The International Energy Agency (IEA) is urging the development of more diverse solar PV supply chains, suggesting the sector’s heavy reliance on China has led to imbalances that pose risks to its future growth.

A dedicated study of the world’s solar PV supply chain issued by the Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization on July 7 acknowledges that government policies in China have contributed to a cost decline for solar PV of more than 80% through economies of scale and continuous innovation. But because global manufacturing capacity for solar panels has increasingly moved out of Europe, Japan, and the U.S. and into China over the past decade, China’s share in all key solar panel manufacturing stages now exceeds 80%. For key elements, including polysilicon and wafers, China’s share “is set to rise to more than 95% in the coming years, based on current manufacturing capacity under construction,” the agency said. 

However, this concentration of PV supply chains poses specific vulnerability and risks to the industry that the world is banking on to achieve substantial decarbonization, it said.…

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