Cutting-edge technology: Starting with individual stealth equipment

Chapter 119 One bug is a bug, but a bunch of bugs can work.

Lin Chuan looked at the grass under the photovoltaic panels and said unhurriedly, "Sheep graze on the grass. Let the flock come in and nibble away the weeds that are sprouting. The panels are 1.5 meters off the ground, so even if the sheep stand up, they can't reach the surface of the panels."

Turning his gaze away, Lin Chuan looked at Station Master Ma.

"Even if one or two boards are damaged, the cost of replacing them is nothing compared to your current monthly weeding costs of over 100,000 yuan, plus the power generation loss caused by the boards being blocked."

Station Master Ma frowned and thought for a while, his expression slowly changing from hesitation to thoughtfulness.

A young technician next to him said, "It might actually work. Besides, sheep manure is natural organic fertilizer when it's in the ground. Maybe in a few years the soil here will be improved."

Another engineer accompanying the group said, "But—what if the sheep gnaw on the cables?"

Lin Chuan looked around, examined the photovoltaic power generation equipment on site, and then said, "The cables all run underground through pipe corridors and cable trays, so the sheep can't reach them."

He continued, "The DC combiner box and inverter are installed in the equipment room, while only the photovoltaic panels and their supports are outdoors."

Sheep aren't interested in metal or glass; as long as there's grass to eat on the ground, they won't touch anything else.

Station Master Ma was silent for a few seconds, then slapped his thigh: "Alright, let's give it a try! There's no harm in trying. If it really works, it'll be a huge help."

Lin Chuan stayed at Tala Beach for about two and a half hours.

He inspected the core area of ​​the power station, looked at the operating data of several inverter cabinets, and chatted with a few front-line maintenance personnel.

After inspecting the site, they were quite satisfied with the implementation of the singlet fission solar energy technology, and then got into their car and left.

Three days after Lin Chuan left Tala Beach, Station Master Ma convened a brief meeting with the power station operations team.

The topic of discussion was whether or not sheep could be raised in photovoltaic power plants.

The main concerns are twofold: first, that the sheep might damage the photovoltaic equipment; and second, that introducing sheep would increase the burden of additional manual management.

However, after on-site calculations and cost comparisons, everyone felt it was worth a try.

The replacement cost of a single photovoltaic panel is only a few hundred yuan. Even if dozens of panels are damaged in a year, the total cost is only tens of thousands of yuan.

Currently, the power station spends more than 12 yuan per month on manual weeding, which amounts to more than 140 million yuan per year. This does not include the loss of power generation caused by weeds blocking the power.

So the power plant's purchasing staff went to a nearby pastoral area and bought sixty sheep.

The sheep are local alpine fine-wool sheep, which are cold-resistant, disease-resistant, and not picky about grass. The power station vacated an unused warehouse as a temporary sheep pen and also transferred some people from the operation and maintenance team to be responsible for herding the sheep.

But after raising it for more than a week, new problems arose.

The power plant is already very busy, and diverting maintenance staff to herd sheep means that everyone else's shifts will have to be completely readjusted.

Moreover, the maintenance personnel are technical people, not herders.

They were neither skilled at nor interested in herding sheep.

The sheep need to be driven out to graze, brought back to the pen in the evening, the pen needs to be cleaned, and extra feed needs to be provided when there isn't enough hay. All these miscellaneous tasks combined are much more troublesome than expected.

The problem soon took a turn for the better when a local driver at the power station said something that made Station Master Ma suddenly see the light.

"Why raise them yourself? There are villagers in the nearby villages who herd sheep. Why not just have them bring the sheep over to eat? It's a win-win situation."

Upon hearing this, Station Master Ma immediately had the driver lead the way to the village closest to the power station that afternoon.

When they found the village secretary and explained the situation, he was astonished: "You mean, the grass in your power station is free for the sheep to eat? And it's free?"

"It's free." Station Master Ma nodded. "You help us weed, and we'll provide you with pasture. However, once the sheep are in the park, you'll need to send someone to watch over them. They can't run around freely, and the cable trays under the solar panels can't be moved. If the sheep damage any of the panels, you must report it immediately."

Without saying a word, the village party secretary nodded in agreement and then picked up his phone to make a call.

The first group to arrive was a herder family from Tala Beach Town who raised more than 200 sheep. He rode his motorcycle with his wife to the power station gate.

The herdsman's eyes lit up as he looked at the lush grass beneath the endless solar panels inside the fence.

"Is this grass really being given to the sheep for free?"

"real."

The grass was tender, green, and thick, much better than the dry, barren hay he fed on the degraded pastures.

"Then I'll bring the sheep over tomorrow."

A unique feature will soon be added to the single-linear fission photovoltaic power station at Tara Beach.

