By LUO Rong
From atop a 40-meter monitoring tower in Daqing in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, a vast field of photovoltaic panels can be seen, shimmering toward the horizon.
This is the snappily-named National Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Demonstration Experimental Base, in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, in China's remote northeast.
The base covers a square kilometer, about 140 standard soccer fields. Operated by Huanghe Hydropower the base is a testing ground for equipment, tech and strategies.
Two of the intended five phases already encompass hundreds of projects involving hundreds of developers. The site has six zones to evaluate performance across multiple configurations.
The key is the data analysis system which is nearly 100 percent automated and the brainchild of the State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC), a global leader in photovoltaic power generation.
SPIC controls capacity of 68.6 million kilowatts, more than eight times its production in 2016, securing its position as the world’s largest PV generator for seven consecutive years.
