New and cumulative installed capacities of China's solar PV power from 2000 to 2017. In order to effectively coordinate the scale and speed of the solar PV installation with the economic development, China has occasionally set and adjusted the development targets for solar PV power.
Most of China's solar power is generated within its western provinces and is transferred to other regions of the country. In 2011, China owned the largest solar power plant in the world at the time, the Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park, which had a photovoltaic capacity of 200 MW.
According to data released by the National Energy Administration, the cumulative total installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in China in 2020 was 253GW, a year-on-year increase of 23.8%. As photovoltaics gradually enter the era of parity and 14-five-year plan, the installed capacity will show a more rapid growth trend.
The researchers first found that the physical potential of solar PV, which includes how many solar panels can be installed and how much solar energy they can generate, in China reached 99.2 petawatt-hours in 2020.
In this case, the cost advantage of solar PV could be further amplified. The decline in costs for solar power and storage systems offers opportunity for solar-plus-storage systems to serve as a cost-competitive source for the future energy system in China.
In 2020, China's newly installed grid-connected photovoltaic capacity reached 48.2GW, a year-on-year increase of 60.1%, of which the installed capacity of centralized photovoltaic power plants was 32.7GW, a year-on-year increase of 82.68%; the installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic power plants was 15.5GW, a year-on-year increase of 27.04%.
OverviewHistorySolar resourcesSolar photovoltaicsConcentrated solar powerSolar water heatingEffects on the global solar power industryGovernment incentives
Photovoltaic research in China began in 1958 with the development of China''s first piece of monocrystalline silicon. Research continued with the development of solar cells for space satellites in 1968. The Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences led this research for a year, stopping after batteries failed to operate. Other research institutions continued the developm…