China's PV New Deal Will Cut 40% of Subsidies

The Ministry of Finance, Housing, and Urban-Rural Development Department recently issued a circular requesting the application of solar photovoltaic building applications in 2011. According to the new regulations, the PV project subsidy rate is 40% lower than in 2009.

The joint notice of the two ministries and commissions indicated that the demonstration application of this solar photovoltaic building application project should not exceed 10 MW in principle for the total installed capacity of each province. For key equipment such as crystalline silicon modules, grid-connected inverters, and energy-storage lead-acid batteries used in the demonstration projects, 50% of the supply price of the bid-winning agreement will be subsidized; other costs such as the installation of the PV demonstration project will be taken. Fixed subsidies, tentatively set at 6 yuan/watt. .

According to the “First Financial Daily” report, in 2009, the subsidy standard was capped at RMB 20/watt; in 2010, it was RMB 17/watt. At present, the 156-square-mm PV module is priced at approximately RMB 12/watt. Based on this calculation, the current subsidy for photovoltaic projects is RMB 12/watt, which is 40% lower than two years ago.

Due to the continuous decline in the cost of photovoltaic products in the past two years, countries have reduced subsidies for photovoltaic projects. In November 2010, the Ministry of Finance cancelled a total of 54 megawatts of project subsidies. Prior to this, the German government has determined the mid-2011 subsidy program for subsidized solar power prices. From July 1, 2011, the subsidy will be cut between 3% and 15%. The Czech government will impose a 26% "solar tax" on the revenue from the sale of electricity from photovoltaic power plants, and retroactively levy taxes that have been previously removed.