Presentation short abstract

This historical/ethnographic research found that while a sociotechnical imaginary of achieving both economic and environmental prosperity was co-produced alongside solar panels installation in China, it is contested by unexpected consequences, such as land-use conflicts and electronic waste.

Presentation long abstract

“Power from above, crops from below; a single field, where two incomes grow.” This slogan, circulating during the expansion of ground-mounted solar PV systems in rural China, encapsulates the “green prosperity” imaginary driving China’s solar photovoltaic (PV) development: generating green electricity while creating economic benefits. This paper examines the formation of this imaginary through state-society negotiations and reveals how it is continually taxed and contested.

Drawing on historical and ethnographic research, this study investigates China’s burgeoning “solar PV landscape.” Driven by subsidy programs (e.g., feed-in tariff) and target-setting policies (e.g., 2030 carbon peaking), various actors—including local governments, state-owned energy companies, rural elites, and villagers—have been incentivized to develop PV projects. While the pursuit of economic benefits from solar PV installation is shared by all actors, an imaginary of achieving both economic and environmental prosperity was co-produced alongside the physical installation of solar panels across China. However, by scrutinizing the social and material entanglement of the “solar PV landscape,” I argue that this sociotechnical imaginary is constantly contested by unexpected consequences, such as industrial pollution from PV panel manufacturing, land-use conflicts arising from their installation, and looming electronic waste challenges.

Following Ang’s (2025) concept of “polytunity,” which reframes environmental, social, and political challenges as opportunities for change, the fragility of China’s green prosperity imaginary offers space for alternative visions. By spotlighting the wants and needs of local communities, this research points towards more inclusive and participatory renewable energy development, breaking free from techno-centric and state-centric paradigms of sustainability.