Chinese manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panels have secured anincreasing hold in California, the United States’ largest solar market,doubling their market share in the last year alone,according to a new report.

In the last three years, China’s share ofthe market increased from 2 percent to 46 percent, says Bloomberg NewEnergy Finance, a research and consulting firm. The share of U.S.manufacturers in the California market dropped from 43 percent to 16percent during that same period. “The ascendancy of Chinesemanufacturers would be noteworthy regardless of market conditions, butis particularly telling in a time when purse-strings are still tight,”the report said. One Chinese company, Yingli Solar, now claims 27percent of the California solar market. California accounts for about40 percent of the U.S.’s total solar power business. The lowermanufacturing costs of Chinese companies have given them a strongcompetitive advantage and have contributed to a sharp drop in solarmodule prices in the past year.

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