chinese solar cell status

8CHINESESOLARCELLSTATUSWANGSICHENGEnergyResearchInstitute,NationalDevelopmentandReformCommission8.1INTRODUCTION(BYTHEEDITOR)Drivenbythepressureofglobalwarming,risingoilprices,andadeterioratingnaturalenvironment,cleanrenewableenergyisreceivinggreaterattentionworld-wide.China’scentralgovernmenthasstateditssupportforthedevelopmentofasustainableenergysystemthatmaximizesenergyefficiencyandtheuseofrenew-ableenergysources.AkeyaspectofthatinitiativeistheapplicationofPVtechnol-ogytoconvertlightintoelectricity.TheChinesePVmanufacturingindustryhasgrowndramaticallyinrecentyearsduetoastrongdemandfromoverseasmarkets.China’sproductionofsolarcellsandmoduleshasgrownatanaverageannualrateof49.5%since2002.By2008,theproductionofsolarcellsreachedover2GW,whichwas33%oftheglobalproduction.Chinanowcontributesalargepartoftheworldwidesolarpro-ductionandisnowthelargestproducerofsolarcellsintheworld.IntelligentandsupportiveChinesecentralgovernmentpolicyhascontributedtothisrapidgrowthintheChinesesolarcellindustry.ThischapterprovidesanoverviewofthecoordinatedeffortsinChinatodevelopastrongdomesticPVindustry.ThischapterwaswrittenbyWangSicheng,whohascontributedtotheforma-tionofChina’sgovernmentpolicy.ItwastranslatedintoEnglishbyHuangHanXinagatJXCrystalsInc.,andeditorialcommentsarebyLewisM.Fraas.8.2CHINA’SSOLARENERGYRESOURCESANDDATA8.2.1SolarIrradiationResourcesinChinaPVpowergenerationlargelydependsonthesolarenergyresourcesofthelocation.Therefore,itisnecessarytoknowthedistributionofthesolarenergyresourcesin171SolarCellsandTheirApplications,SecondEdition,EditedbyLewisFraasandLarryPartainCopyright©2010JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.172CHINESESOLARCELLSTATUSthecountry.Thedistributionofsolarenergyresourceshasregionallimitations,includingrestrictionsbyweatherandgeographicconditions.AsshowninFigure8.1,theterritoryofChinacanbedividedintofoursolarenergyresourceregionsintermsoftheamountofsolarirradiation.AnnualirradiationforthesefoursolarenergyregionsisshowninTable8.1.Solarirradiationdatacanbeacquiredfromcountymeteorologicalstationsorfromthenationalmeteorologybureau.Chinahasmeasuredsolarirradiationsince1953.Atpresent,Chinahas2,610meteorologicalobservatories/stations,comparedIIIIVIIIFigure8.1.GeographicdistributionofthesolarirradiationofChina.Theterritorycanbedividedintofourresourcelevelsshown.TABLE8.1.SolarIrradiationResourcesinChinaonaHorizontalSurfaceLevelofIrradiationRegionNumberAnnualIrradiationMax(MJ/m2)AnnualIrradiationMin(kWh/m2)DailyIrradiationAverage(kWh/m2)VeryhighI≥6300≥1750≥4.8HighII5040–63001400–17503.8–4.8AverageIII3780–50401050–14002.9–3.8LowIV378010502.9PVR&DLEVELANDTECHNOLOGYINNOVATIONSINCHINA173with70intheearly1950s.Ofthese,2,300aremeteorologicalstations(countylevel)and310areobservatories(including122standardobservatories).Before1993,therewere66observatoriesgatheringsolarglobal,scatter,anddirectirradia-tiondata.After1993,only17observatorieskepttheglobalandscatteringdata,whiletheothersstoppedmeasuringscatteringanddirectirradiation.Assumma-rizedinTable8.1,currentlyonlyhorizontalglobalirradiationdatacanbeobtainedfrommostobservatories.8.2.2SolarResourceOverviewandGlobalComparisonInChina,horizontalirradiationdatacanbeobtainedfromlocalmeteorologicalstations.Basedonthesedata,theirradiationonslopesolarmodulescanbecom-puted.Thisirradiationisnormallyabout10–15%higherthanthehorizontalirradia-tion.Theadditionalamountdependsonthesite,latitude,andtheratioofdirectandindirectirradiation.Withthisinput,theoutputpowerofaPVsystemcanbederivedfromtheirradiationontheslopePVarrays.TheappendixattheendofthischapterpresentstablesforthesolarradiationinvariousprovincesinChina.Table8.2presentssolarresourcedataforthreerepresentativelocationsinChinawithcomparisondatafromlocationsintheUnitedStatesandEurope.DataarepresentedformodulesmountedhorizontallyandtiltedtotheSouth.Dataarealsopresentedformodulesmountedon1-axissolartrackers.Notethatthesolarresourceisalwayshigherwithtrackingregardlessoflocation,asdiscussedinChapter9inthisbook.TheeasterncoastalregionofChina,whichisdepictedinFigure8.1,hasaveragesolarirradiancelevels(III).ShanghaiisrepresentativeofthisregioninTable8.2.WhiletheirradianceinShanghaiislowerthanmostoftheUnitedStates,includingBoston,itiswellabovetheirradiancelevelsinallofGermany.Incon-trast,thewesternregionofChina,asrepresentedbyBeijing(II),hashigherirradi-ancelevels.AsTable8.2indicates,theirradiancelevelinBeijingissimilartothatofMadrid,Spain,andMedford,Oregon,intheUnitedStates,althoughitisnotashighasthesouthwesternUnitedStates.Chinaalsohasareaswherethesolarresourceiswellaboveaverage.Forexample,inTibet(I)theresourceishigherthanPhoenix,Arizona,whichislocatedinthesouthwesterndesertregionoftheUnitedStates.ThishighersolarirradianceinwesternChina,togetherwithChina’sgoalofpromotingeconomicdevelopmentinwesternChina,motivatesthedevelop-mentofsolarenergy.8.3PVR&DLEVELANDTECHNOLOGYINNOVATIONSINCHINA8.3.1SolarCellR&DLevelintheWorldAtpresent,themajorrestrictivefactorfordevelopingaPVpowersystemisthehighcost.Solarcellsaccountsforover60%ofthecostofaPVpowersystem.174CHINESESOLARCE