Prospects, Politics, and Practices of Solar Energy Innovation in China

• Author: Yu Wang,Frauke Urban,Sam Geall
• DOI: 10.1177/1070496517749877
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Prospects, Politics, and

Practices of Solar Energy

Innovation in China

Frauke Urban

1

, Yu Wang

2

, and Sam Geall

3

Abstract

This article examines the prospects of, and politics and practices around, solar

energy in China. It examines two different solar energy technologies, namely, solar

photovoltaic (PV) and solar water heaters (SWHs), to understand how different

pathways for low-carbon innovation are supported and constrained by (the lack of)

political support at the national and local level, the interactions between state and

nonstate actors, as well as how they relate to changing practices among consumers.

This article also discusses obstacles and trade-offs. We find two very different

approaches to solar energy. The solar PV industry in China is experiencing increased

domestic growth, after many years of being mainly export-oriented. Prices declined

rapidly in recent years, and solar PV also enjoys much political and financial support

from the central government and local governments. However, there are high bureau-

cratic and technical hurdles to get grid connected and access the feed-in-tariff,

particularly for individual users. SWHs on the other side are a ‘‘homegrown’’

Chinese technology that is ubiquitous in China, particularly in rural areas; that is

easy to install and use; and that has developed from the grassroots levels to mass

products with relatively little government support. Although being largely neglected

by high-level discussions and plans, SWHs could contribute much to

low-carbon transitions that are driven at the local level in China.

Keywords

China, solar energy, sustainability, innovation, climate change

Journal of Environment & Development

2018, Vol. 27(1) 74–98

!The Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/1070496517749877

journals.sagepub.com/home/jed

1

SOAS University of London, London, UK

2

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

3

University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

Corresponding Author:

Sam Geall, University of Sussex, Jubilee Building, Brighton BN1 9RH, UK.

Email: s.geall@sussex.ac.uk

China is often considered a leader in the green economy. No other country

invests more in renewable energy than China, including in solar energy. Solar

energy is important as an alternative source of energy, as about 80% of the

global primary energy supply comes from fossil fuels, primarily oil, and coal

(International Energy Agency [IEA], 2017).

Energy use, energy production, and CO

2

emissions have increased rapidly in

China since the beginning of its economic reforms about three decades ago.

Furthermore, although China had low per capita energy use and emissions for

a long time, the country has been catching up in recent years. China’s per capita

CO

2

emissions are comparable today with those of the European Union (IEA,

2017; World Bank, 2017). China is also the world’s largest energy user and

absolute CO

2

emitter (IEA, 2017), and it may lead on cumulative emissions

within 10 to 20 years (Stavins, 2014).

At the same time, China has also become a world leader in renewable energy,

most notably in wind energy, solar energy—both solar photovoltaic (PV) and

solar water heaters (SWHs)—and hydropower. China tops the renewable energy

f‌ield globally in terms of investments, production, and installed capacity (IEA,

2017). China invested nearly US$90 billion in renewable energy in 2012

(Bloomberg News, 2013), and this is estimated to increase to more than

US$360 billion per year by 2020 (Reuters, 2017).

This article examines the prospects of, and the politics and practices around,

the green economy

1

in China, drawing on a case study from solar energy innov-

ation. It examines two dif‌ferent solar energy technologies, namely, solar PV and

SWHs. This article investigates two case studies to understand how dif‌ferent

pathways for low-carbon innovation are supported and constrained by (the

lack of) political support at the national and local level, the interactions between

state and nonstate actors, as well as how they relate to changing practices among

consumers. This article also discusses how these two technologies could contrib-

ute to national climate and energy targets, what obstacles and trade-of‌fs are

occurring, and how they are dealt with. This is in line with the special issue

that addresses transitions to the green economy in the global South.

This article f‌inds two very dif‌ferent approaches to solar energy. The solar PV

industry in China is experiencing an increased domestic growth, after many

years of being mainly export-oriented. Prices declined rapidly in recent years,

and solar PV also enjoys much political and f‌inancial supports from the central

government and local governments. However, there are high bureaucratic and

technical hurdles to get grid connected and access the feed-in-tarif‌f, particularly

for individual users. SWHs on the other side are a ‘‘homegrown’’ Chinese tech-

nology that is ubiquitous in China, particularly in rural areas; that is easy to

install and use; and that has developed from the grassroots levels to mass prod-

ucts with relatively little government support. Although being largely neglected

by high-level discussions and plans, SWHs could contribute much to low-carbon

transitions that are driven at the local level in China.

Urban et al. 75