With north of 28,000 confirmed cases and 565 deaths, the Wuhan-originated deadly coronavirus has been topping the news headlines across the globe. Having deeply affected the Chinese export industry, the killer coronavirus has sparked a multitude of industries to come to a halt including the global solar industry.
Partial lockdowns in megacities like Shanghai & Beijing and border closures affect the global solar sector hard, the researchers said in an analysis on downside risks to solar manufacturing & global growth posed by coronavirus.
“As Chinese solar manufacturing accounts for approximately 70% of the global market share since 2019, the coronavirus scare is prominent” the researchers added.
The top three leading solar manufacturers in the world – Trina Solar, Jinko Solar, and JA Solar also have most of their manufacturing bases located within China. In fact, Trina Solar has to keep its solar manufacturing base in Hubei closed until 14th February due to official provincial announcements.
As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, solar prices are expected to rise with the cost of PV modules increasing. The major reason being the shortage of module glass and wafers needed to create solar systems.
However, according to recent reports, authorities might introduce new policies to help the solar sector recover. Unfortunately, no official statements have been made yet.