China Dominating Solar Energy Market
![](https://preprod.bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/origin-241.jpg?w=480&h=270&crop=1)
What’s the Latest Development?
The solar manufacturing sector has gone from being led by a geographically disperse group of companies to one dominated by the Chinese. Thanks to huge loans from the Chinese Development Bank, Chinese solar companies are pushing American solar firms out of the market. “The Chinese strategy is very clear. They are engaging in predatory financing and they’re trying to drive everybody else out of the market.”
What’s the Big Idea?
This has enabled China’s solar producers to grow to gigawatt scale in a very short period of time, turning the country into a leading exporter of solar and pushing down prices dramatically. From a project development perspective, the steep price drops are a very good thing. But manufacturers trying to make product outside of China and other Asian countries are getting hit hard.