Guizhou is a mountainous province in Southwestern China known for its traditional rural villages. It is home to minority groups like the Miao and Dong and is known for the 74m-high Huangguoshu Waterfall. Recently, the Chinese have carpeted the mountains with solar panels. The addition to the marvelous mountain landscapes serves a multi-purpose, showcasing China’s pioneering approaches to renewable energy.
China is carpeting the mountains in Guizhou
China has been pursuing renewable energy for quite some time and they have not been keeping it a secret. This is especially evident in the Guizhou province, where solar panels have been precisely and extensively installed. The mountains have been “carpeted” with so much precision, that the solar panels might even seem to be part of the mountains.
The specific region has characteristics that make it ideal to install solar panels, including its high altitude, unpredictable climate, and severely remote location. Per Futurism, the Chinese Government has been funding solar manufacturing facilities in regions such as Guizhou with bank loans and government subsidies. It seems as if the Chinese pursuit of renewable energy has quickly been progressing in a positive direction.
These solar panels produce lots of energy
China has an infrastructure that reportedly produces 339 gigawatt hours of renewable energy, which is significantly higher than the succeeding four largest producers, such as the US, Brazil, the UK, and Spain. These four countries have a joint production capacity of 72-gigawatt hours of renewable energy.
The solar panels in the Guizhou province contribute to the country’s renewable energy production. In 2015, the panels were installed, and after three years, they supplied an output of 1.75 million kilowatts of solar energy. This output could meet the energy needs of approximately 1300 average households. In the following two years, the energy output reportedly increased tenfold. In 2023, the solar panels were producing an energy output of 15 million kilowatts, and if all goes well, the energy output will continue to increase.
Companies such as Guizhou Jinyuan Co., which is involved in solar production in the region, have also regulated agricultural procedures on the site. This means that the solar panels are not just for producing energy and that they serve a multi-purpose in the region.
This power plant is not just for producing energy
The region was unproductive and desolate in the past. Its villagers normally earned a maximum of 2,000 yuan per mu from cultivating potatoes. Then, things changed drastically.
A first-of-its-kind power plant in Guizhou was established in 2016. The Mezhan agriculture-complementary photovoltaic power plant conducted trial plantings of different crops, such as marigolds, potatoes, buckwheat, and fodder on its sites. In 2023, the Chahe village in Mezhan township followed suit and planted 700 mu (46.7 hectares) of buckwheat between the solar panels, reaching an output value of 320,000 yuan ($45,000).
“In the past, this area was unproductive and arid. Villagers used to earn a maximum of 2,000 yuan per mu from cultivating potatoes. However, things have changed. They now receive fees for the transfer of land for photovoltaic power generation use, along with income from various crops, and wages by working at the power station or cooperatives.” – Cai Yongbin, Party chief of Chahe village.
Thanks to the “agriculture-photovoltaic complementarity” model, the Chahe village increased the economic value of the land and also created job opportunities while increasing the local community’s income. This method enables numerous benefits from one piece of land and effectively increases the growth of rural production.
Projects such as these highlight their revolutionary effect in agriculture and rural regions. Not only is the total carbon footprint lowered, resulting in a positive step forward in the global transition to renewable energy, but the global concern for food and job scarcity, especially in rural regions, is also addressed, providing feasible solutions to both concerns.