Owing to China's escalating demand for renewable energy and carbon emissions reduction, and given its prominent position as one of the fastest-growing nations in photovoltaic (PV) development, a comprehensive assessment of the potential of both centralized and distributed photovoltaic systems in China is crucial.
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.
However, most of the PV potential in China is distributed in sparsely populated regions such as northwest and Tibet of China, and more than 95% of PV power generation in these areas is centralized PV power generation .
Chen et al. developed a comprehensive solar resource assessment system based on the GIS + MCDM method in 2019. This system was applied to the assessment of the potential of PV power generation in the countries under the “Belt and Road” initiative. The results showed that the PV potential of China is 100.8 PWh.
The PV power generation potential of China was estimated using ERA5-Land hourly data with a spatial resolution of 0.1° × 0.1° (about 10 km × 10 km), and a temporal resolution of 1 h. The quality of the data of ERA5 has also been improved compared to the previous data .
Clear spatial dislocations between PV power generation potential and population distribution and electricity demand. Accurate assessment of the photovoltaic (PV) power generation potential in China is important for the reduction of carbon emission intensity and the achievement of the goal of Carbon Neutral.