China's solar photovoltaic capacity will reach U.S. level this year
China is on a solar installation tear and is on track to reach the same capacity as the United States this year, according to the recent Solarbuzz China Deal Tracker Report.
Falling module and balance of system prices have driven the solar photovoltaic (PV) installation boom within the non-residential sector, which saw its pipeline of projects grow to 16 gigawatts at the end of October.
Solarbuzz identified 1,104 non-residential projects in China that are installed, being installed or in development. About 86 percent of the total project pipeline is occurring within 10 Chinese provinces. The Qinghai province, which has been helped by an incentives program, led the pack with 26 percent of the project pipeline.
And more is slated to come on line thanks to falling costs and the addition of a national feed-in tariff policy. According to the report, 195 projects with a total capacity of more than 1.8 GW will be installed this year. That will closely match the installed capacity in the U.S. this year, Solarbuzz said.
Feed-in tariffs in China were once considered too low to encourage projects in regions that didn't have high solar radiation. Now that costs for modules and mounting equipment have fallen, project profitability has improved. Meaning it's become cheap enough for less-than-sunny regions to install solar.
Photo: Flickr user peruisay
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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com