SerpApi.Org
By Colleen Howe
BEIJING, July 22 (Reuters) - China's new solar installations dropped 66% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, as the world's largest solar market cooled following a rush to connect projects before pricing reforms took effect last year, according to a China Photovoltaic Industry Association analysis of official figures on Wednesday.
The country added 72.07 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in the January-June period, down from 212.21 GW in the same period of 2025. In June alone, installations fell 13.1% year-on-year to 12.48 GW.
The decline reflects the unwinding of an installation rush in early 2025, when developers hurried to commission projects before a June 1 deadline that shifted new wind and solar projects from fixed feed-in tariffs to market-based pricing.
May 2025 alone saw nearly 93 GW installed, more than four times the level of a year earlier, which inflated the 2025 comparison base. June 2025 saw a sharp drop-off from May, after the pricing change went into effect, but installations were still stronger than June 2026.
The figures put China on track to miss forecasts by the industry association in February, when it said full-year 2026 installations would be in the range of 180 GW to 240 GW, a decline of 24% to 43% from the record 315 GW added in 2025 and the first annual contraction since 2019.
(Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
