The main purpose of China’s mooted export ban on photovoltaic wafer technology is to slow the expansion of non-Chinese solar manufacturing by delaying procurement of production line equipment. But it’s worth considering that China’s photovoltaic R&D has begun producing cutting-edge techniques, even if the West still holds the overall technological lead. The “Damask Research Institute,” has published a lengthy article entitled “Taking Tongwei as a sample: Why can China’s photovoltaics achieve technological countermeasures?” on the topic of the proposed Chinese Ministry of Commerce ban on exporting photovoltaic wafer preparation technology. The article begins by observing that China has been the largest photovoltaic manufacturing country since 2007, and since then the raw materials, technology and end-use have all also migrated inside…