Chinese Photovoltaic Market and Industry Outlook (Part 1)

In China over the recent years, wind power, solar energy and other renewable energy sources have been expected to become not only promising tools against climate change but also a key economic growth driver. Particularly, growth of Chinese photovoltaic cell makers has attracted global attention. However, the Chinese government has been unable to provide sufficient support for them because of huge fiscal costs. China's PV market is still inactive. As PV costs are expected to decline substantially due to a silicon price fall in 2008, however, the Chinese PV market is projected to achieve dramatic growth. In early 2009, the Chinese government came up with measures to subsidize and promote PV. In December, it became clear that the country will revise its PV generation target for 2020 upward to 20 gigawatts. While giving positive considerations to the exploration of the domestic PV market and the development of relevant industries, the Chinese government has recognized the domestic industries technological capacity shortages, overheated investment and other problems and indicated a cautious attitude. Part 1 of this paper outlines Chinas PV projects, focusing on the PV market and PV promotion measures.