In recent years, with the steady progress of the "dual carbon" goal and the explosive growth of the new energy vehicle industry, the innovative energy solution of optical storage and charging integration is developing rapidly, gradually moving from pilot demonstration to large-scale application. To put it simply, the integration of photovoltaic storage and charging is to integrate photovoltaic power generation, energy storage systems and charging facilities to form a closed-loop system of clean energy production, storage and use, which plays an important role in the construction of new power systems and the low-carbon transformation of transportation.
Policies are promoted, and local governments are actively deployed
The integration of optical storage and charging is not only a simple charging station, but also an intelligent energy system integrating photovoltaic power generation, energy storage equipment, charging piles and battery testing devices. Compared with the traditional single charging station, it can use photovoltaic power generation and energy storage system to supply power, which is not only energy-saving and environmentally friendly, but also can reduce peak load and valley filling, alleviate the load pressure of the power grid, reduce the operating cost of enterprises, and improve energy efficiency. Because of this, the government attaches great importance to it and regards it as an important development direction of new energy vehicle charging infrastructure.
As early as 2020, the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" issued by the State Council clearly stated that it is necessary to promote the efficient coordination of new energy vehicles and renewable energy, encourage the construction of "optical storage, charging and discharging" multi-functional integrated stations, and support qualified areas to carry out commercial demonstrations of fuel cell vehicles. Since then, the National Energy Administration, the Ministry of Transport and other ministries and commissions, as well as local development and reform commissions, have issued relevant policies. Up to now, 24 provinces and cities across the country have issued special support policies to provide preferential treatment in terms of land, taxation and project approval.
Taking the "Shanghai New Energy Storage Demonstration Leading Innovation Development Work Plan (2025-2030)" released in early 2025 as an example, the plan clearly proposes to build new energy storage facilities in scenarios such as industrial parks, data centers, and integrated charging stations for optical storage and charging. Driven by policies, the construction of integrated optical storage and charging projects in various places has ushered in a boom. Chongqing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Beijing and other cities have proposed to build a "supercharging city", and Hainan plans to build a "supercharging island".
For example, Chongqing issued the "Incentive Measures for the Evaluation of the Construction of Supercharging Infrastructure in the City (2024)", which requires that the integrated storage and charging stations account for 30% of the total number of overcharging stations and be included in the construction effectiveness assessment. By 2025, Chongqing plans to build 2,040 supercharging stations and more than 4,000 supercharging piles, which will be more than four times the current scale. Beijing has also set a target of building more than 1,000 supercharging stations by 2025, and requires each station to be equipped with at least two supercharging piles of more than 480kW. By 2035, the company plans to reduce charging time to less than eight minutes.
Figure: Integration of optical storage and charging: a new outlet for industrial and commercial energy storage
At the same time, car companies and energy companies are also accelerating the deployment of supercharging networks. Tesla has built more than 11,000 supercharging piles, and ideally plans to build more than 3,000 supercharging stations by 2025, and traditional energy companies such as PetroChina and Sinopec are also accelerating the transformation to the "supercharging + convenience store" model, and it is expected that by 2025, 5% of gas stations will be converted to supercharging stations.
Solving grid challenges and surging market demand
China's new energy vehicle market is growing rapidly. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2024, China's new energy vehicle production will reach 12.888 million units and sales volume will be 12.866 million units, an increase of 34.4% and 35.5% year-on-year, respectively. It is estimated that by 2025, the sales of new energy passenger vehicles will reach 15.65 million units, accounting for 66.8% of the market share.
However, when the overcharging pile is running at full load, the impulse impact on the power grid is large, and may even exceed the transformer capacity of the distribution network. Rather than investing heavily in transformers and circuits, the integrated optical storage and charging model provides a more cost-effective solution. With the popularization of supercharging technology, the demand for energy storage configuration is bound to increase.
At present, the revenue of the photovoltaic storage system supporting the charging station mainly comes from two aspects: one is to use the peak-to-valley electricity price difference to arbitrage, and the other is to improve the charging capacity through capacity increase. In regions where electricity markets are actively traded, energy storage can also participate in demand-side response and virtual power plant businesses, bringing additional benefits. With the advancement of the market-oriented reform of electricity, the profit opportunities of the integrated photovoltaic storage and charging power station will continue to increase.
In addition, in the future, charging stations will be able to reduce demand electricity bills with the help of energy storage. At present, the state implements a two-part electricity price system for centralized charging and swapping facilities, and waives on-demand electricity charges by 2030. However, once charging is resumed, energy storage will help reduce the demand for transformers, thereby reducing electricity bills, which will further promote the development of PV storage and charging integration. At the same time, with the popularization of fast charging and the reduction of the cost of energy storage and photovoltaic equipment, the economic benefits of the integrated fast charging station of optical storage and charging will be more significant.
The industry is in its infancy and has broad prospects for the future
At present, the integration of optical storage and charging is still in the embryonic stage of the market. According to the data of CESA Energy Storage Application Branch, in 2024, there will be 1,466 new storage/photovoltaic storage and charging projects in China, with a total scale of 478.9MW/945.8MWh and a new installed capacity of 115.08MW/227.87MWh. Enterprises such as Times Nebula have built a number of optical storage and charging supercharging stations in Shanghai and other places.
The industrial chain of optical storage and charging integration covers upstream enterprises such as photovoltaic cells, energy storage converters, and charging pile systems, as well as downstream application scenarios such as highways, ports, and industrial parks. In the future, with the increase in policies, technological progress, market maturity and business model innovation, the integration of optical storage and charging is expected to become an important engine to promote energy transformation, bringing new development opportunities to the charging infrastructure of new energy vehicles and the overall energy system.
