What is the future policy for photovoltaic power applications in China? Lessons from the past

Abstract

Over the past decades, a series of policies and regulations have been formulated to encourage photovoltaic (PV) development in China. The phenomena of “subsidy deception” and “PV power curtailment and brownout” indicate the policies have encountered problems in implementation. A large gap between subsidies and renewable funds has compelled the Chinese government to gradually withdraw subsidy policy. As such, investors are focusing on assessing China's future policies for PV application. To determine the reasons for the implementation problems and to seek solutions, this study summarized existing PV power application policies and established a two-dimensional framework to analyze these policies, using a content analysis. We found the government relies too much on the state's macroeconomic control, and does not fully play the role of “invisible hand” in PV power applications. Supply-type and environment-type policies are widely used, making up almost 80% of the total. To fully enable the market's role, it is necessary to reinforce demand-type policies and improve green certification transactions. These are forms of incentive policies instead of subsidies.