How much solar power will China have in 2050?

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. China is expected to have a total installed photovoltaic capacity of 1300 GW in 2050, accounting for 39% of the national electricity consumption. However, air pollutants consisting of gases and particulates have attenuation effects on the solar radiation reaching the photovoltaic panels.

How big is China's solar & wind power capacity?

Wind and solar now account for 37% of the total power capacity in the country, an 8% increase from 2022, and widely expected to surpass coal capacity, which is 39% of the total right now, in 2024. Cumulative annual utility-scale solar & wind power capacity in China, in gigawatts (GW)

Could solar power improve air quality in China?

If China were to enact regulations to improve air quality to natural background levels, similar to those in Tibet, the resulting improvement in solar-power output could allow carbon-neutrality targets to be met earlier while also benefiting human respiratory health.

How much solar power does China use a year?

As illustrated in Figure 1, the average annual potential of solar-power generation in China, evaluated with global horizontal irradiance (GHI) data from the MERRA-2 database, reached 96.0 PWh, equal to 13.3 times the nation’s total electricity usage in 2019.

Does air-pollution control increase solar power performance in China?

Overall, although affected by complex and potent effects of meteorological factors, successful air-pollution control has increased solar-power performance in China.

Does air pollution affect solar energy potential in China?

We find that air pollution accumulation since 1960 in China has decreased solar energy potential by up to 13%, corresponding to a loss of 14 TWh of electricity in 2016.