Leading Chinese module manufacturer JA Solar has started delivery of 1GW of its DeepBlue 4.0 Pro modules to the 2GW Suji Sandland agrivoltaics (agriPV) project in Inner Mongolia, China.
This is not the first time the modules will be deployed in an environment with challenging climactic conditions – last September JA Solar delivered a similar quantity of modules to an animal husbandry project in Tibet – and the company’s leadership stressed that the deal demonstrates the value of designing modules that are resilient in a range of environments.
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“This project demonstrates how advanced PV technologies contribute to clean energy and ecological recovery in harsh desert environments,” said Aiqing Yang, executive president of JA Solar.
The project, which is expected to begin commercial operations by the end of this year, will cover over 42,000 acres, and will be a component of the ‘Great Solar Wall’, a mammoth 250-mile-long solar installation across the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia that is estimated to cost as much as US$100 billion.
Ordos Energy, the developer, expects to complete the project by the end of this decade, and as of the end of 2024, 5.4GW of solar capacity was in operation. Upon completion, the project will be able to single-handedly meet the annual electricity demand of Beijing.
The use of agriPV in particular will help to limit the desertification of the region, as Ordo Energy plans to plant around 6,000 acres of plants beneath the modules to be installed at the project. The news follows Fraunhofer ISE’s development of lightweight PV modules designed for use specifically in the agriPV sector.
