In 2022, PV accounted for 70 % of total capacity additions of renewable power (348 GW), with China accounting for 44 % of global capacity (Sawin et al.,2022). PV still has significant potential for further development in China, particularly in regions abundant in solar energy resources like northwest China (Lin et al.,2022).
In the majority of the areas of China, solar energy is available in abundance, and people can collect solar energy directly and produce electricity and heat by solar energy. The second advantage is in the reduction of monthly electricity bills; solar energy is considered a one-time investment.
These issues occur specifically in Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Ningxia. According to the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), solar energy curtailment is defined as the wasted potential of power plants producing energy.
China's installed centralized solar power plant capacity comprises over 60 % of the total installed capacity encompassing both centralized and distributed PV systems (National Energy Administration,2023).
Since the Hu Jintao regime, and highlighted further under Xi Jinping, China has sought to transform its economy through the huge investment in innovative technology. What is unique about solar energy in China is that it was an important export industry in the early 2000s, before it emerged as a critical renewable energy industry.
According to our results, approximately 78.6 % and 99.9 % of China's technical solar PV potential are priced lower than the benchmark price of coal-fired energy in pessimistic and optimistic scenario.