China hits another record high with 277.17GW of new PV in 2024

By Carrie Xiao
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Solar panels above a fishery site in China
China’s installed PV base grew by a record 277GW in 2024. Image: Astronergy

China’s total PV capacity reached 886.66GW at the end of 2024, an increase of 45.5% on the figure at the end of 2023 when cumulative installations stood at 609.49GW.

Figures released yesterday by the China’s National Energy Administration showed that PV installations in the country hit 277.17GW in 2024, setting another record high for the total capacity installed in a year.

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2024 installations across China’s energy sector. Note: In the “Year-on-Year Growth” column, the indicator marked with * is an absolute quantity; the indicator marked with ▲ is in percentage points. Source: China Energy Bureau

Comparing the December data with that of November shows that the capacity installed in December 2024 alone reached an astonishing 70.87GW, again setting a record. By comparison, the new capacity installed in December 2023 was 53GW.

This is mainly due to the fact that to achieve annual PV installation targets, major power generation groups in China often rush to install in the fourth quarter, especially in December.

In the past decade, the annual installed capacity of PV in China has shown a steady growth trend. In 2023, new PV installations exceeded 200GW, up 148% on the previous year’s new additions. However, the growth rate of new PV installations in 2024 slowed down to just under 28%, the lowest since 2019.

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