Are photovoltaics the new driving force for development?

As resource shortages and environmental problems keep coming up, economies urgently need renewable energies as the new driving force for development. As one of the representatives of renewable energy, the photovoltaic (PV)’s trade has received much attention from all walks of life.

Why is photovoltaic energy important?

As an indispensable and typical component of renewable energy, photovoltaic (PV) has received wide attention since it can promote the extensive utilization of solar energy with lower costs and easier installations, reduce carbon emissions (Liu et al. 2019), and boost economic growth (Hajdukiewicz and Pera 2020).

What is the upstream and downstream of PV?

According to the division of the PV industry, the upstream is composed of crystalline silicon raw materials and the preparation of silicon rods and silicon wafers. The midstream is the manufacturing of cell sheets and cell modules, and the downstream is mainly related to the application of PV products, such as PV power stations and distributed PV.

Why is active participation important in PV trade?

Their active participation not only saves costs and improves efficiency in expanding the PV trade networks, but also effectively stabilizes global PV trade patterns and promotes the development of renewable energy.

Does solar PV have a trade pattern in East Asia?

Yang et al. (2017) displayed changes in solar PV’s core-periphery hierarchical trade patterns in East Asia. Based on previous results, Guan et al. (2020) proposed functional trade patterns, the optimal trade patterns measured and determined by network motifs, to estimate the potential PV trade flows effectively.

How much is the PV industry worth?

According to the BACI-CEPII Database, the global PV industry’s total trade value grew steadily between 1996 and 2019 and reached $18.4 billion in 2019, with an average annual growth rate of 7%.