China becomes first country to reach 3 GW solar energy record

Milestone represents a major achievement for China.

Analysts said China’s becoming the first country to reach the 3 GW utility-scale solar energy milestone indicates it has established a strong support structure for solar energy. The milestone is a major achievement for China and the country’s aggressive promotion of solar energy.

Developing utility-scale clean energy is a mammoth task considering the cost of clean technologies and updates that must be made to existing energy infrastructures. China accounted for the majority of the world’s new solar capacity installed in the first half of 2013

During this period, 3.75 GW of utility-scale solar energy capacity came online throughout the world. China accounted for 26% of this capacity.

Strong growth in China’s capacity is due largely to support the government has provided domestic energy developers and manufacturers of photovoltaic panels. This support primarily comes in the form of funding, which is used to develop the technologies needed to harness the power of the sun.