After six years of development, the photovoltaic (PV) industry has become a pillar industry for North China's Shanxi province to restructure its rural industry and help alleviate poverty. 

PV industry paves new path for rural poverty alleviation 

Solar power panels now cover a hilltop in Liancun village, Taiyuan city, in Shanxi province. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

Shanxi has been advancing poverty alleviation by establishing solar power farms with a total installed capacity of 2.94 million kilowatts, including 5,479 village-level PV stations with installed capacity of 1.55 million kilowatts. These projects now cover 58 poor counties across the province. 

The PV industry has revitalized the idle and barren land of local villages. Over 3,333 hectares of barren mountains and subsidence areas caused by coal mining has been utilized by solar power projects, helping poor villages earn a total land rent of 13 million yuan ($1.91 million) a year.

As of June 30, 2020, solar power projects across the province had generated cumulative revenue of 2.6 billion yuan, 2.24 billion yuan of which was allocated to benefit 9,380 villages, including 6,376 impoverished villages. 

Poor villages in 35 key counties under national poverty alleviation schemes each receive benefits of over 100,000 yuan annually on average through PV projects.