China’s solar industry appears to be one of the few bright spots on a darkening horizon for exports from the world’s No 2 economy, as fears grow of a global recession.
Chinese solar battery exports – which are divided into photovoltaic cells and modules – to the European Union (EU) surged 138 per cent in the first eight months of the year, compared with the same period in 2021, according to South China Morning Post calculations based on China’s customs data.
Total solar battery exports rose 91.2 per cent over the same period.
Demand is growing for Chinese solar exports in Europe as businesses and families flock to install rooftop solar panels amid soaring energy prices triggered by fallout from the Ukraine war.
Europe is pushing to end reliance on fossil fuels from Russia, which has cut natural gas supplies to the continent in response to sanctions, roiling global energy markets in the process.
Qin Yan, a Norway-based energy analyst with financial services company Refinitiv, said she had observed strong interest for new installations of rooftop solar, including among her friends, as energy prices spiked.
“As an energy professional myself, I watch electricity prices on the screen everyday and have done the cost-benefit analysis of installing rooftop solar on my own house,” Qin said.
“The payback time has halved to seven years even with the power tariff subsidies from the Norwegian government.
“I ordered in May, but the solar panel suppliers said they are waiting for the materials from China and are waiting for skilled workers too.”
In the first eight months of the year, China’s solar battery exports to Norway jumped 79.3 per cent compared to the same period last year, the Post’s calculations showed.
Chinese solar suppliers are having trouble keeping up with demand, said Xu Fei, managing director at Inno Investment Bank, which has an extensive portfolio in the solar industry.
“Last year, people predicted that the polysilicon price would come down this July-August, with demand gradually being released, but the prices of the material are still robust. This indicates unwavering demand downstream in the supply chain.”