The emergence of the solar photovoltaic power industry in China

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power is a new and green energy source. China has significant opportunities for solar energy utilization with its huge solar resource. The solar PV power in China has developed for 50 years, and experienced a rapid progress in the last 10 years. To address the needs of the fast growth of the PV power industry in China, it is critical to identify, analyze and understand the growth path and the characteristics of the industry. This paper summarizes the status of the solar energy resources and the development of the solar PV power industry in China, and puts forward the main factors that impacted the development of the industry. A study refers to the selected five main factors the factors are: technology research and development, industrial plans, laws and regulations, electricity price policies, and projects incentive policies. A multifaceted approach including literature survey, statistical data investigation, law review, and regulation and policy study are adopted to investigate these factors. Analysis of the typical events, the growth process and the characteristics of the five factors, allows the establishment of growth route models. The results can be a useful reference for the development of solar PV power industry in China and other countries.