The sheep of nearby herders were driven inside, and they leisurely strolled and grazed under the photovoltaic panels. The 1.5-meter-high suspension of the photovoltaic panels above the ground was indeed completely unaffected.

The sheep could only raise their heads about a meter high, not even reaching the board.

The weeds that used to give maintenance staff headaches on the grassland no longer have a chance to grow tall due to the continuous grazing by the sheep.

The photovoltaic panels quietly convert the intense sunlight into electricity, while sheep graze on the tender grass beneath them.

The two do not interfere with each other and complement each other perfectly.

After more than a month, the feedback was better than anyone expected.

The most obvious change is the reduction in weeding costs at the power station; the cost of manual weeding has dropped from 120,000 yuan per month to zero.

The sheep replaced the lawnmower, greatly slowing down the regeneration rate of weeds.

The herders' grazing costs have also dropped significantly. They have saved a lot of money on feed, and the sheep are eating free natural pasture, which makes them gain weight much faster than when they were kept in enclosures.

The second unexpected benefit was fire prevention.

Because the Tala Beach Plateau is dry and windy, the dry weeds piled on the ground are natural flammable materials. If a spark from an electrical equipment malfunction occurs, the consequences could be disastrous.

The sheep grazed the grass on the ground clean, effectively creating a natural firebreak under the photovoltaic panels.

The third gain has even greater long-term significance.

As the sheep graze in the park, their droppings are directly discharged onto the ground. These natural organic fertilizers slowly decompose under the highland sun, continuously improving the desertified soil.

A month after the sheep entered the park, the technicians conducted a simple soil quality comparison.

The soil organic matter content under the photovoltaic panels has increased significantly compared to before the project was completed, and the water retention capacity has also improved markedly.

The grass grows better, the sheep eat more, and their droppings, in turn, promote grass growth, forming a positive cycle of green ecological closed loop.

The news quickly reached the neighboring power station, and the person in charge there drove over to take a look, spending an hour inside the station.

"Old Ma, that was a brilliant move! How did you come up with that?"

"Haha, to be honest, this wasn't my idea. Lin Chuan mentioned it when he came to inspect last month, and we just gave it a try. We didn't expect it to work so well."

"I'm having a headache over this issue too. Anyway, we'll get the sheep to clear the grass."

A week later, flocks of sheep were also spotted at the neighboring power station.

The group quickly came up with the name "photovoltaic-farming complementary" and decided to follow suit in subsequent photovoltaic power station expansions in the area.

Electricity is generated on the roof, and livestock graze underneath.

The two not only do not interfere with each other, but also form a cyclical and symbiotic micro-ecosystem.

Sheep graze on tall weeds, preventing them from blocking solar panels and replacing expensive manual weeding, thus reducing the company's maintenance costs.

This and fire risks.

Returning manure to the fields serves as natural organic fertilizer, continuously improving soil quality, promoting pasture growth, and restoring desert ecosystems.

The abundant natural pasture within the power station fully meets the grazing needs of the sheep, saving herders a large expense in purchasing feed and significantly reducing breeding costs. Moreover, the "photovoltaic sheep" graze on natural pasture, resulting in firm meat and excellent quality.

This incident, after being reported by some media outlets, has also sparked heated discussions among netizens online.

[Uh...you can do that?!]

[One bug is a bug, but a bunch of bugs can work —————— (facepalm.jpg)]

[When I saw the solar panels were just installed, I knew the sandstorm would have a huge impact, and I thought it would be abandoned. I really didn't expect it to grow so much weed.]

[Infrastructure construction only needs to begin; nature will take care of the rest (Shiba Inu/jpg)]

The staff are happy because they no longer need to raise sheep and cut grass. The villagers are happy because they have a place to graze their sheep. The sheep are happy because they have a place to eat grass. I'm also happy because I can eat mutton! Haha!

[Photovoltaic power generation, sheep farming by herders, and desertification control along the way—it's a win-win situation.]

These photovoltaic panels truly convert solar energy into electricity and transmit it, perfectly addressing the problem of evaporation exceeding rainfall in desert regions.

[Where do they transport water to wash the solar panels? That must cost a lot, right?]

[The Longyangxia Reservoir is right next door; there's no shortage of water, it just takes electricity to pump it up.]

[The long-term cost should only be the electricity for pumping water, but this is a power plant. If it can't even supply this much electricity, it just means the land isn't suitable for power generation. And human labor is necessary regardless of whether water is used or not.]

In early November, autumn was already in full swing.

Outside the main building of DeepBlue Technology's new headquarters, the national flag and DeepBlue Technology's company flag fluttered in the autumn wind on the flagpole in front of the gate.

