XINING: In the Qaidam Basin in the Yangtze River source area, the desolate Gobi Desert stretches as far as the eye can see, and this view includes patches of dark blue ocean-like photovoltaic (PV) panels glistening in the bright midday sun.
Li Yucai, a 51-year-old worker based in Golmud City in the central area of the Qaidam Basin, was operating a sprinkler to wash the panels meticulously. In no time, Li and his colleagues finished “showering” an array of panels.
“I have washed every single PV panel at the eastern exit of Golmud over the past decade,” said the skilled worker, who has been engaged in cleaning the panels for more than 10 years.
His cleaning work relates directly to the power generation efficiency of the panels, as less dust on the surface means less interference in the effective functioning of the panels.
By cleaning the PV panels on a regular basis, their power generation efficiency can be improved by 15 to 16 percent on average, or over 20 percent at most, according to the city’s energy bureau.
Li used to scrape by as a rural farmer in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China’s Qinghai Province.
“My family had to rely on 4 mu (about 2,667 square meters) of crop fields to feed themselves, while ranging farther for work to earn money to cover other living expenses. We earned less than 10,000 yuan (about 1,400 U.S. dollars) a year at that time,” recalled Liang Zenglan, Li’s wife.
“We all rushed to see the PV power station when it started construction out of curiosity,” Li said.
He did not see that his life would be changed by the panels. –Agencies
