At the start of the 21st century, China's solar cell industry found itself far behind those in Japan, Germany, and the United States. As late as 2003, Chinese market share of the solar cell industry was about 3%.

In less than ten years, the Chinese solar industry absorbed foreign technical expertise, created their own indigenous capacity, and outcompeted its western incumbents. By 2013, China accounted for 60% of global solar cell production.

Today, abundant solar energy can be harnessed around the world. Solar has become one of the cheapest sources of renewable energy around. It is a key piece of the future energy puzzle. That was not possible a few years ago.

But these gains came at a cost. Here we are going to look at how China outcompeted the West and made solar energy cheap.

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