Golden Sun Programme

The 2009 Golden Sun programme provides subsidies to grid connected and off-grid solar PV power generation projects and calls for 500 MW of installed PV capacity by 2012 China-wide.

Subsidy schemes have been designed both at the national and provincial levels and apply to 2011. At the national level, developers of off-grid PV systems are eligible for a subsidy covering 70% of the installation cost.

Grid-connected projects of a 300 kW minimum peak capacity are eligible for a subsidy covering 50% of the cost of installation, transmission and distribution of generated electricity.

The subsidy is applicable to a maximum installed capacity of 20MW in each given Province.

Developers must make sure that the solar plant components -panels, batteries, invertors- are certified by authorized institutions and that the whole PV system meets the requirements issued by the National Grid Company to benefit from such financial support. At the provincial level, the programme expects each Province to set up preferential tariffs for PV generated electricity individually.

To date, Zheijiang and Jiangsu are the only two provinces doted with a tariff policy. Moreover, the Golden Sun project reforms the solar electricity market structure. Access to state-owned concessions is now submitted to a competitive bidding process in which the best offer determines the approved price levels.

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