{"id":1053,"date":"2017-03-08T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/aboutus\/1053\/powering-up-meet-the-women-electrifying-chinas-energy-transition\/"},"modified":"2019-11-23T22:39:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T06:39:43","slug":"powering-up-meet-the-women-electrifying-chinas-energy-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/blog\/1053\/powering-up-meet-the-women-electrifying-chinas-energy-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Powering up: meet the women electrifying China\u2019s energy transition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world\u2019s biggest polluter is now the global renewables leader, and these women are helping to lead the charge.<\/em>China\u2019s solar industry has been on an incredible journey in the past half decade. Solar capacity doubled<\/a> in 2016 alone; the world\u2019s largest solar farm<\/a>, comprising a staggering four million solar panels now rests on the Tibetan Plateau; and last year, China added enough solar panels<\/a> to cover one and a half football pictures every hour.Behind the impressive statistics, this transformation is powered by people. Dedicated environmentalists and entrepreneurs who are propelling China\u2019s transformation from fossil fuel-dependent climate villain, to an innovative global climate leader.<\/p>\n\n

From a backyard project that transformed a community, to a young entrepreneur who smashed expectations by singlehandedly developing a successful global solar business, women are taking China\u2019s green power transition into their own hands to fuel one of\u00a0the biggest energy revolutions<\/a> the world has ever seen.<\/p>\n

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Ni Huan: the grassroots activist who started a movement in her own back yard.<\/strong>
Ni Huan\u2019s quiet patio on the ground floor of a Shanghai compound two hours from the city center seems like an unlikely place to start a trend. But it was here, that a simple quest for shade and relief from the scorching summer led to a movement that transformed her community.<\/p>\n

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Ni Huan and 10-year-old Jason, a student volunteer, in Ni Huan\u2019s patio \u00a0Image credit: Ji Zhe\/ Greenpeace<\/span><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe summer of 2013 was so hot, we needed to put up a shade up in the patio,\u201d she said, pointing towards the four-meter-long awning that now meets 90% of her household electricity needs and helps power her hybrid vehicle. \u201cI decided to place solar panels on [the awning] as well. I thought I could save money and also do something good for the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ni Huan introducing her at-home solar panel system. These solar panels can withstand typhoons and meets 90% of her domestic electricity needs. Image credit: Ji Zhe<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

These days, the barely eight-square-metre courtyard draws crowds of up to 30 people at a time. School groups, university students and individuals interested in slashing their electricity bill- as well as their carbon footprint- regularly pack into the tiny garden to learn the ins and outs of at-home solar power generation.<\/p>\n

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A school tour group packs into Ni Huan\u2019s courtyard. Image credit: Ni Huan<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt became too much: almost a hundred people would want to come to my house in one day. I \u00a0I couldn\u2019t believe it! I actually had to start imposing a limit on people who could come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demand became so great that she set up an organisation, Green-light Year, to expand her work and cope with the ever-increasing flow of visitors. Now, the organisation has partnered with several local schools and universities to install rooftop solar projects as well as assisting on the revival of Shanghai\u2019s long-overdue Chongming Island <\/a>eco-city project.<\/p>\n

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Solar panels in Ni Huan\u2019s yard. Image credit: Ji Zhe\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Since March 2015, over 1600 people have signed up for activities run by Green-light Year, including eco tours of Ni Huan\u2019s courtyard and local solar projects, workshops on kitchen waste composting, building DIY air filters and how to upcycle old clothes.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, Ni Huan\u2019s community has become a resource for local people to gather and gain practical information about starting up their own at-home solar projects.
\u201cPeople come here to learn\u2026 You can go to a museum and learn about solar technology, but you can\u2019t get any practical advice. Our tours are an opportunity to ask questions. We\u2019re an information exchange hub\u201d<\/p>\n

Ni Huan\u2019s workshops and eco-tours are now so popular that local governments have begun to sit up and take notice. Government officials from neighbouring provinces have been making the trip to Shanghai with the hope of fostering similar community action in their own constituencies.<\/p>\n

Her small but dedicated all-female team is staffed by local mothers from the community, who became involved with Ni Huan through their children\u2019s school. Ni Huan believes that women are uniquely placed to advance community movements as they are more deeply embedded in communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cChinese women are very heavily involved in their children\u2019s education. Many of them want to learn about \u2018green lifestyles\u2019, because they want their children to learn how to protect their future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He Yisha: the young entrepreneur who built a global business<\/strong><\/p>\n

When He Yisha founded a company to manufacture and sell solar panels at the tender age of 25, she had no idea what the next six years would bring. A committed environmentalist, she was inspired to start her own solar panel manufacturing company after a friend told her about the huge potential for growth in China\u2019s solar industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a simple decision. Demand was high and this is an industry that protects the environment,\u201d says He Yisha. \u201cSo after a period of research and preparation, I founded a company to manufacture and sell solar panels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

Six years later, He Yisha\u2019s companies, Unisun and Uper, trade on a global scale and have branched into development and maintenance of distributed solar. They are now being courted by huge international brands seeking to reach 100% renewables in their production lines.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, she has attracted attention<\/a> in Chinese media both for the astonishing growth of her company \u2013 from self-starter, to chairwoman overseeing 400 people in little over five years \u2013 but also simply for being a young woman at the top of her industry. <\/span><\/p>\n

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31-year old Unisun Chairwoman He Yi Sha \u00a0Image credit: Ji Zhe<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As a 25-year-old CEO she rarely encountered many other women in her work and would steel herself with hours of preparations before meetings with clients, all of whom were older and the overwhelming majority was male.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see that people doubted me, because I looked young and didn\u2019t have much experience, but I wasn\u2019t afraid. I just decided to treat everyone as though we\u2019re all equal, which we are.\u201d
Now, she sees things changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina has a relatively high proportion of female executives, compared to other countries and I\u2019m seeing it increase. In the professional events I attend, I\u2019m hearing more women\u2019s voices. In China now, more and more women in the workplace are daring to express themselves bravely. Whether that\u2019s in the solar industry or any other industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anna McGurk is a content writer for Greenpeace East Asia
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