Meanwhile, MIIT diverts the solar PV industry’s attention to technological improvements rather than adding excess capacity
Key Takeaways
- Chinese solar PV installations grew by 38.74 GW YoY during 10M 2024 with 181.30 GW
- This comprises 20.42 GW of new capacity installed in the month of October 2024
- On the other hand, the MIIT continues to take measures to check overcapacity concerns in the country’s PV manufacturing industry
The National Energy Administration (NEA) of China has released the official statistics of the country’s power generation mix, according to which its cumulative installed solar PV capacity increased to about 790 GW as of October 2024, representing a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 48%.
This comprises the 181.30 GW China installed between January and October this year. According to the NEA, this represents a YoY jump of 38.74 GW.
With this, China continues its average monthly additions of 20 GW in 2024 having installed 20.42 GW in the month of October. In September as well, it installed 20.89 GW, taking the 9M additions to 160.88 GW (see Chinese Solar Installations Exceed 160 GW During 9M 2024).
While the solar installations continue to expand, the Chinese government is taking measures to curb overcapacity concerns in its PV industry and control stiff competition that’s lowering module prices to record lows along with profit margins of even leading manufacturers.
The country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently released its revised 2024 Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry Standards. The focus here is clearly on efficiency improvements and industry upgrades.
Some of the key points in the revised guidance are as follows:
- New production facilities for n-type cell and module efficiency must exceed 26% and 23.1%, respectively
- Existing production facilities’ p-type cell and module efficiency must exceed 23.7% and 21.8%, respectively
- Perovskite module efficiency must exceed 15.5% for new production lines, and not less than 14% for existing lines
- Capital investment for new or expanded projects was raised to 30%, which has increased 10% compared with the last standard in 2021
- Warranty requirements increased from 10 years in the 2021 version to 12 years in the 2024 version, with stricter performance degradation standards
- Companies must allocate at least 3% of annual sales, or a minimum of RMB 10 million ($1.38 million), for R&D and process improvements
Analysts and industry experts see this revised guidance as controlling the excess production capacity that already exceeds demand.
Earlier this month, the Chinese Finance Ministry announced plans to cut the export tax rebate for solar PV cells and modules from 13% to 9% from December 1, 2024, in yet another measure to check overcapacity in the country’s solar PV manufacturing industry (see China To Lower Solar Export Tax Rebates From 13% To 9%).
Source from Taiyang News
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