Featured in Purchasing power – 04-2025

China’s rooftop hits a ceiling

Amid a record amount of new solar capacity added in China in 2024, the share held by small-scale, “distributed” arrays fell to 38%, from 58% in 2022. Grid constraints, policy changes, and pricing adjustments have impacted home and business solar arrays, as Vincent Shaw reports, from Shanghai.

By

Vincent Shaw

01 Apr 2025

Distributed generation in China has grown in absolute terms, but its share of total installed capacity has fallen as utility-scale deployment has surged. | Photos: Trina Solar

On Jan. 21, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) revealed the nation had added a record 277 GW of solar in 2024. This was up 28% on 2023’s 216 GW, bolstering China’s world-leading solar status.A dive into key data and ongoing market trends reveals underlying concerns, however, particularly for 2025. Projections suggest a potential decline in solar installations, …

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