Last year, China was nowhere to be seen on the top ten solar PV market list. Major players Spain, Germany, the US, South Korea, and Japan were joined by small European countries like Belgium, Portugal, and the Czech Republic as biggest global installers. But a new Chinese initiative may rearrange the global picture soon. Late last week, Seeking Alpha’s Zachary Scheidt reported that the Chinese Ministry of Finance will pay $3 per watt at major solar installations (around half the cost of these systems). Such a strong incentive could help China’s domestic market for solar photovoltaics (PV) finally bloom.
Since China is the biggest global producer of solar PV, it makes sense for the country to support its domestic industry to ensure that global economic turmoil doesn’t cause sector collapse. And they picked the right time to do so as a consumer because the price of solar panels is down significantly. The initiative could help China join the leadership club for solar PV in 2009 and even potentially take top honors in 2010+.
Renewable Energy Context
China is already the top market for solar thermal water heating systems which are currently more cost-effective than PV systems. And China is on a pace to become the leading wind power market in 2009 unless US financing woes ease more quickly than anticipated. As recently as 2005, China was an insignificant market for wind power. Yet just four years later they are poised to be global leaders. Will the same be the case for solar by 2012?
Implications
If China does become the leader in solar PV installations, that may not be a problem. They do have three times the population of the US, they are the top greenhouse gas polluter, and their energy consumption is increasing at a faster rate. So our climate actually needs China to be a major installer of renewables to keep global carbon emissions from continuing to climb.
But the US needs to step up its innovations in efficiency and renewable energy. Otherwise, we risk missing out on a key sector with major jobs growth potential that can help drive economic recovery in 2010.
Bottom Line:
Keep up the renewable energy growth, China! The more your new energy capacity is in the form of wind and solar power rather than coal, the higher chance we can stabilize the global climate and prevent 100 million+ environmental refugees from coastal areas in the decades ahead. US economic policymakers need to take note that China is a rising renewable energy player. If we don’t also raise our game, many economic opportunities will be lost in the multi-trillion dollar global energy sector.
Tags: 2009, China, climate change, renewable energy, Solar, Wind
Make no mistake, they have all the ingredients to be world leaders. Lets face it, most of the panels are actually made there.