In 2014, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in the Chinese mainland was 28.05 million kw. The cumulative generation capacity was 25 billion kwh. Among them, the photovoltaic power station is 23.38 million kilowatts. The distributed types are 4.67 million kilowatts. The newly installed capacity is 10.6 million kilowatts, accounting for about one-fifth of the newly installed capacity in the world. It realized the average annual increase of 10 million kilowatts target put forward in the "Several Opinions of The State Council on Promoting the Healthy Development of the photovoltaic Industry".

Central and eastern China's newly installed capacity reached 5.6 million kW, accounting for 53 percent of the country's total capacity. Jiangsu Province increased by 1.52 million kw, which is second only to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Hebei Province added 970,000 kw, ranking first in China. Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia are all larger among the western provinces.

The new grid-connected power stations are mainly driven by large photovoltaic power stations. In the future, with the continuous innovation of photovoltaic power generation application mode, the distributed scale is expected to grow steadily. According to the planning of the National Energy Administration, the new grid size of the 2015 annual national PV annual plan is 15 GW, among which the centralized power station is 8 GW, and the distributed power station is 7 GW, (the roof power station is not less than 3.15 GW.). Under the premise of not abandoning light, especially in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Tibetan areas, there is no cap on the scale.

1. China has a large population but scarce land, so the development of floating photovoltaic plants can save land utility. One of the disadvantages of photovoltaic power stations is their energy dispersion and large footprint. Photovoltaic power stations occupy a permanent land area. The large ground photovoltaic power stations need to occupy a large land area. According to the book "Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation System Construction Design and Maintenance", the photovoltaic power generation system occupies 100 square meters per 10 kilowatts in theory, which is equivalent to 10 square meters per unit kilowatt.

However, in order to reduce the shadow effect and reduce the loss of power generation, it needs to be a certain distance between the panels, which further increases the floor area. The average kilowatt area of the whole photovoltaic plant is 20-30 square meters.

2. The evaporation in northern China is greater than the rainfall, and the development of floating photovoltaic systems can reduce the evaporation. In recent 40 years, precipitation and evaporation in arid and semi-arid areas in China are decreasing, but the decreasing speed of precipitation is greater than the evaporation. The imbalance of water revenue and expenditure causes the desiccant degree of a climate increasingly. Floating photovoltaic power stations can reduce water evaporation because they cover a large amount of water surface.

3. With a coastline of 32,000 kilometers, China has a great topographic advantage for the development of floating photovoltaic plants. China has nearly 3 million square kilometers of sea area. Its coastline is divided into continental coastline and island coastline, of which the continental coastline is 18,000 kilometers. Its northern starting point is the mouth of the Yalu River, and the southern terminus is the Beilun estuary. The development of floating photovoltaic power stations along the line will not only have a low operating difficulty coefficient but also provide power support for the economically developed zone along the line.

4. China has 86,000 reservoirs (as of the end of 2012), with a total storage capacity of 6,924*108 cubic meters. The total water surface area of reservoirs in China is 256,19,000ha, or 38.429,000 mu (as of October 31, 1996), which is a prerequisite for the large-scale development of floating photovoltaic power stations. The surface of the reservoir is mainly used for water storage, power generation, irrigation, aquaculture, scenic tourism and ecological protection. More than 90% of the water surface of the existing reservoir is available for aquaculture, and the actual aquaculture area only accounts for 78% of the total available area. The yield per unit area is generally low. However, the floating photovoltaic plant will not affect the development of aquaculture.

5. There are many lakes in China, with a total area of 91,000 km2 and more than 2,700 lakes with an area of more than 1,000 square meters. There are ample conditions for the development of floating photovoltaic power stations.

6. The floating photovoltaic power station is very friendly to the environment. The floating body and other equipment can be 100% recovered. The solar power generation efficiency is high.

To sum up, China should make great efforts to develop floating photovoltaic solutions to maintain the healthy and harmonious development of the environment and improve economic benefits.