DONG Jin, WEN Mengdi, CUI Rongguo, ZHANG Yingxin, XI Yutong, SONG Wenting
Natural Resources Informatization.
2026, 0(1):
23-31.
In recent years, global carbon dioxide emissions have continued to rise, and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy has become a crucial approach to addressing global climate issues. Solar energy, as one of the most widely distributed clean energy sources, holds enormous development potential in China due to its vast territory. Based on ERA5 data from 1994 to 2023, this article analyzes the spatial distribution pattern of solar energy resources in China by using geographical suitability and resource potential analysis methods, taking into account factors such as terrain conditions, land use types, and social policies, and evaluates the resource potential. The study shows that China is rich in solar energy resources, generally presenting a distribution characteristic of "high in the northwest and low in the southeast". However, when geographical suitability is taken into account, the solar energy resources in regions such as Xizang, southern Xinjiang, Qinghai, and northwestern Sichuan significantly decrease. The solar radiation intensity generally shows the order of summer, spring, autumn and winter, but under the combined influence of geography and climate, some areas exhibit special phenomena where spring radiation intensity is higher than that in summer, and the rankings between spring-summer and autumn-winter differ significantly. Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Qinghai have higher net solar power generation while regions like Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Beijing have lower solar power generation.