Solar panels get green light from China

Can China make solar panels?

The company’s U.S. projects could tap renewable energy manufacturing subsidies provided by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. China’s cost advantage is formidable. A research unit of the European Commission calculated in a report in January that Chinese companies could make solar panels for 16 to 18.9 cents per watt of generating capacity.

Why are solar panels so popular in China?

To satisfy foreign countries' rising needs for PV, the manufacturing of solar panels in China has been rapidly growing on the back of foreign technology and capital. But the boom was short-lived because of the 2008 financial crisis, which contracted a lot of demand from Western countries.

Why is China investing in solar energy?

As the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, China shocked the world with President Xi Jinping’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 in the UN General Assembly in September last year. The pledge has created a domestic incentive for China to invest in the solar industry.

Is China leading the world in solar power?

Technicians check solar panels in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. [Photo by YAO FENG/FOR CHINA DAILY] A report by the International Energy Agency, or IEA, on the future of renewable energy production has pinpointed China, and in particular its solar power capabilities, as leading the way for the world in the years to come.

What do you need to know about China's solar market?

Here’s what you need to know about the booming market. According to data from the IEA, by the end of 2020, China had 253 GW of installed capacity compared with about 151 GW in the EU. China’s solar PV manufacturing also accounts for about 71 per cent of the world’s total capacity.

Why are Chinese solar panels making final assembly plants in the US?

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.