China kinks the solar growth curve

Subsidy-free solar is likely to become the norm not only in the world's largest solar market but in many other countries around the world

A big kink appeared on June 1, 2018, in the chart for growth in the global solar market. That was the day when China said it was restricting new solar installations that would require subsidy support, and lowered incentive payments for most other solar power generation projects. China is the world’s largest developer of solar plants, and a severe contraction in the market there would ripple across the world, and in India. The key changes are:

China solar build slows: There will be about 20 gigawatt (gw) less solar built this year in China than what was projected at the beginning