China expects solar energy boom

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BEIJING, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- An official with China's renewable energy industry said the country may have as much as 40 gigawatts of installed solar power by 2015.

The official Xinhua news agency reports the country had expected to expand its installed solar power generation capacity from 3.6 million kilowatts in 2011 to 21 million kw, or 21 GW, by 2015. Meng Xiangen, deputy chairman of the Chinese Renewable Energy Society, said that level could be closer to 40 GW, though there were no concrete figures, the report added.

Chinese company Yingli Green Energy Holding announced this week that it secured a deal to supply 25 megawatts worth of photovoltaic modules for a solar farm in the United States.

Chinese solar products are the subject of Western anti-dumping investigations. The European Commission recently launched a 15-month investigation to determine the extent of alleged dumping of Chinese solar energy goods into European markets.

China exported around $26 billion worth of solar power components to the eurozone last year. Chinese-manufactured solar products account for 65 percent of the global market and dominate Europe in terms of exports.