for cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Polysilicon is the raw material for producing solar cells, and its purity directly affects the conversion efficiency of downstream solar cells. This episode highlights the world's largest high-purity polysilicon production base operated by Yongxiang Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Tongwei), revealing the global leadership of Yongxiang's crystalline silicon technology.

Footage of the Episode 2 "Beyond the Sky" of CCTV's Chasing the Light

Under CCTV's lens, Tongwei's reduction workshop—the world's largest single-site crystalline silicon facility—houses 40 world-class reduction furnaces producing 180 tons of high-purity polysilicon daily. The film shows that Tongwei has achieved global leadership in energy consumption and cost control through the ultimate optimization of the process, with a purity of up to "11 nines" (99.999999999%), which is equivalent to only one impurity in one hundred billion atoms. Moreover, energy consumption has been reduced by 5.3%, and this single improvement means that hundreds of thousands of yuan in energy consumption expenses will be saved each year.

Luo Zhou, Deputy General Manager of Yongxiang Co., Ltd., interviewed in CCTV's Chasing the Light

Luo Zhou, Deputy General Manager of Yongxiang Co., Ltd., said that technological progress is always endless, and many improvements are achieved through the continuous iteration of technology generation by generation. Currently, there is still optimization potential on this production line, not just 200,000 tons but potentially 230,000 or 250,000 tons. In fact, there is still a lot of potential to be tapped from the same equipment.

Footage about Tongwei's high-purity polysilicon production in CCTV's Chasing Light

Liu Hanyuan, Deputy to the NPC, Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tongwei Group, said in an interview that 15 years ago, China began to enter the photovoltaic field. At that time, nearly 80% to 90% of the core materials used for polysilicon came from Germany, the United States, and Japan. The "high dependence on foreign sources" at that time included core materials and core technologies being outside of China. As China has been catching up, the annual production of polysilicon has increased from one thousand tons to two thousand tons and then to ten thousand tons, gradually achieving the purity of polysilicon from five nines, six nines, to twelve nines, which is equivalent to each person in the country distributing 100 to 1,000 eggs without a single duck egg. The purity must reach this level. Chairman Liu Hanyuan said that the comprehensive surpassing is not accidental or coincidental, but the true advanced manufacturing capability of mankind in these fields to date.

Liu Han Yuan, Deputy to the NPC, Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tongwei Group, interviewed in CCTV's Chasing the Light

In a mere five years, Chinese PV enterprises, spearheaded by Tongwei, have driven down the market price of high-purity polysilicon from a peak of RMB 3 million per ton to approximately RMB 40,000 per ton. Today, seven out of every ten PV cells globally utilize polysilicon materials sourced from China. Furthermore, the high-purity crystalline silicon manufactured in the PV sector now fully meets the requirements for semiconductor chip fabrication. This technological synergy, initiated by advancements in polysilicon purity, is fundamentally reshaping the underlying logic of global high-end manufacturing.

The CCTV documentary Chasing the Light showcases the production base of Tongwei's high-purity crystalline silicon

Moreover, Tongwei has reduced the carbon footprint of each kilogram of silicon material from 45 kilograms to 18 kilograms, signifying that each PV panel embodies the essence of green energy from its inception.

Under the leadership of Chairman Liu Hanyuan, Tongwei has consistently cultivated the PV new energy industry. The company's PV products lead the world in terms of cost, quality, and efficiency, making it a significant participant and driver in the global PV industry. Currently holding global leadership in high-purity polysilicon market share and maintaining top cell shipments for eight consecutive years, Tongwei became the first company to exceed 300GW cumulative cell shipments, with module shipments ranking top-five globally across more than 70 countries.

Through two decades of PV industry upheaval, Tongwei is advancing globally with a spirit of innovation, leveraging technological breakthroughs and intelligent manufacturing, and embracing its responsibilities to the era, embarking on a new journey.

The large-scale industrial documentary Chasing the Light is a major production by the Financial Program Center of China Media Group, following a series of high-quality documentaries such as The Pillars of a Great Power, Remarkable Construction, Surging Power, and Pillars of Talent. The documentary adopts a global perspective, with a vision of a "community with a shared future for mankind," aiming to review and summarize the glorious history of China's PV industry's repeated rise in adversity. It narrates China's role and responsibilities in the global energy transition and world economic recovery, profoundly interpreting how China's PV industry focuses on high-quality development and promotes the world's shift towards green energy under the global consensus of "dual carbon" goals.

This large-scale industrial documentary consists of five episodes, each 30 minutes long, covering over 20 typical stories, including technological breakthroughs in the PV  industry, innovative application practices, industry history, and development trends. The production team delves into the most cutting-edge photovoltaic manufacturing and application sites, featuring leading enterprises in the PV industrial chain, including Tongwei, as well as relevant universities and research institutions.

In terms of professionalism and authority, Chasing the Light has received strong support from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and other departments and institutions, gathering the wisdom and efforts of over ten top scientists and academicians.

The documentary premiered globally on CCTV Finance Channel on July 13 at 22:16, and from July 14 to 17 at 21:56, and was simultaneously launched on the CCTV Finance client, CCTV Video, and CCTV.com.