China has at least 80% of the global market share in solar manufacturing capacity, making Chinese exports an important dataset for tracking the clean energy transition. In the first half of 2023, exports of solar panels from China grew by 34%, with 114 GW shipped worldwide, compared to 85 GW in the same period last year.
This allows the shipments to avoid trade barriers, like tariffs imposed on many Chinese imports by President Donald J. Trump. Several of China’s biggest solar panel manufacturers are building final assembly plants in the United States to tap subsidies offered as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Solar modules, which are fully assembled solar panels, accounted for 90% ($23.8 bn) of China’s total solar exports by value in the first half of 2023. Over the last 12 months, China exported 111 GW of solar modules to Europe, the same amount as the total installed PV capacity of the United States.
China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more solar panels than the United States has in its history. It cut the wholesale price of panels it sells by nearly half. And its exports of fully assembled solar panels climbed 38 percent while its exports of key components almost doubled.
For this year, analysts expect China to add 500-600 GW of PV module production capacity, a 60-70% increase, well above growth in solar projects. That would force manufacturers to export even more to markets such as Europe and the U.S., which doubled tariffs on cells used to make solar panels from 25% to 50%.
Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports. China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more solar panels than the United States has in its history.