Solar energy is reshaping livelihoods in Huzhu County on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Villagers are now generating income and promoting green development through rooftop and distributed photovoltaic projects. This renewable energy initiative not only helps drive rural revitalization but also significantly improves living standards across the region. Moreover, it creates new income opportunities for villagers and supports sustainable development simultaneously.
In Dongshan Village, local rooftops gleam with solar panels that villagers affectionately call their “sunshine bank accounts.” Previously dependent on farming and animal husbandry, many residents faced low incomes. As a result, they had to leave for work elsewhere. Furthermore, this migration disrupted family life and limited local economic growth. In 2021, Dongshan was designated as a distributed photovoltaic pilot village. The village invested nearly 200,000 yuan in a 44.1-kilowatt rooftop solar project.
The project meets household electricity needs, with surplus energy sold back to the grid. Wang Guofeng, Party head of Dongshan, said the solar project generates over 20,000 yuan annually. In addition, a state-funded photovoltaic poverty alleviation program provides an annual dividend of 240,000 yuan. Minimal maintenance and no need for arable land make solar energy a reliable investment.
Banyan Village, another Huzhu community, also benefits from abundant sunlight, with up to 1,400 hours of usable sunshine each year. Relocated from mountain tops in 2016, villagers shifted focus to solar energy. Rooftop and hillside solar panels began generating electricity in 2017 through a 2-megawatt distributed photovoltaic project.
Each household in Banyan Village now receives an annual dividend of 2,500 yuan, equivalent to income from 0.67 hectares of land. In 2023, the State Grid Haidong power supply company added a 200-kilowatt energy storage project and four 7-kilowatt charging piles, creating an integrated solar-storage-charging parking lot.
The village’s distributed photovoltaic system produces 1.5 million kilowatt-hours annually, saving 460 tonnes of coal and cutting 1,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Residents now benefit from affordable green electricity and increasingly use new energy vehicles.
Banyan Village has also advanced green transformation, becoming a certified zero-carbon village. Measures include afforestation, natural gas adoption, and replacing grass-and-straw heating beds with electric ones.
By July, Haidong City had installed 113,500 kilowatts of distributed photovoltaic systems across 2,609 households. Solar energy has proven a catalyst for boosting incomes, supporting environmental goals, and improving rural life.
