Tech company facilitates clean energy expansion with WeChat mini program

Longi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd, a solar power technology company based in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, has recently launched a mini program on WeChat where users can receive one-stop rooftop solar power services with just a few clicks.

The move is to tap into China's fast-growing solar power industry and rapidly increasing rooftop solar photovoltaic installations, the company said.

Through the mini program, which is called "Longi Sunflower System", users can receive services including panel purchasing, installation and maintenance. Users who are short of money but desire to install rooftop solar power systems can also apply for loans through the mini program, as Longi has cooperated with banks to solve users' financing hurdles.

Longi said users can also get returns from selling solar power to electric companies by attaching it to the grid. It said users can get more than 150,000 yuan ($22,363) within 25 years by selling all the power generated from its rooftop solar power system with a 21-kilowatt capacity in Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The launch of the mini program is also an important move for Longi to transition from a panel manufacturer to a clean energy services provider, the company said.

"Rooftop solar power system installations in China have seen a surge over the past few years, buoyed by incentives and supportive policies from the government, as China is transitioning to a greener energy structure," said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

Family-use distributed solar power stations, mainly referring to rooftop solar power systems, have seen a newly increased capacity of over 2.5 million kW connected to the grid in the first quarter of this year, said the National Energy Administration.

From 2017 to 2021, total rooftop installations in China increased from 19.4 gigawatts to 27.3 GW, and the market is likely to continue to grow, according to Rystad Energy, an energy research and business company based in Oslo, Norway.

This increase in China also drove total global rooftop solar capacity, it said.

"Compared with a traditional energy source like coal, solar power is environmentally friendly as it avoids carbon emissions. Compared with concentrated solar power, which is deployed in large units and commonly seen in massive land areas such as deserts, rooftop solar power systems have fewer requirements on land and costs, and offer users extra benefits when they sell excess power to electricity companies," said Lin.

"In addition, developing rooftop solar systems has no need for costly transmission infrastructure, requires minimal maintenance and generates efficient power, making it an important part of China's development of the solar industry," he said.

China vowed to cover as many as 50 percent of its new buildings that are classified as public institutions with rooftop solar panels by 2025, according to a statement jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator, and the NEA.

According to the statement, China will actively promote the installation of rooftop solar power systems in rural areas and industrial parks, and promote deep integration between solar power and buildings.

China's increasing rooftop solar photovoltaic installations come as the country is scaling up new energy deployment as a major step in its green transition.

Last year, China promised to launch a batch of wind and solar power projects totaling 97 GW in desert areas. This year, the country announced the second batch of wind and solar power projects which target a goal of 455 GW.

The country aims to have its total installed capacity of wind and solar power exceed 1.2 billion kW by 2030, and a recently released statement from the NDRC and NEA mapped out plans to achieve that goal.

"As China's solar companies strive to reduce production costs, increase installations and accelerate the development of new technologies, the industry will continue to grow and have great room for further development," Lin said.