Hanergy promotes mobile energy solutions
- By Chen Boyuan, Fan Anqi
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E-mail China.org.cn, February 3, 2015
Chinese leading clean energy maker Hanergy put forward the idea of "mobile energy," an energy solution based on thin-film photovoltaic (PV) cells, on Monday at its headquarters in Beijing.
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Li Hejun, Hanergy Holding's founder and chairman delivers a keynote speech on the development of mobile energy solution on Monday, Feb. 2, at the company's headquarters in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn] |
The company's focus on developing mobile energy is another quiet leap in the solar power sector, since the rest of the PV industry in China is debating whether thin-film, advocated by Hanergy years ago, is a more superior technology than more-established silicon crystalline cells.
Mobile energy solution could be interpreted as a supply of electricity independent of the national power grid. Its applications range from portable external batteries for smartphones to purely solar energy-powered cars.
Deeming that mobile energy will "completely subvert how human beings use energy," Hanergy's founder and chairman Li Hejun said that the mobile energy solution was a development and an upgrade to distributed PV power generation.
"The largest difference is that power generation no longer requires a 'centralized' power plant, but distributed PV generators from every individual," said Li, who has reportedly become the richest man in China, overtaking Alibaba's Jack Ma, as a result of the recent soaring stock price of Hanergy Holding's Hong-Kong listed subsidiary.
In an undisguised attempt to downplay his position as China's top billionaire, Li said he was unaware of ”the basis for the reports,” but urged that "it shouldn't be taken too seriously." However, Li confirmed such allegations by saying his "purpose in making money is not to become the top billionaire, but to achieve huge undertakings, which will in turn help more people."
Hanergy claims that the application of solar energy is a revolution in energy use, largely because it directly converts solar energy to electricity, unlike using fossil fuels, where more than 90 percent of the energy is lost during the burning process. Therefore, according to Li, PV power is "the ultimate energy for mankind." Li added that thin-film technology is capable of yielding a conversion rate of up to 30 percent.
He compared thin-film cells to chlorophyll in plants, because PV cells can generate enough power for human use in the same way that photosynthesis gives plants energy.
Although international crude oil prices have halved compared with the peak price, meaning cheaper petrol for consumers, fossil fuels are after all an exhaustible form of energy and have negative environmental implications. By contrast, clean energy is limitless, except hydropower or wind power, which cannot easily be developed into "mobile power" solutions.
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