Photos: The Scale of China’s Solar Power Projects

An aerial view of solar panels covering several hillsides. Greg Baker / AFP / GettySolar panels cover hillsides in Zhangjiakou, in China’s northern Hebei Province, on November 15, 2021. A crane on a floating barge positions a large solar panel for installation. AFP / GettyRows of solar panels during installation at a photovoltaic project in Qingdao, in eastern China’s Shandong Province, on May 30, 2025. An aerial view of a solar thermal plant—a tall cylindrical column being illuminated by sunlight reflected from a huge array of large mirrors arranged in concentric circles around its base Ma Mingyan / China News Service / VCG / GettyAn aerial view of the CGN Delingha Solar Thermal Plant’s Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage System, a 50-megawatt energy-storage project in Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China, on April 15, 2025. An aerial view, looking directly down on dozens of bulldozers plowing parallel tracks through a desert landscape. VCG / GettyAn aerial view looks directly down on dozens of bulldozers being used together to level the ground at the construction site of a wind-and-solar power base in the Kubuqi Desert, in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, on May 16, 2024. Many solar panels stretch across a desert, with dunes visible beyond. Liu Guoxing / VCG via Getty / VCGSolar panels stretch across the Gobi Desert at the Dalat Photovoltaic Power Generation, a 500-megawatt solar-power project, on December 9, 2024, in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China. Two workers walk on a path among grids of many solar panels. Costfoto / NurPhoto / GettyWorkers carry out a photovoltaic-module inspection in Yinchuan, China, on June 21, 2024. An aerial view of many solar panels artfully placed on the roof of a new train station. Zuo Dongchen / VCG / GettyAn aerial view of the 7,540 photovoltaic modules arranged on the roof of Hangzhou West Railway Station, on August 6, 2024, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Photovoltaic panels cover the roofs of many houses in a residential development. CFoto / Future Publishing / GettyPhotovoltaic panels cover the roofs of houses in Yuanlong Village, in Yinchuan City, China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on January 15, 2025. Floating solar panels sit in several grids on the surface of a reservoir. Yuan Hongyan / VCG / GettySolar panels float on the surface of a reservoir in Majiatan, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on May 6, 2024. Workers tend to herbs grown beneath solar panels. CFoto / Future Publishing / GettyWorkers tend to herbs grown beneath solar panels in a photovoltaic plantation in Lihua, Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China, on July 21, 2024. Cattle are kept in many pens beneath solar panel arrays. VCG / GettyCattle are kept in pens beneath solar-panel arrays at an agrivoltaic farm in Mengcheng County, Bozhou, Anhui Province, China, on December 23, 2023. Several drones are used to lift and place solar panels along steep hillsides. Yang Meiqing / VCG / GettyDrones lift and place solar panels along steep hillsides during the construction of an agrivoltaic farm in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China, on December 19, 2024. Several employees work on solar panels on a production line at a workshop. Wang Li / VCG / GettyEmployees work on solar panels on a production line at a workshop in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, on March 22, 2025. An aerial view of pentagon-shaped mirror panels arranged in a semi-circular pattern ina desert. Zhang Zhongping / VCG / GettyAn aerial view of the construction site of a 1-million-kilowatt solar-thermal energy-generation and storage project in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China, on May 25, 2025. An aerial view of rows of solar panels in an installation above a lake Xiao Benxiang / VCG / GettySolar panels stand in an installation beside a lake at a hybrid fishery and solar-photovoltaic-power station in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China, on December 15, 2024. An aerial view—solar panel grids in a desert, stretching to the horizon CFoto / Future Publishing / GettyAn overview of part of the site of a 450,000-kilowatt integrated solar, thermal, and storage project in the Gobi Desert in Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, on July 8, 2025. Three workers carry solar panels in a desert construction site. AFP / GettyWorkers carry solar panels to be installed in the desert at the Ningguoyun Lingwu 1-million-kilowatt photovoltaic project in Lingwu, in China’s northern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on April 14, 2025. An aerial view of residential buildings with roof-mounted solar panels AFP / GettyAn aerial view shows residential buildings with roof-mounted photovoltaic-solar panels in Yinchuan, in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on March 31, 2024. Large grids of solar panels float in a lake. Wan Sc / Feature China / Future Publishing / GettyFloating solar panels stretch across an aquatic farm built on land that subsided after extensive coal mining, in Suixi County, Anhui Province, China, on April 28, 2025. A herd of deer cross a canal near rows of solar panels. AFP / GettyThis photo, taken on April 5, 2025, shows a herd of Père David’s deer crossing a river past solar panels in a nature reserve in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, China. Many solar panels reflect sunlight, visible as rays in the sky above them. Qilai Shen / Bloomberg / GettySolar panels reflect sunlight at a power station at the Dunhuang Photovoltaic Industrial Park, in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China, on October 16, 2024. China is set to see another year of record solar installation as the nation pushes for a massive renewable buildout, mainly in its interior. Vast grids of solar panels, backdropped by snow-covered mountains. Feng Yang / Xinhua / GettyAn aerial photo, taken on January 6, 2025, shows a partial view of the Shichengzi photovoltaic-power station in Hami, in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.