Insights into the Chinese Energy Transition
by Vivian Bullinger | 24.09.2018
It's a good idea to think outside the box. We went one step further and asked ourselves how we can actively shape what is probably the biggest energy revolution of our time. In the process, we gained interesting insights into the Chinese education system and the opportunity to actively support the education and training of future PV experts.
Since 2016, we, the Solar Data Systems (SDS) already have a company headquarters in China. With approximately 1.37 billion inhabitants and rapid economic growth, China is not only the world's largest exporter of PV modules, but also a very important sales market. This is because the strongest growth in PV energy will very definitely take place in China in the coming years. In order to help shape the Chinese energy transition, SDS is cooperating with the Rhea Education organization, among others.
Rhea Education developed a training program for the cooperation of Chinese companies with vocational schools. 8,300 schools with approximately 15 million students participating in the program. The goal is to train skilled workers for the PV industry. To promote its training program, Rhea Education organizes national competitions. In these competitions, students can demonstrate their skills in PV technology and learn from each other.
For Solar Data Systems, promoting and training skilled workers is an important step in establishing itself in the Chinese PV market. "It is imperative that there are well-trained experts who master PV technology from A to Z. Only then is it guaranteed that PV energy will quickly become an integral part of energy production in China," says Steve Cheung, General Manager of Solar-Log™ China.
To get a closer look at the Chinese PV world and how future PV specialists are trained, we asked Rhea Education a few questions:
What is the focus of Rhea Energy/Rhea Education?
Mr. Yi Chao, Rhea Education: As an integrated solution provider for renewable energy education, Rhea Education is committed to intensive collaboration between enterprises and educational institutions. This includes universities and vocational schools from all over the country. The Rhea Education program focuses on developing world-class energy talent. The resulting experts will help shape regional economic development, industrial restructuring, and energy technology innovation in the future. The Rhea Education System supports the nation's universities and vocational schools in seven areas: PV consulting, PV system solution, teacher training programs, industrial studies and research cooperation, support programs, Solar Online Learning (SOL) platform, and Green Campus solution. The courses, which are specifically tailored to the needs of companies, are designed to address the prevailing shortage of skilled workers in the PV industry.
Why did Rhea decide to collaborate with the German company Solare Datensysteme GmbH?
Mr. Yi Chao, Rhea Education: China's industry is still in its infancy in PV monitoring and management. In order to exploit and advance the full potential of PV monitoring, it is important to have a professional partner. In Solare Datensysteme GmbH we have found a strong and very experienced partner. We benefit in many ways from the global player, which is active worldwide with over 280,000 monitored PV systems and with over 10 years of experience in the PV market. Together we are working on formulations of PV technical monitoring standards and improvements of the ROI of PV plants. The goal here is to establish professional PV monitoring and to increase the quality of the plants.
How far along is the energy transition in China and what potential do you see?
Mr. Yi Chao, Rhea Education: Due to rapid economic development, China is far above the world average in carbon dioxide emissions and electricity consumption. The problems behind this have been recognized and China has the ambition to solve these complex energy and environmental issues as quickly as possible. The development of renewable energy is one way to achieve China's efforts of sustainable energy development. With technological progress and large-scale application, the cost of photovoltaic power generation will decrease and competitiveness will increase.
It is very likely that photovoltaic power generation will gradually evolve from a complementary energy source to an alternative one. This is supported, for example, by the incredible potential of distributed photovoltaic power generation in China. In general, there are at least 2 billion kilowatts of potential development area. The greatest potential is in a large number of rooftop installations. An estimated 300 million families, each with five kilowatts of power generation, could generate a total of 1.5 billion kilowatts of solar power. In addition, the rooftops of tens of thousands of schools, inns, hotels, and several billion square meters of industrial plants and warehouses are ideal for PV power generation.
How do you assess the Chinese PV market in terms of the ongoing boom and education?
Mr. Yi Chao, Rhea Education: The fact that decentralized energy conversion has been a global trend in recent years can be seen in Denmark and Germany. The Danes generate their electricity almost exclusively from decentralized energy sources. Germany already generates over 50% of its electricity through decentralized energy. In 2015, G7 leaders proposed replacing fossil fuels with renewables by the end of the 21st century. This measure will create space for the development of renewable energy, such as photovoltaic power generation. In comparison, the share of distributed energy in China is still small and its potential is far from being fully exploited. To reach its full potential, continuous efforts are required in all areas.
One important area here is the well-qualified skilled workforce. Specialists must be trained and existing experts must be given further training, as the emerging energy sector and its technologies are developing very rapidly. To this end, the traditional teaching content at vocational schools and universities must be improved and continuously adapted, among other things. Graduates of technical colleges and universities need special further training in the field of renewable energies after joining the company. This additional training is a burden on companies, for example by increasing personnel costs. It is our educational mission to solve this problem and to develop the talents for China's new energy industry accordingly.
What is the significance of the second national vocational school competition in Changchun for Rhea?
Mr. Yi Chao, Rhea Education: "Design and Implementation of PV Electronics 2018" national competition for vocational schools aims to promote vocational education in photovoltaic technology, electrical and information technology, and intelligent microgrid technologies in China.
In the competition, the participants showed a high level of competence and professionalism. At the same time, the participation of teams from all over the country provided us with the opportunity to learn from different experiences and adapt to world-class standards. Reviewing the comprehensive capabilities of the participants is a meaningful measure to cultivate specialized talents with diversified and broad vision.