Patanjali Civil Services Academy

China’s Export Controls on Advanced Technologies

Tags: Prelims Current events of national and international importance

Source: The Hindu

Context: China proposed export controls on 40 advanced technologies in AI, biomedicine and photovoltaics under Announcement No. 48.
Proposed Restrictions:
- 14 technologies: Complete export prohibition.
- 26 technologies: Restricted exports.
Photovoltaics: Controls cover solar-cell manufacturing, including perovskite and tandem solar-cell technologies, polysilicon production and wafer manufacturing.
Artificial Intelligence: Controls cover foundation models, AI agents, computing clusters and information processing, including technologies for autonomous malicious-code generation.
Biomedicine: Certain cell and gene therapy platforms are covered.
Exemptions: Open-source AI projects and technologies already publicly available through open-source publications or academic papers would generally be exempt, according to the announcement.
Impact on India: Potential delays in technology licensing, Chinese investment and domestic solar manufacturing localisation, particularly in polysilicon and ingot-wafer production.
Photovoltaics (PV): Technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor materials.
Perovskite Solar Cells: Use perovskite-structured materials as light absorbers; offer potential for high efficiency and lower manufacturing costs.
Tandem Solar Cells: Combine two or more light-absorbing layers to capture a wider portion of the solar spectrum and improve efficiency.

Q1. With reference to photovoltaic technologies and China’s proposed export controls, consider the following statements:

Photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity through the photovoltaic effect.
Perovskite solar cells use materials with a perovskite crystal structure as light absorbers.
Tandem solar cells use multiple light-absorbing layers to capture different portions of the solar spectrum and potentially improve conversion efficiency.
Polysilicon is generally produced from finished solar cells by reversing the photovoltaic process.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(A) 1 and 2 only

(B) 1, 2 and 3 only

(D) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer: (B)

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: Photovoltaic technology converts solar radiation directly into electrical energy using semiconductor materials.
Statement 2 is correct: Perovskite-structured materials serve as light absorbers and offer potential for efficient, cost-effective solar cells.
Statement 3 is correct: Tandem cells combine multiple absorber layers to utilise a broader portion of the solar spectrum.
Statement 4 is incorrect: Polysilicon is an upstream material used in conventional crystalline-silicon solar manufacturing. It is processed into ingots and wafers, which are subsequently used to manufacture solar cells.