As the UK accelerates its solar rollout in the race to net zero, questions are growing over the implications of its reliance on China, the world’s largest solar panel producer.
The British government has made solar energy a key part of its plan to reach net zero by 2050.
Last week, Labour rolled out a £200 million scheme to install rooftop solar panels on 200 NHS sites and 200 schools in England. The initiative is the first major project for Labour’s new publicly-owned energy company, Great British Energy.
The government said the scheme could save public services up to £400 million over 30 years, by cutting energy bills and potentially selling surplus electricity back to the grid.
But critics say solar plans overlook where the panels will come from.
Solar Production
With no significant UK-based solar manufacturing, the equipment will likely be imported—most of it from China, which has been criticised for the use of forced labour and reliance on coal for production.
Solar panels, or photovoltaic (PV) systems, convert sunlight into electricity.
They are typically installed on rooftops or across fields in large-scale solar farms. While they produce no emissions during use, manufacturing them is energy-intensive and heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 80 percent of the energy used in solar PV manufacturing is consumed during the production of silicon-based components, such as polysilicon, ingots, and wafers, a process that requires extremely high heat.
A 2022 IEA report found that more than 60 percent of the electricity powering global solar panel production came from coal, significantly above coal’s share in general power generation.
This is mainly because most manufacturing takes place in China, particularly in the provinces of Xinjiang and Jiangsu, where coal dominates local energy supply.
Much of the polysilicon used globally comes from Xinjiang, a region where the Chinese regime has been accused of using forced labour among the Uyghur Muslim minority.
A Parliament debate last April saw Conservative MP Alicia Kearns warn that the UK’s green transition cannot come “off the back” of forced labour.
In December, crossbench peer Lord David Alton of Liverpool said that in order to remove unethical products from the green energy supply chain, the UK should ban imports of silica-based products from Xinjiang.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband during a visit to the Siemens Energy turbine factory to launch the clean power 2030 action plan in Hull, England, on Dec. 13, 2024. Danny Lawson/PA Wire
The China Connection
In Rutland, Kearns has led a campaign against the Mallard Pass Solar Project, a proposed 2,175-acre solar farm on the Lincolnshire–Rutland border. The project was backed by Canadian Solar, a global renewable energy company that conducts its manufacturing operations in China.
“As of December 2022, 86 percent of its [Canadian Solar’s] annual solar module manufacturing capacity was in China,” Kearns told MPs, urging the government to end the dependency on China for clean energy.
Despite pushback, the development was approved last year by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
“This government is determined to give families and businesses energy security by getting off the rollercoaster of unstable international gas markets that led to increased bills. The only way to do this is to back cheap, homegrown energy which boosts our economy and supports us in lowering bills for good,” said Miliband in September 2024.
Domestic Solar
At present, the UK has little choice but to rely on imports. Building a domestic solar manufacturing industry would require significant government intervention.
As of 2022, China is the largest producer of solar powered electricity generation in the world. The United States comes in second, followed by Japan, Germany, and India.
In 2023, the UK’s global share in total installed solar power was 1.1 percent, with China dominating at 43 percent.
From 2023 to 2026, China is projected to control 80 percent of the global production capacity for key solar components, including polysilicon, ingots, and wafers. This is partly owing to China’s cheaper manufacturing costs compared to global rivals, including Europe and the United States.
Analysis suggests that China’s capacity to produce and supply solar modules will be sufficient to meet all annual global demand by 2032.
According to the IEA, producing a panel in the United States costs three times more than in China, while Indian-made panels are about twice as expensive.
Nonetheless, countries like the United States and India are moving to onshore more of their supply chains. The UK, where more than 1.4 million homes now have solar panels, has yet to make a similar commitment.
The IEA urged governments to weigh the benefits of local manufacturing—including jobs and energy security—against the higher expense.
Engineers from Associated Clean Technologies work to attach solar panels to the roof of York Minster in England on Oct. 31, 2024. Ian Forsyth/Getty Images
Energy Benefits or Energy Illusions?
Solar panels are often labelled “clean,” with National Grid suggesting that the carbon payback period for solar panels is on average one to four years, while the panels last for over 25 years.
“This means that over a solar panel’s lifetime – typically 30 years – it will generate zero-carbon and zero-pollution electricity for decades after any carbon emitted during its production has been paid back,” the National Grid said.
However, according to a recent report on solar and wind supply chains by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the carbon footprint of solar panel production has been systematically underestimated, in part owing to the concentration of manufacturing in regions with high coal usage.
The report also warned of supply-demand imbalances, with global manufacturing capacity exceeding demand by 100 percent in some segments, leading to price crashes, market instability, and huge financial losses among manufacturers.
Solar panels don’t need direct sunlight to harness energy from sun, they just require some level of daylight in order to generate electricity. That said, the rate at which solar panels generate electricity varies depending on the amount of direct sunlight and the quality, size, number, and location of panels in use.
Without sufficient battery storage or grid upgrades, excess electricity often goes unused, which is a problem known as curtailment.
The IEA has reported that curtailment levels are reaching 10 percent in several countries, and the UK is likely to face the same issues without rapid investment in infrastructure.
