China’s solar deployments in 2019 set for major decline - AECEA

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Official figures put solar installations at 17.5GW through October 2019, while unconfirmed figures for November could be as low as only 500MW of installations, bringing total installs for the first 11 months of the year to only around 18GW. Image: LONGi Solar

According to Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory Co (AECEA) a string of policy support changes in China have failed to prevent a collapse in solar installations in 2019. 

Official figures put solar installations at 17.5GW through October 2019, while unconfirmed figures for November could be as low as only 500MW of installations, bringing total installs for the first 11 months of the year to only around 18GW.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

AECEA said that official full-year 2019 figures were expected in mid-January 2020. 

The advisory firm has maintained its 2019 forecast for installations in China to be within a range of 20GW to 24GW. Official solar installations in China in 2018 topped 44.26GW. 

Prospects for a recovering in 2020 remain uncertain. AECEA noted that in mid-December 2019, a “first draft of the 2020 solar PV policy” was made available to garner feedback but was essentially comprised of policies belatedly put in place in mid-2019 but including a lower support budget for solar installations.
 
The key priority would remain grid-parity projects, secondly utility-scale + distributed PV projects but both would be bid-based. Residential PV would be the third priority, while poverty-alleviation programmes would also be supported but subject to a different budget. 

The total support budget earmarked for 2020 could be around RMB 1.75 billion (US$252 million), according to AECEA, which would include a support budget of around RMB 500 million (US$72 million) for residential PV. AECEA noted that this could be a 42% reduction in budget support compared to 2019. 

However, changes to the initial draft policies could be forthcoming as well yet released FIT rates for 2020, which could provide the need support to make projects viable under the new mechanisms. 

10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

July 1, 2025
French private equity firm Ardian Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF) has bought 117 solar PV plants, worth 116MW of total capacity in several locations in Italy.
July 1, 2025
A five-year research initiative is underway in Australia to test the viability of floating solar systems on irrigation dams.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
June 27, 2025
Statkraft has signed PPAs with Better Energy to purchase energy from two solar power plants in Poland with a total capacity of 64GWh.
June 27, 2025
Solar developer Lightsource bp has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of Taiwanese energy firm HD Renewable Energy (HDRE).

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 22, 2025
Bilbao, Spain
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA