According to data collected by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its OECD MAGIC Database of Industrial Subsidies, China has subsidized its solar power-related manufacturing industries by $17.4 billion from 2010 through 2024.
In contrast to China’s huge investment, OECD countries — 38 member states primarily located in Europe and the Americas, including the U.S. — have subsidized their manufacturers by just $3.9 billion over the same period.
During this window, the price of electricity generated by solar panels has fallen from nearly $0.40/kWh to under $0.04/kWh – a drop of more than 90%.
As of May, during ongoing Middle Eastern fighting, Europe had saved $11.6 billion in energy costs due to solar.
During the 15 years in question, China’s share of the total was 81%. In 2024, the gap narrowed sharply, with China falling to 62%, and the OECD share increasing to 38%. For all of 2024, China supported over 500 gigawatts of output and a terawatt of capacity, versus the rest of the world’s roughly 60 gigawatts.
Over the full 15-year period, of the $3.9 billion given by OECD countries, 54% was delivered in the last two years. Most of it was in the U.S. via the 45X manufacturing tax credit tool created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The report noted the accuracy of the U.S. data was aided by tax filing requirements.
In 2025 alone, it is estimated that the world deployed nearly $500 billion of solar power, with the U.S. and Europe alone deploying nearly $150 billion worth.
The most common Chinese incentives were noted as being below-market loans and direct grants to firms. Recently, the nation ended an export tax credit, which led to a significant export sprint.
Subsidies received by the 15 industrial sectors covered by the report totalled $108 billion in 2024. Solar was the most subsidized industry with its $21 billion representing almost a fifth of the total value over the 2010 to 2024 period.
By correlating BloombergNEF installation volume data and OECD industrial incentive volumes, the chart above shows that the global solar subsidy intensity has fallen by just over 88%.
In 2010, the subsidy was $0.048/W in support of deploying 18.3 GW of capacity. In 2024, while the total amount of subsidy did increase by almost 400%, the volume of solar modules deployed by more than 3200% – pushing the subsidy down further to $0.0057/W.
One can see very clearly that this is not a ‘subsidy’, but an investment – and a very good one at that.
In the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA’s) Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual review, it is suggested solar employment has increased from almost 1.4 million people in 2012 – to greater than 7 million in 2024. During that period, the amount of subsidy per job ranged from as low as $190 up to $599 in recent years.
All of this is prior to any consideration of Americans dying due to coal and gas air pollution due directly to solar panel bans, climbing to millions globally. It also does not take into account the most pressing challenge of our species: managing a warming climate that threatens to do more harm than most can conceive.
Comments
Please login to comment
Thursday, July 9, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, June 18, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, June 11, 2026
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Monday, June 1, 2026
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Madrid, Paris
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
6 am – 7:00 am CEST, Berlin
Friday, June 12, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
The new pv magazine Global May issue is now available!
Mountains to climb
Available in print and digital formats.
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
You have no items in your basket.
