---
title: "China Just Exceeded its 2020 Target for Solar Installations"
description: "China has already reached its solar energy installation target for 2020, reaffirming its position as the largest producer of solar power on earth."
date: "2017-08-23"
modified: "2017-08-23"
authors:
  - name: "Brad Jones"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/bradj"
url: "https://futurism.com/china-just-exceeded-its-2020-target-for-solar-installations"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Solar Power"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "environment"
  - "renewable energy"
  - "solar energy"
---

# China Just Exceeded its 2020 Target for Solar Installations

![china solar energy renewable energy environment](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GettyImages-528820742.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="http://www.gettyimages.ca/license/528820742" target="\_blank"\>Ryan Pyle/Getty Images\</a\>\</em\>*

China managed to add [10.52 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity](<https://cleantechnica.com/2017/08/22/china-continues-massive-solar-installations-10-52-gw-july-already-exceeds-2020-target/>) to its national total over the course of July 2017, in addition to the 24.4 GW of capacity that was installed over the first six months of the year. The country is already the [biggest producer of solar energy](<https://futurism.com/china-is-now-the-biggest-producer-of-solar-energy-in-the-world>) in the world, and that doesn't seem likely to change any time soon.

In the last two months alone, China has added 24.02 GW of solar capacity. To put that into context, [figures from earlier this year](<http://reneweconomy.com.au/australian-solar-capacity-now-6gw-to-double-again-by-2020-2020/>) put Australia's total capacity at around 6GW, a figure that's projected to double by 2020. The US currently has a [total capacity of 44.7 GW](<http://www.seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight>).

Meanwhile, China has already cleared its goal of reaching a capacity of 105 GW by the end of 2020. The country has now attained 112.34 GW, and as such has tweaked its forecast for 2017, now predicting that this year's installations will total between 40 and 45 GW when all is said and done.

The use of fossil fuels is bad for the environment and [downright deadly for human beings](<https://futurism.com/coal-power-is-taking-the-lives-of-52000-americans-every-year-according-to-study>). Fortunately, things are changing [all over the world](<https://futurism.com/the-world-doubled-its-solar-power-capacity-in-2016>), thanks to the fact that solar energy is getting cheaper and more efficient all the time.