OFweek Solar Photovoltaic Network News: Tens of thousands of impoverished villagers in Anhui are about to become test takers of China's 30 billion yuan photovoltaic poverty alleviation project. However, this ambitious project still needs to solve a series of practical operational problems.

The government hopes to achieve poverty alleviation through photovoltaics and address the situation of overcapacity in solar power generation.

Yuexi County in Anhui Province is located deep in the mountains of eastern China. When I heard that my county was selected for a new national photovoltaic poverty alleviation project, local residents must have felt very lucky.

Yuexi County is one of the poorest areas in China, with 382000 residents living below the national poverty line with an annual income of 2300 yuan (an average of 1 US dollar per day). This is also the main reason why the county has been selected for the national poverty alleviation project in the 13th Five Year Plan.

  In April 2015, the National Energy Administration of China released a poverty alleviation plan, announcing the promotion of the use of solar photovoltaics in 271 counties in 16 provinces across the country, in order to increase the income of 200 million households in these areas.

The project is currently being piloted in Yuexi County, Anhui Province and will be promoted nationwide in the future. The government will install 3-5 kW rooftop solar photovoltaic panels for households with annual income below the poverty line, and build 60kW-100kW village collective distributed photovoltaic power stations in eligible impoverished villages. The project aims to use solar photovoltaic power generation to increase the annual income of each household by 3000 yuan. Local villagers can also earn additional income by renting non arable land or maintaining the power station.

As of now, 182 villages (30000 residents) in Yuexi County have obtained the qualification for photovoltaic poverty alleviation, and construction work is also progressing rapidly: 57 solar power generation parks were completed in 2015, and the remaining 125 will be completed within 2016.

Unlike many other developing countries in the world, China has about 99% of households connected to the power grid.

Each household generates electricity for their own use, which not only reduces electricity bills but also sells surplus electricity to the grid. Of the profits of the village collective distributed photovoltaic power station, 40% are shared equally among the villagers, and the remaining 60% is used to pay for loans and park construction. This means that once the solar photovoltaic panels are installed, every household participating in the project can quickly see the benefits.

"The impact of the project still needs to be tested over time," warned Kang Yixiong from China Carbon Future Asset Management, which is responsible for financial and technical supervision of the project.

This project may have a huge impact. The participants in the pilot are all the poorest families in China, with almost no appliances at home (because they cannot afford electricity). The additional income brought by the project may change this situation. "To improve these people's living standards, sometimes electricity alone is not enough. In addition to energy supply, they also need greater help."

In addition to direct benefits, villagers may also receive national subsidies for solar power generation projects. Due to overcapacity in solar power generation, the subsidy rate in 2017 will be lowered, but as long as there is subsidy, the income of villagers will increase. Village level solar power plants will also become a part of the carbon trading market currently under construction in China. Village solar power stations with emission reduction certificates can be discounted through carbon trading programs by exchanging 1 ton of carbon dioxide emissions for every 1000 kWh of green electricity.

China's national carbon trading market will be officially launched in 2017. At that time, China will have the world's largest carbon trading market, and the transaction volume generated will be considerable. China has launched pilot carbon trading markets in seven provinces and cities. Kang Yixiong said that the total emission quota in 2015 was equivalent to 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, with an expected annual transaction volume of 1.3 billion yuan.