With Cheap Chinese Solar, Developing Countries Leapfrog U.S. on Clean Energy

Chinese solar and wind manufacturers are not only driving a massive buildout of renewable energy in China but also propelling a rapid shift away from fossil fuels in much of the developing world, according to a new analysis.

China manufactures 60 percent of the wind turbines and 80 percent of the solar panels installed globally. As Chinese wind and solar factories scale up production, they are driving down prices for everyone.

When accounting for the cost of fuel, 91 percent of new solar and wind plants are cheaper than the cheapest available form of fossil fuel power, according to the new analysis, from energy think tank Ember. The result is that many emerging markets are now outpacing the U.S. in the shift to renewable energy, including Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Morocco, Kenya, and Namibia. Some 63 percent of emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are drawing a greater share of their power from solar than the U.S. is.

In some places, a small solar kit is far cheaper than a diesel generator, spurring families to buy solar panels for their own use. Since 2018, Kenya, Yemen, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania have imported an amount of Chinese solar equal to roughly half the capacity of their entire power grid. Namibia, Senegal, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, meanwhile, have each imported more than their entire grid capacity. “In other words,” analysts write, “new energy is achieving in years what took old energy decades.”

China is not just outpacing the U.S. in manufacturing and installations. It has also emerged as the leading innovator for clean energy. Recent inventions include EVs that can charge in 10 minutes, batteries light enough to power short-haul aircraft, and wind turbines the size of the Eiffel Tower.

While the number of clean energy patents is declining in the U.S. and Europe, in China they are growing by leaps and bounds. In 2022, Chinese inventors filed three times as many energy patents as the rest of the world combined. On renewable energy, analysts say, China has become the world’s laboratory as well as its factory.

In the Transition to Renewable Energy, China Is at a Crossroads