China's urban market for solar thermal is growing rapidly, driven in part by mandates for solar thermal in cities including Beijing.
China's solar thermal market grew 3.3% to 66 million square meters of collector area installed in 2013, according to preliminary industry data published by Solarthermalworld.
This represents 46.2 Gigawatts-thermal (GWth) of new heating capacity. The China Solar Thermal Industry Federation (CSTIF) estimates that Chinese industry revenues were stable from 2012 at roughly USD 17 billion in 2013, or five times the size of Europe's solar thermal industry.
These sales were almost exclusively into the domestic market, with exports of only USD 300 million, or 1.8% of the total. Exports have risen an estimated 20% from USD 250 million in 2010.
China represents the large majority of the world's solar water heating market and installed capacity, and the nation has now reached an estimated 310 million square meters of collector area. This represents 275 GW-thermal of capacity, more than double the capacity of the world's PV installations.
Industry officials also stress the technological development of the industry. “After several years of development, the domestically produced absorber coating of flat plate collectors has reached the thermal performance of an advanced international level,” stated former CSTIF Chair Zhentao Luo at the organization's annual conference in December 2013.
Evacuated tube designs represent the majority of solar thermal collectors produced and sold in China.
Solarthermalworld notes that while the retail solar water heating business for single-family homes in rural areas has been shrinking in recent years, project business in cooperation with property developers in urban areas is booming, and represents roughly half the total market.
The urban market is partially driven by cities including Beijing requiring solar thermal in new construction. Medium-temperature solar thermal applications in the industrial sector still represent a niche market in China.
More information including a link to CSTIF's annual report (in Chinese) can be found on the Solarthermalworld site.