Changzhi sets pace in new energy industries

Responding to Shanxi's strategies of industrial transformation and energy revolution, the city of Changzhi in the southeast of the province is now highlighting its efforts in developing new energy and energy-conserving industries.

One prime example of such initiative is Lu'an Solar Energy Technologies, the new energy arm of local coal-mining giant Lu'an Group.

A recent report released by China's authoritative solar power research and consultancy institution, PV InfoLink, shows that Lu'an Solar Energy Technologies now ranks fifth globally in the sales volume of photovoltaic cells.

According to Shen Fangtao, an executive of the company, Lu'an Solar Energy Technologies uses the latest technologies, including robots and various kinds of intelligent equipment, to produce a new generation of photovoltaic cells. The photovoltaic cells are now extremely popular in markets throughout the world.

"To meet the strong demand from clients in more than 30 countries and regions, all six production lines of our company are now running at full capacity," Shen said. "Our current output is about 720,000 cells a day."

The executive said Lu'an is installing another two production lines to meet the increasing demand. In addition, the company has focused on the research and development of high-efficiency and high-performance photovoltaic cells.

"A recent breakthrough is the development of a large-sized cell, which can improve power generation capacity by 10 percent," Shen said.

He explained such a breakthrough has been made possible by the use of aluminum oxide purification technology to avoid electricity loss caused by higher-resistance components.

Shen noted that the company's strong R&D competence is the driving force for its rapid and sustainable growth. It owns a number of R&D platforms that include three provincial-level research and innovation centers.

The company boasts more than 140 core technologies with national or international patents. It also holds a place as one of the pacesetters of the industry by drafting the industrial standards on behalf of the sector it represents.

Another industrial pacesetter in Changzhi is Rishengda New Energy, a producer of photovoltaic glass and panels.

According to Song Mingsheng, general manager of the company, the company's output of 2-millimeter photovoltaic glass is more than 20 million pieces a year.

"Photovoltaic glass with a thickness of 2 mm achieves much better light transmittance compared with the 4-mm variety that is commonly used in the industry," Song said. "This results in much higher energy utilization efficiency."

The executive added that the company has already developed the 1.6-mm photovoltaic glass, which will be put into mass production in its second-phase project that will begin operations in the near future.

Song noted that the second-phase plant will also be a demonstrative project of its own cutting-edge products.

"We have installed our own photovoltaic glass panels on the roof of the plants," Song said. "That constitutes a solar farm, which can generate 19.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year."

Also involved in the energy conservation industry is Gaoke Huaye, one of the leading LED device producers in Changzhi.

"LED lighting devices feature greater energy use efficiency than any conventional lighting devices," said Cui Chengyuan, deputy general manager of the company.

According to the executive, Gaoke Huaye now boasts more than 3,000 packaging machines, which produce 210 billion pieces of LED a year.

Changzhi is home to more than 20 large LED manufacturers, which produce about 95 percent of LED products in Shanxi province.