Chinese Solar Initiatives

China may not have as advanced a solar program as Germany (although, as Eric’s noted, Germany’s solar subsidies recently underwent a drastic slash) or Spain do, but a few pockets of land both to the north and to the south have become shining beacons of light for the rest of the country.

Take Jiangsu province, for example. According to the South China Morning Post (via the mirror Semiconductor International, since my browser can’t seem to open up the SCMP website), here solar heaters are mandatory for new buildings at least twelve stories tall. The same goes for Huzhou, in Zhejiang province. The governments of Xiangtai, in Hebei province, and Hefei, in Anhui province, have initiated solar subsidies. In 2006, the government of Shenzhen, one of China’s commercial hotspots, instigated compulsory solar hot water in all new residential buildings twelve stories tall or under, writes Renewable Energy World. Growth in the Chinese solar thermal market is expected at 20 to 25 percent a year. Unlike perhaps elsewhere, much of the growth in domestic usage has occurred with little governmental participation, although both the national and local governments have started to take more active roles in solar hot water proliferation.

With low domestic costs, solar heating has become relatively affordable to the average Chinese over the past few years. Much of the attractiveness of solar hot water in China stems from a combination of low-cost labor and materials and robust competition (capitalism at its best!) among the 1,000-plus solar hot water producers in the country, which results in solar hot water heaters one-fifth to one-eighth of US or European systems. Two-thirds of China’s land mass receives 2,200 hours of sunshine a year—comparable to the US—thereby making Chinese solar thermal a very appealing proposition.

Furthermore, the SCMP article adds:

Each household can expect to save more than 10,000 yuan ($11HK,296) [~$1470 US] in heating expenses over the 15-year average useful life of a solar heater, based on the 4,500 yuan average equipment and installation cost, according to a Nanjing Morning Post report.

China’s photovoltaic market is considerably shakier. As evidenced by Germany’s recent solar subsidy cuts, large subsidies are required for solar PV proliferation, and the Chinese government is not yet willing to cough up the massive sums of money necessary for nationwide solar subsidies in such an enormous nation. Also, the availability of silicon poses a further roadblock to Chinese PV usage rising as quickly as that of solar thermal. However, as is the case worldwide, awareness is growing, costs are declining and technology is improving. With the right amount of competition and the right technology, the Chinese PV market could one day undergo a transformation similar to that of its solar hot water market.