{"id":991,"date":"2016-11-09T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T21:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/aboutus\/991\/the-startup-heroes-of-chinas-household-solar-revolution\/"},"modified":"2019-11-19T23:51:44","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T07:51:44","slug":"the-startup-heroes-of-chinas-household-solar-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/blog\/991\/the-startup-heroes-of-chinas-household-solar-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"The startup heroes of China\u2019s household solar revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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China has seen enormous growth in renewable energy over the last few years. It now has both the largest and the fastest growing wind and solar sectors in the world. In fact, last year all of China\u2019s increase in energy demand was met by renewables<\/a>. All of this has been rapidly reducing the carbon intensity of China\u2019s economy, now decreasing at the fastest rate in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

However, the picture is far from all rosy. The country\u2019s massive solar and wind potential is seeing huge curtailment, where energy is produced but not integrated into the grid \u2013 or, in other terms, wasted. Meanwhile, China\u2019s enormous State Grid continues to favour coal and other fossil fuels as they are able to provide a steady and reliable stream of power, compared to renewables\u2019 natural fluctuations<\/a> in efficiency.<\/p>\n\n

To cap that off, on Monday China\u2019s National Energy Administration released its five year blueprint<\/a> for the energy sector. It was not the ambitious clean energy transition plan many had hoped for \u2013 though, thankfully, it is only a plan, not set-in-stone policy.<\/p>\n\n

All this means that the State Grid, despite the government\u2019s mission to tackle air pollution and despite China\u2019s Paris Agreement commitments, actually has little incentive to integrate renewables.<\/p>\n\n

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A solar power station in Xuzhou, China.<\/em>SOLUTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Increasingly the consensus is that we need distributed renewable power generation in order to manage this. Distributed renewables is the idea that instead of having, for example, hundreds of acres of solar panels which could be hit by a cloudy day, small scale and flexible renewable power generation, such as solar panelled rooftops, should feed the grid from around the country.
Such a system, however, is complicated. Being based on local conditions and local demands, it is something next to impossible to fulfil solely through top-down policies. We can\u2019t wait for government. A nimble and responsive grassroots movement is needed in order to fully realise the potential of renewables.<\/p>\n\n

Thankfully, China\u2019s growing startup community is beginning to provide answers. From solar financing solutions to big data analysis to ultra-thin, ultra-mobile solar panels, the startup community is blossoming with ideas.
\u201cStartups are by nature nimble and, I would say, uniquely suited to bringing solar projects to residential and commercial properties,\u201d says Yin Zhongrui, founder of the solar startup Morning Sun Solar.<\/p>\n\n

A panel discussion on the future of China\u2019s clean energy entrepreneurship at the PowerLab event on 4 November, 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

RISKS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Making ideas a reality, however, is hard. The world of startups is full of risk.
At the Sino-US Clean Energy Innovation Fest, held in Shanghai 4-5 November, Daniel Hersson of the Asian Development Bank echoed these problems, and also the need to overcome them.
\u201cWe need to de-risk entrepreneurship, to make it faster and less risky,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n

The event was part of a renewable energy startups incubator program, PowerLab, which aims to tackle this issue and aid China\u2019s budding, grassroots clean energy startup community. Established by Greenpeace East Asia, and supported by American organisation the New Energy Nexus, the incubator provides skill sharing, opportunities to meet potential investors and encouragement from those engaged in the sector.<\/p>\n\n

A workshop at the PowerLab event in Shanghai.<\/em>
The Shanghai event was the final stage in this year\u2019s series of hackathons held in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The winners of those hackathons, a total of five teams, were invited to Shanghai to give TED Talk-style presentations on their projects. A panel of industry experts and potential investors were on hand to comment on the projects and, ultimately, vote for who should receive the up to RMB 50,000 (USD 7,350) winning prize.<\/p>\n\n

This year\u2019s winner was Miao Xin, a self professed \u201cradical environmentalist\u201d, and his platform for reduced-risk solar financing.<\/p>\n\n

In the next stages of the PowerLab incubator program, Miao Xin and his team will receive further training and skill sharing to give the program the leg-up it needs.
Miao Xin, the winner of the 2016 PowerLab, presents his project on distributed solar financing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

THE PARIS CONNECTION<\/strong>\nThese young entrepreneurs \u2013 the renewable generation \u2013 are not only indispensable to China\u2019s clean energy transition, they are also key to global climate efforts.\n<\/p>\n\n

As Danny Kennedy, managing director of California Clean Energy Fund, said at the Sino-US Clean Energy Innovation Fest, \u201cour only shot at achieving the aims of Paris is to 100% electrify the economy, and that electricity must come from renewables.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Young entrepreneurs, such as Miao Xin and the other PowerLab participants, are part of a movement powering the next wave of the energy transition in China \u2013 the grassroots renewables revolution, for China and the world.<\/p>\n\n

This article is the first part in a series on China\u2019s \u2018Grassroots Renewables Revolution\u2019. The series will look at the work of people across the country, from young entrepreneurs to farmers to community leaders, who are making the energy transition happen.Next week we will interview this year\u2019s PowerLab winner, Miao Xin.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Tom Baxter is a communications officer at Greenpeace East Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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