China becomes first country to hit 3GW milestone

China leapfrogged Germany in June to become the first country in the world to install 3GW of utility-scale solar power, according to the latest data from Wiki-Solar. Figures from online project tracker Wiki-Solar show that global utility solar added 3.75GW in the first half of 2013 alone, with China contributing more than 1GW of that alone. The top 15 nations added 128 new sites but European countries contributed just 14 of those. The slowdown there has been more than offset not just by China, but also the US, which added even more new capacity than China with 1.36GW.

Wiki-Solar founder Philip Wolfe said globally, utility-scale solar had avoided the setbacks created by various trade disputes: “This is partly because of the large pipeline of projects in progress. “The 250MW California Valley Solar Ranch was completed in June, and the 0.5GW Topaz project is now reported to have  connected over 100 MW,” he said adding that he expected the third-ranked US to also overtake the stagnant German market and join China on the other side of the 3GW threshold in Wiki-Solar’s next report.