The large-scale development of renewable energy is the inevitable way to achieve the“carbon neutral ”and“carbon peaking”target. This paper collected and organized the studies on the intrinsic mechanism and the path evolution of renewable energy, and then reviewed the development laws, influencing factors, development scenario and development path of renewable energy. It is found that the existing studies on the factors and regulations of renewable energy are usually based on general patterns, and there are few studies oriented to the analytical context of“carbon neutrality and carbon peaking”; the research perspective of the development path is relatively single, lacking comprehensive exploration from multiple perspectives such as energy development potential, technological resources, and regional heterogeneity. Finally, this paper provides an outlook on the research directions of revealing the special rule of renewable energy development in China, sub-regional and subperiod scenario forecasting and multi-perspective development path planning.