China is building 27 large solar installations in the image of its iconic pandas.

China, the world’s biggest investor in clean energy, is on pace to install record amounts of new solar this year after adding 24 gigawatts of capacity in the first half amid a push by policy makers to locate electricity production near the point where it’s used.

Distributed solar-power projects — the kind of solar found on industrial buildings, malls and schools — accounted for almost a third of the new installations in the period, or 7 gigawatts, Xing Yiteng, deputy section chief in the new energy division at the National Energy Administration, said Wednesday at a conference in Beijing.

Should China maintain the first half’s torrid pace of installations, the country would easily surpass the roughly 30 gigawatts of new solar capacity it added in 2016. The continued expansion also extends China’s lead as the largest market in […]