Meeting Hall No. 3, located on the second floor of the headquarters' annex building, was packed to capacity today.

Almost all the core enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the domestic photovoltaic industry were present, including upstream raw material manufacturers, midstream cell and module manufacturers, downstream power plant developers and EPC general contractors, as well as several leading inverter and mounting suppliers.

Each company sent a representative at the vice president level or above.

The conference tables were arranged in a U-shape, with each company's nameplate and a set of conference materials on each table.

A moment later, Lin Chuan walked into the conference room, followed by Shen Yuxin, who was carrying a folder.

Lin Chuan sat down in the main seat, his gaze sweeping over every face present.

These faces have become quite familiar over the past year.

The press conference in May 2013 shook the entire industry. In the following months, manufacturers from all walks of life gathered to discuss strategic cooperation agreements, which eventually led to the formation of the "Deep Blue System". This year, the system was used to set unified export prices. Most of these people had participated in the project.

Lin Chuan opened the meeting materials in front of him; Shen Yuxin was in charge of taking meeting minutes.

Today's meeting is the annual supply and demand coordination meeting for the DeepBlue system's photovoltaic sector.

The agenda is simple: first, to review the industry's performance in the first three quarters of this year; second, to discuss the total output target and structural arrangements for next year; and third, to address the core pain points currently facing the industry.

At that moment, the sound of turning over documents filled the conference room.

A middle-aged man named Zhao Shuheng stood up and walked to the projection screen at the front of the conference room.

"Let me first report on the overall industry data for the first three quarters of this year."

Zhao Shuheng pressed the remote control pen, and the first slide of the PPT popped up: "According to publicly available statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the industry, in the first three quarters of 2014, the total output value of my country's photovoltaic manufacturing industry exceeded 1700 billion yuan, which is close to 2300 billion yuan annualized. The newly installed capacity was about 1513 million kilowatts, representing a year-on-year increase of over 70%."

A second page popped up on the conference screen, which was a comparison chart of global installations.

"What's even more noteworthy is the cumulative installed capacity data." Zhao Shuheng circled a line on the chart with his laser pointer. "As of the end of October this year, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation in China reached 5318 million kilowatts. This figure has officially surpassed Germany, and by a significant margin, making China the world's largest user of photovoltaic power."

Zhao Shuheng added, "The power generation in the first three quarters was 392 billion kilowatt-hours, and it is expected to exceed 500 billion kilowatt-hours for the whole year."

A few soft claps rang out in the conference room, but quickly fell silent again.

China's photovoltaic industry has gone through more than a decade of development, growing from nothing to something, from small to large, and from relying on exports to experiencing explosive growth in the domestic market.

Today, this road has finally reached the number one position in the world.

"The performance on the manufacturing side was equally strong."

Zhao Shuheng switched to the next page, which showed a trend chart of component prices and power plant construction costs.

"The price of photovoltaic modules has dropped to below 3 yuan per watt, and the construction cost of photovoltaic power plants using new technologies has dropped to about 5 yuan per watt."

Clearly, the rapid decline in costs has further lowered the economic barrier to large-scale construction of photovoltaic power plants.

Photovoltaic power generation is getting closer and closer to the critical point of grid parity, which is why the installed capacity has seen such a huge explosive growth this year.

He turned to the page with the export data and moved the laser pointer back and forth between a few numbers.

"In terms of exports, the export value of photovoltaic products in the first three quarters was about US$125 billion, which is 25% higher than the total export value in 2013. This is quite an impressive achievement."

The business partners present couldn't help but smile slightly, clearly having gotten a piece of the action.

It's worth noting that China's photovoltaic industry exported $100 billion worth of products in 2013, and in the first three quarters of this year, exports exceeded the total for the entire previous year by $25 billion.

More importantly, this achievement was made despite being subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties by Europe and the United States.

Emerging markets such as Asia and Latin America provided new growth opportunities. While the volume of exported goods did not actually increase, the value of exports rose significantly.

The answer is simple: prices have increased, and the extra profit comes from real gains.

At this point, Zhao Shuheng switched to a new table, which was labeled with two sets of comparative data: "Deep Blue System Enterprises" and "Non-Deep Blue System Enterprises".

"In the second half of this year, all manufacturers that joined DeepBlue Technology's new photovoltaic system have achieved a turnaround from losses to profits."

"The average profit margin of the top ten companies in the industry reached 15%, and the main driver of profit growth was the improvement in overseas export efficiency."

"I believe everyone here has a personal understanding of the core logic behind this."

"After joining the DeepBlue ecosystem, domestic photovoltaic companies have transformed from a fragmented group into a unified entity. Their bargaining power on the export side has increased significantly, and the profit margin of overseas business has surged dramatically, contributing the majority of the industry's profits."

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