Oil shipments are down, but one energy export is sitting pretty: Chinese solar panels. Yale Environment 360 reports that as the US-Iran conflict has disrupted oil flows out of the region, buyers have rushed to lock in alternatives—sending China's solar exports to a new high. In March—the war's first full month—55 countries hit records in terms of their Chinese solar panel purchases. African and Asian countries saw the biggest surges in demand, with exports to India, Laos, and Malaysia more than doubling compared to February, and exports to Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria more than tripling.
China shipped out 68 gigawatts' worth of new solar generating capacity via panels and components. Futurism translates: That is twice what China normally exports and about as much capacity as the US expects to add over all of 2026 and 2027. The surge arrives as China's solar industry wrestles with overproduction that has already pushed dozens of firms out of business. Analysts are now watching to see whether war-driven demand can absorb that excess capacity. Futurism sees a political twist: the boom benefits both China and renewable energy—two sectors former President Trump has frequently criticized.

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