Report on China PV market development

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "China PV Market Development" report to its offering.

One constant in what many have called the miracle of China's enormous economic growth over the past 30 years has been a reliance on export economies. The development of the PV industry has been no exception. Since the industry's modest beginnings in 2002, domestic cell and module manufacturers have exported more than 95 percent of their products to overseas markets relying on the favorable energy policies of European governments to drive demand for Chinese production.

As China has rapidly vaulted to the top of global solar cell manufacturing capacity, it has done so largely due to unprecedented demand from countries like Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United States, among others. As 2008 drew to a close and the realities of one of worst global economic crises since the Great Depression began to crystallize, domestic Chinese manufacturers in many industries scaled back production, laid off workers, and some even stopped operations completely.

It was in this context that the Chinese government, recognizing the need to support this critical growth industry with domestic demand, began to seriously consider national solar incentives. With many other markets stalling due to a lack of financing and uncertain policy regimes, China will likely be one of the key growth markets for the solar sector in both the near- and long-term.

Understanding the structure of the solar market in China and how it will grow will be key to understanding global demand trends as well as opportunities for investment and partnerships in this emerging market.

In 2007 China announced goals to install 300 MW of PV by 2012 and 1.8 GW by 2020. Given recent policy developments and project announcements, China will be well on its way to exploding past those goals and in fact is expected to announce new targets later this year. Depending on the timing of these announcements and the success of several pilot projects, the Chinese market has very real potential to ramp well beyond 1 GW in 2011.