Abstract
Sustainable energy programs in developing countries face many challenges. The purpose of this research is to examine why China has been successful as the world’s leader of Solar Water Heater (SWH) production and consumption. The study is based on field work i n China in the past two years in areas where SWHs a re widely used. The results may help provide a better understanding of the main drivers for the rapid gro wth of renewable and sustainable energy and develop associated policies. The research is based on data from current reports on SWH production and consumption in China and field investigations in Chinese cities and rural areas where SWHs are widely used. The findings are limited by the availability of data and the v aried physical and cultural conditions in China. The rese arch finds that several factors may have contribute d to China’s leadership in this area: governmental polic ies, innovations in technology, low costs of labor, low interest rates, government incentives, a large mark et, a new installation, shortage of electricity and social acceptance. China’s SWH production and consumption is mainly due to economic incentives and cultural appeal instead of consumer environmental concerns. The Chinese SWH experience confirms earlier findings that low levels of development should not prevent countries from having effective environment al institutions and policies. In addition to technolog ical innovations, policies for renewable and sustai nable energy need to pay more attention to economic, poli tical and cultural factors.
Highlights
(2013), China leads the world in total renewable power capacity
We find that several factors have contributed to China’s leadership in Solar Water Heater (SWH) production and consumption
China’s Photovoltaic (PV) industry has been expanding quickly partly due to government support (Zhao et al, 2011). This agrees with Urmee and Harries (2009) who found that adequate funding support and the use of appropriate financing mechanisms were considered to be the most critical factors for program success in Asia and the Pacific regions
Summary
(2013), China leads the world in total renewable power capacity. New investments in core clean energy. More than any other country with a rapidly growing economy and high energy in the world, China added 37 GW (gigawatts) of demands. The annual accumulative total capacity of renewable power capacity, for a total of 226 GW, or electric energy is about 0.1 billion kW, about 90% of 11% of the world total. The Chinese consumers we talked to believe that the cost of using SWHs was lower than using electric or gas water heaters. After shutting down all of its worst polluters, including paper-mills and coal and mineral mines, Ninghai County in Zhejiang Province focuses on “green growth” with mostly locally-developed innovations to produce low-cost solar energy products in 18 factories with a production capacity of over 100 megawatts (Ninghai, 2010). Solar water heaters are installed in about 37% of the new houses in rural areas (Liu, 2010b). Ninghai contributes 530 million watts of electricity annually to the regional power grid
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