Good news for the environment: Solar power may not be the only form of renewable energy, but is a implementing it is a trend that is expected to double by 2017.
In 2013, China installed a record amount of solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity. Though this was the first time the country was the number one installer, this country has led all countries in making PV for the better part of a decade. Now China accounts near 64% of global solar panel production – churning out 25,600 megawatts of the nearly 40,000 megawatts of PV made worldwide! This data is according to GTM’s research in 2013.
Of the top ten solar panel manufacturing firms in 2013, five were Chinese companies – including Yingli at the top and runner-up Trina. Third place was Canadian Solar, which produces 90 percent of its modules in China. The other four spots were give to two Japanese companies, one United States company, and a solar-producing company from Germany.
Because there is an increasingly high demand for solar power to be implemented around the world, GTM Research projects that China’s annual solar output will double to 51,000 megawatts by 2017. This will represent near 70 percent of global production at that time.
It seems Beijing had such quick industry ramp-up in mind in 2014 when it announced a new national PV capacity goal: 70,000 megawatts of installed PV by 2017, up from 18,300 megawatts at the end of 2013.
To put that figure into perspective, if it meets that goal, China will add more solar-electricity capacity in four years than the entire world had in place in early 2011!
Solar power may not be the only form of renewable energy, but it is a popular alternative many nations around the world are scrambling hard to implement.
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