Chinese photovoltaics empower global green and low-carbon transformation
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement and the 5th anniversary of China's "dual carbon" goals, the "Photovoltaic Empowering Global Green and Low carbon Transformation" themed exchange conference, supported by the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences and hosted by the Public Environment Research Center, was recently held in Beijing. The "2025 China Photovoltaic Construction Progress Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") released at the conference summarized the major achievements of China's photovoltaic construction, showcased the practice of photovoltaic construction from the Gobi Desert to urban and rural rooftops, sorted out the contributions of technological breakthroughs and model innovation to global climate action, and looked forward to the prospects of China's photovoltaic industry moving towards a higher quality and more sustainable future starting from "one billion kilowatts".
The report shows that China's photovoltaic industry has achieved rapid growth in the past 10 years, becoming an important driving force for global energy transformation.
As of the end of June this year, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in China has reached approximately 1.1 billion kilowatts. From January to July this year, the newly installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in China reached 223 million kilowatts, which is 5.3 times the newly installed capacity of thermal power generation during the same period, indicating that China's power system is rapidly achieving a green and low-carbon transformation.
The report shows that China has formed an overall photovoltaic power generation development pattern of "gathering in the west and dispersing in the east". Western provinces and regions such as Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia, relying on desert, Gobi, and desert land resources, vigorously develop centralized photovoltaic bases, becoming an important pivot of the national clean energy strategy. In some areas of central and southern China, a combination of centralized and distributed strategies is adopted. Henan, Anhui, Hubei and other regions utilize coal mining subsidence areas, rocky desertification mountains, low efficiency land on hilly slopes, fish pond water surfaces and other spaces to build centralized photovoltaic power stations. In densely populated plain areas, distributed photovoltaics are mainly used. Eastern coastal provinces such as Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang have deeply integrated distributed photovoltaics into industrial upgrading by leveraging their manufacturing foundation and power load advantages, creating "zero carbon parks," "green factories," and "photovoltaic villages.
The "photovoltaic+" composite mode is widely promoted nationwide - the Jiangsu Yancheng Agricultural Photovoltaic Complementary Project achieves "on-board power generation and off board planting" through high bracket design and wide row spacing layout, which not only ensures crop illumination but also improves the comprehensive land benefits; Guizhou replaces firewood consumption with photovoltaic construction in rocky desertification areas, helping with ecological restoration and improvement of people's livelihoods; The Guangxi "Fishery Photovoltaic Complementary" project establishes an aquaculture base under photovoltaic panels to help farmers increase their income
At the exchange meeting, experts, business representatives, and scholars in attendance believed that this renewable energy revolution, driven by technology, policies, and public participation, not only laid the foundation for China to achieve its latest national independent contribution target of 3.6 billion kilowatts of wind and solar power installed capacity by 2035, but also provided a replicable and promotable "Chinese solution" for the world's energy transformation.