September 1, 2026 (InvestinChina.asia) — China’s installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity has surpassed coal-fired power for the first time, making solar photovoltaics the country’s largest power source by installed capacity, the National Energy Administration (NEA) announced on Tuesday.
As of the end of July, China’s cumulative PV capacity reached 1.286 billion kilowatts (1,286 GW), narrowly exceeding coal-fired capacity of 1.285 billion kilowatts (1,285 GW). PV now accounts for more than 30% of the nation’s total installed power generation capacity, breaking a century-old pattern in which coal power served as the dominant source since the birth of China’s electric power industry.
“This marks a milestone in China’s green and low-carbon energy transition,” said Liu Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Planning and Development Department at the China Electricity Council (CEC). “The country’s new power system, with new energy as the mainstay, is taking shape at an accelerated pace.”
A Distributed-Plus-Centralized Surge
The 1.286 billion kW of PV capacity comprises 704 GW of centralized solar farms and 582 GW of distributed installations. In July alone, new PV additions hit 13.73 GW, surging 43% year-on-year. Over the first seven months of 2026, cumulative new PV installations reached 85.65 GW, representing more than 40% of all new power capacity added nationwide during the period.
The year-on-year dip of 62% in January–July new PV capacity was largely attributed to a high base effect, as developers rushed to install panels in early 2025 ahead of policy changes.
PV generation totaled 802.4 billion kWh in the first seven months, up 15.5% year-on-year and outpacing total electricity consumption growth by 10.8 percentage points. Solar now supplies more than one in every eight kilowatt-hours consumed across the country, with its share of total electricity use rising to 13%.
Global Leadership in Scale and Supply Chain
China’s 1.286 billion kW of PV capacity stands at the top among all individual nations — far exceeding the totals of the United States, India, and Germany, and higher than the combined PV capacity of all European Union member states. The country has built a complete PV industrial chain spanning R&D, design, and integrated manufacturing.
Technological advances, including repeated breakthroughs in PV conversion efficiency, have driven continuous upgrades and sharp cost reductions. China now supplies over 80% of the world’s PV modules and 70% of global wind power equipment, supporting the green transition in many countries and contributing to the stability of global energy markets and supply chains amid uncertainties in global energy and critical raw material supplies.
Coal’s Role Is Not Over — It’s Changing
NEA officials and industry experts were careful to stress that installed capacity does not equate to actual power generation. Driven by day-night cycles and weather conditions, PV power is highly intermittent and volatile, with utilization hours far lower than those of coal-fired plants.
In the first half of 2026, coal-fired generation’s share of total electricity output fell below 50% for the first time in history. Yet in the short term, coal will remain a primary supporting source, providing flexible regulation and a backstop for power system security.
“Coal power is accelerating its shift from a basic guaranteed power source to a supportive and regulatory one,” said Hao Yingjie, Secretary-General of the CEC. “It is no longer pursuing continued growth in generation volume, but instead focusing on flexible regulation and bottom-line security roles.”
Building the New Power System
The historic crossover comes as China rolls out a series of energy plans for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), which set specific measures to better integrate renewable energy into the power system. The country aims to achieve around 6 trillion kWh in annual renewable power generation by 2030, with wind and PV generation expected to exceed 4 trillion kWh.
“The continuous expansion of PV scale reduces the carbon intensity of the power sector and expands green power supply capabilities,” Hao added. “It provides clean electricity support for the electrification upgrade of industries and transportation, laying a solid foundation for meeting the 2030 wind and solar targets and advancing carbon reduction in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.”