China is set to install between 230 gigawatts and 260 gigawatts of solar power capacity this year, according to the chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, Wang Bohua.
That beats both last year’s record of 217 gigawatts as well as 2024’s forecast of up to 2020 gigawatts, Bloomberg reports.
Speaking at the group’s annual conference in Yinbin on Thursday, Wang said that rapid development of desert power bases in the mainland combined with strong measures supporting rooftop solar panel installations were behind the surge in capacity.
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Continued strong demand comes alongside major industry struggles, however. Overcapacity has seen prices plummet, forcing some smaller solar equipment producers out of business.
Profit margins in China’s solar market have tightened considerably, with billions of US dollars-worth of losses being felt across the board. This has seen the value of solar manufacturers’ output drop by 45 percent over the first nine months of this year. The value of overseas sales, meanwhile, fell 35 percent over the first 10 months of the year, amounting to US$28 billion.
China leads the world in renewable energy and is home to nearly two-thirds of the world’s utility-scale solar and wind power facilities under construction.
