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China has made some incredible leaps and bounds into the world of solar energy, and in fact, they have invested in over four million solar panels that you can even see from space.

The solar panels cover 10 square miles in the desert of the Tibetan Plateau in eastern China. They first started this project in 2013, and they began to expand rapidly from there. China chose to build here because of the hours of sunlight and the potential for getting more energy was possible here.

In this article, we will discuss the world’s largest solar farm in China!

 

What Does This Equate To?

If you were to look at how much energy this project generates, it can generate electricity for up to 140,000 homes in the United States, which means 850 megawatts. This is a massive renewable energy project in China. In 2015, the country invested $103 billion in renewable energy sources, and they have maintained an ongoing commitment to the international climate control agreement where most countries except for the United States under the Trump Administration agreed to take action against climate change.

 

China Could Raise Their Goals

Based on how well their project has been going, China says that they might raise their goals with photovoltaic modules. Toward the end of September 2018, their total energy capacity with photovoltaic modules exceeded 165 GW. That means that their old goal of 105 GW has been exceeded by over 50 percent. Instead, China has revised their goals so that they will reach for 210 GW. Some analysts even believe the target could excel far above this up to 250 GW or 270 GW. To achieve the goal of 250 GW by 2020, China would have to achieve 20 to 25 GW capacity each month. China remains the world’s largest solar deployer, but they lowered their output by 25 percent than what they had in 2017.

 

Why the Interest in Green Energy?

China’s interest in green energy could stem from the fact that they want to amp up the energy production and lower their pollution levels. When you have a population of 1.3 billion people, you will inevitably have to deal with pollution, which has been a major problem in China. When you look at the satellite imagery, you have an incredible level of depth. In addition, they compared the satellite imagery from one point since the last point. China’s new commitment to going green has pushed the country far ahead of some of the other leaders like Japan, the United States and Germany.

 

Not the Biggest for Long?

This plant has been referred to as Longyangxia, and it may not be the largest plant for too long because they have planned a new project in Ningxia. They want to achieve a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts here once they complete the project.

 

Project Sunroof

One of the ways that Google has tried to encourage people to use rooftop solar panels has been to create something known as Project Sunroof. This information will tell you which of your friends have added sunroofs to their homes. The goal behind this project has been to lower the peak of carbon dioxide emissions. The ultimate aim behind this project is to create social pressure that will show them who did it first. One of the best ways that you can predict if someone will install rooftop solar panels doesn’t come from age, race or income level. In fact, it becomes a simple competition of if their neighbors did it, then they will want to have it done as well. They have found this research to repeatedly be true whether in California, Switzerland, Germany, Connecticut or the United Kingdom. Kenneth Gillingham, a professor of economics at the University of Yale, helped to lead this charge in creating Project Sunroof. Not only does this information point out who in the neighborhood has solar panels, the information also looks at how much money they can save and how much sun hits their roof.

 

What Could Be the Struggle?

One of the biggest struggles from one of these projects comes from how you have to balance the demand and energy production. China, for example, has had a big struggle with making sure that they balance the demand and the production. With the economic slowdown in China because of the trade war with the Trump Administration, unfortunately, some of the wind and solar farms have sat idle. Either that or they produce energy that won’t get used. China has become a success story because they were once one of the biggest carbon polluters, but they’re hoping to make a transition to a new form of energy that will be largely clean, even though they still currently use a lot of coal.

 

The Problem in China

China continues to see their emissions rise largely because of their overdependence on coal. Many of the local governments have a dependence on coal, and this presents one of the obstacles that they will have to overcome. If they fail to wean themselves off coal, this could eventually cause climate change to happen on an even bigger scale. With plenty of hours of sunlight in China, this technology has the potential to be used well.

 

How the Solar Farms in China Bode Well for the World

These projects have cost China millions of dollars to build. With them stepping forward to take advantage of solar energy, it could be a huge step forward. According to statistics from the International Energy Agency, over 60 percent of the solar panels today get made in China. Clearly, China has invested economic interests in people buying from solar companies, but it also does good things for the environment at the same time. This ensures a high demand for the solar panels. An estimated two-thirds of the country’s electricity still comes from coal, but it’s hard to deny the results that the country has gotten so far from their efforts.

 

The Problem with Energy in the Middle of Nowhere

One of the problems with building these energy plants in the middle of nowhere comes from the isolation of it. An estimated 94 percent of Chinese live in the eastern part of China while only six percent of people live in the western part of China. This means 78 million of the 1.3 billion people live in the western part of China. These panels are located as far as can be from the cities where it would be of the greatest use.

 

Solar Projects Elsewhere

Projects elsewhere around have turned into a competition for China. For example, they have the Benban Complex in Egypt. This project has become part of the tariff program in Egypt. Some of the other countries that have projects include a few in India. In fact, in 2018, India’s power was at around 74 percent in renewable energy sources. This goes to show a huge commitment in many places around the world who want to have an impact on climate change and lower the amount of pollution in the world. One of the great things about this push has been that countries have an interest in solar energy and helping to transition from non-renewable resources to renewable resources.

The biggest advantage comes from the fact that solar energy continues to get cheaper and cheaper. Not to mention, it has the ability to overcome most types of weather patterns. Unlike wind-harnessed energy, solar energy can withstand most weather patterns with a minimal level of maintenance. In addition, it doesn’t pollute the skies with these windmills that are an eyesore. After windspeeds reach a certain point, they have to manually shut them off because it can be dangerous. Solar companies make solar panels that don’t require as much maintenance, and they still generate plenty of energy because the sun shines almost daily.