Professor Andrew Blakers and Professor Ricardo Rüther (UFSC) have published an article in PV Magazine discussing whether China’s dominance in the solar manufacturing industry is an issue. The following is an excerpt from the article:
Solar panel production cannot become a larger global industry than about $400 billion per year. This is because they are so cheap and long-lasting. For comparison, the global car industry is seven times larger. Striving for some local panel production can be pursued for strategic reasons, but it will not create a large new local industry. Most of the value of the solar industry is in the host country, not in the imported solar panels. Local content includes project engineering, transport, land, fencing, support structures, wiring, power conditioning, maintenance, substations, transmission, energy trading, and in increasing the share of renewables in the national energy mix. Large-scale pumped hydro energy storage does not rely on imported batteries.
The article can be read in PV Magazine.
Above image from Chuttersnap, Unsplash via PV Magazine