Quzhou company combines solar power generation, mushroom cultivation

A row of mushroom greenhouses and photovoltaic panels in Changshan county, Quzhou. [Photo/qz123.com]

Nongguang Weilan (Zhejiang) Agriculture Co Ltd in Changshan county, Quzhou, has found a smart way to save costs and increase efficiency. It uses photovoltaic panels on greenhouses to generate electricity and cultivates edible mushrooms inside.

Zhou Xiaowei, the company's executive president, said that mushrooms need a cool and humid environment to grow, and the company thus needs to maintain a stable temperature and humidity in the greenhouse, which consumes a lot of electricity for cooling equipment. By building photovoltaic power stations on the tops of greenhouses, the company can significantly reduce its daily electricity costs.

One greenhouse consumes 37 kilowatt-hours per hour, and there are 28 greenhouses in the industrial park, which consume about 25,000 kWh of electricity for 24 hours of cooling.

The daily power generation of installed photovoltaic panels in the industry is about 13,000 kWh, which can reduce electricity bills by more than 8,000 yuan ($1,098.79) per day.

In addition, the electricity generated by photovoltaic panels can be traded on the Zhejiang Power Trading Platform at a price of 0.05 yuan per kWh, which can increase the company's revenue by more than 100,000 yuan every year.

"Due to the off-season supply of fresh mushrooms, the wholesale price per kilogram has reached 16 yuan, two to three times higher than in autumn and winter," said Zhou.