Global solar photovoltaic industry: an overview and national competitiveness of Taiwan

Global Solar Photovoltaic (PV) industry is fast evolving and is heavily affected by the government policies. In this study, it has been attempted to present a detailed comparison of the solar PV industry of five countries (i.e., Taiwan,(1) China, Japan, Germany and USA) in terms of policy, industry and supply chain analyses. Based on a rich description and mapping of PV supply chain, it's found that China is the biggest producer and consumer of PV products and Taiwan is only strong in solar cell production. The double anti duties make Taiwan overly reliant on China and Taiwan gradually loses its competitive advantage even in cell production. The success of China is explained adopting Porter's national competitiveness perspective based on the supply chain analysis. Finally, some recommendations are provided to improve national competitiveness for Taiwanese solar photovoltaic industry. This paper contributes to the clean production literature by providing a comprehensive mapping of PV industry supply chain, comparing the industry of five countries and making tailored policy recommendations to Taiwan. Crown Copyright (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.