In Depth: China Households, Businesses Take Shine to Rooftop Photovoltaics

More and more photovoltaic panels are appearing on the rooftops of factories, buildings and homes around China as policy support and market demand make self-generated solar energy an increasingly attractive, reliable source of power.

But while the adoption of so-called distributed solar power is growing, challenges remain for the power market and system to accommodate these sporadic new sources of energy. That includes at the administrative level — where attempts to coordinate and pool contracts have sometimes disempowered landholders — and at the practical level where such systems can generate so much power that they overload grids.