Cheap Chinese Solar Panels
The complex technology of solar panels through which humans are now harnessing solar energy and using it for various purposes is a result of hundreds of years of efforts and experiments. The development of solar panels has revolutionized the world and has also opened new pathways to future inventions which can take advantage of solar energy.
China: The Leading Manufacturer of Cheap Solar Panels
Despite the huge advantages of using solar panels such as reduction in the cost of electricity, decreasing the use of fossil fuels and adhering to the environmental challenges and worldwide appreciation, the technology was not adopted by the masses mainly due to the high prices of solar panels. However, China beat the rest of the manufacturers in the solar industry the same way it has been beating them in all other fields and emerged as the manufacturer of the world’s cheapest solar panels. However, in an attempt to make cheap Chinese solar panels, the country’s manufacturers did not compromise over the quality. Rather, it revolutionized the solar industry by manufacturing high quality solar panels at cheap prices. This is evident from the fact that 7 out of the top 10 solar panel manufacturers in the world are Chinese.
With remarkable manufacturing skills, China has become the world’s largest producer of solar panels and it has also resulted in a reduction in their prices. A researcher at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations named Varun Sivaram, a specialist in renewable energy, said “China’s cheap solar panels have been essentially subsidizing the global solar boom.”
Although the Chinese solar panel industry was affected like many other industries due to the Chinese stock exchange crashing with SunTech, the biggest manufacturer of solar panels in China also going bankrupt in 2013, the Chinese solar panel manufacturers have managed to fought their way back and a steady growth in China’s solar photovoltaic industry was seen with the development of new technologies and favorable policies of the Chinese government.
Solar Industry Is Backed By Chinese Government
The Chinese government has introduced ‘feed-in tariffs (FITs)’ at both state and provincial levels in order to augment the growth of solar rooftop installations. Earlier this year, the central government started providing 20-year subsidies of U.S. $0.06 on every kilowatt per hour of output from solar rooftop projects. Also, China is actively installing solar panels across the country in an attempt to shift its reliance from energy generated from fossil fuels to green energy.
In view of all these factors, it can be said that in addition to being the world’s leading manufacturer of high quality cheap solar panels, it will also become the leading buyer of the technology as well.