China has already made major commitments to transitioning its energy systems towards renewables, especially power generation from solar, wind and hydro sources. However, there are many unknowns about the future of solar energy in China, including its cost, technical feasibility and grid compatibility in the coming decades.
China aims to see its total installed wind and photovoltaic power capacity surpass 1.2 billion kilowatts by 2030 as it accelerates the shift toward a cleaner energy system. The country will advance its large-scale and high-quality development of wind and solar power generation on all fronts in the 2021-2025 period, according to a government plan.
All told, 2023 saw unprecedented wind and solar growth in China. The unabated wave of construction guarantees that China will continue leading in wind and solar installation in the near future, far ahead of the rest of the world.
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.
The country's solar power industry is also making accelerated progress in technological innovation, with advanced products being applied more broadly, according to Yang Xudong, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Cell technology is a key part of the photovoltaic industry upgrade.
This allows the shipments to avoid trade barriers, like tariffs imposed on many Chinese imports by former US president Donald Trump. Several of China’s biggest solar panel manufacturers are building final assembly plants in the US to tap subsidies offered as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.