China installed record 12 GW of solar in 2013

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Developers in China installed a record 12 gigawatts of solar panels in 2013, almost matching the total amount of solar power in operation in the US, and may exceed that in 2014, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The power plants were built mostly in China's sunny, western provinces of Gansu, Xinjiang and Qinghai and make its state-owned power companies the world's biggest owners of solar assets, the London-based research company said in a statement yesterday.

China was the biggest solar market last year, surpassing longtime leader Germany. Chinese installation more than tripled from 3.6 gigawatts in 2012, and the nation expects to add 14 gigawatts of solar capacity this year, according to New Energy Finance.

"The 2013 figures show the astonishing scale of the Chinese market," Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at New Energy Finance, said in the statement. "PV is becoming ever cheaper and simpler to install, and China's government has been as surprised as European governments by how quickly it can be deployed in response to incentives."

Chinese developers rushed to complete projects before the end of the year, when a 1-yuan (17 US cents) a kilowatt-hour incentive expired. That may have led to as many as 2 gigawatts of late-year additions that aren't included in the 12-gigawatt total.

China led a 28 percent increase in global solar installations last year of 39 gigawatts, and total installation may increase another 20 percent this year, according to the statement. Before 2013, no nation had ever installed more than 8 gigawatts of solar power in a year.