In 2024, China achieved a record-breaking 278 GWAC of new solar PV installations, reflecting a 28 percent year-on-year increase, driven by the grid connection of large-scale base projects across multiple regions.
By the end of the year, the country’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 886 GWAC, securing solar’s position as the second-largest power source in China’s energy mix, according to a report from Solar Europe.
As 2025 marks the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the National Energy Administration released the “2025 Energy Work Guidance,” which outlines key national energy goals including adding over 200 GWAC of new power capacity, increasing the share of non-fossil power generation to around 60 percent, and raising the proportion of non-fossil energy in total consumption to about 20 percent.
The guidance emphasizes expanding renewable energy in critical sectors such as industry, transportation, and construction, while also strengthening policies to support green development, ensuring efficient PV utilisation, promoting PV-based land restoration, and progressing toward a unified national power market system.
China’s commitment to carbon peaking and carbon neutrality has made photovoltaic energy a central pillar of its energy transition strategy, prompting continual policy refinement to drive industrial upgrades. In November 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released updated manufacturing standards for the PV sector, aiming to elevate product quality and foster technological innovation.
Entering 2025, the National Energy Administration issued key regulatory documents to further advance the sector. These include standardized management measures for distributed PV projects to ensure both growth and quality, and a notice promoting market-oriented reforms for feed-in tariffs, aimed at integrating PV power more fully into the national electricity market and supporting the sector’s high-quality development.
China’s growing electricity demand, which rose by 6.8 percent in 2024 amid steady economic growth, has been a key factor driving the expansion of its PV market. With continued infrastructure investment, economic stabilization efforts, and measures to combat extreme weather, electricity demand is projected to grow moderately in 2025 and beyond.
In terms of installations, utility-scale PV reached 159 GWAC in 2024, a 33 percent year-on-year increase, while distributed PV added 118 GWAC, growing by 23 percent. Within distributed PV, the residential sector saw a 23 percent decline with 30 GWAC added, whereas the commercial and industrial sector surged with 89 GWAC, marking a 68 percent increase.
Baburajan Kizhakedath