Institutional logics in China's rural solar transition and their impacts on energy justice for vulnerable communities

In the context of global climate mitigation, low carbon energy transitions have become central to sustainable development. However, while pursuing environmental objectives, such transitions may also reshape patterns of resource distribution and participation through institutional arrangements, generating new forms of inequality across distributive, procedural, and recognition dimensions. China, as the world's largest developing country and a major carbon emitter, provides an analytically rich context for examining how low carbon transitions intersect with equity concerns. This study investigates three photovoltaic projects in China: the Tengger Desert New Energy Base in Ningxia, the Dezhou Rooftop PV Program in Shandong, and the Yancheng Solar-Fishery Integration Project in Jiangsu. Drawing on field interviews and policy document analysis, the study employs a thematic grounded coding approach to develop a four dimensional analytical framework covering spatial entitlements, revenue distribution, technological adaptation, and policy design. The findings show that vulnerable rural communities often face constrained spatial rights, limited benefit sharing, uneven adaptive capacity, and restricted participation in top down governance processes. Based on this analysis, the paper develops policy recommendations to enhance institutional inclusiveness, optimize benefit-sharing mechanisms, and strengthen local governance capacity. These insights provide both theoretical contributions to the study of energy justice and practical references for promoting equitable and sustainable energy transitions in the Global South.