From October 20-22, by the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference returns once again. Nobel and Turing Award winners will share their visions of the future of technology and its trends on site, and the popular professor who "rescues" people from anxiety and the era of involution—Macfarlane—will hold a live dialogue with Xiang Biao!
Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us join together for the sustainable appointment! [Click to register] Recently, Jiangsu Province's first market-oriented "whole-village solar" project was connected to the grid and put into operation in Qizhuang Village, Pei County, Xuzhou. The electricity generated by rooftop solar panels on 73 farmhouses is collected, boosted, and then delivered uniformly into a 10 kV distribution network. This is not only an upgrade of Jiangsu's rural solar development model, but also provides an experience template for the large-scale development and utilization of distributed new energy.
For a long time, rural distributed solar has mostly been developed in a scattered manner, and its drawbacks have become increasingly apparent: developers go door to door to promote sales, villagers sign contracts individually, intermediaries take profits at every layer, and "solar loans" scams may also be encountered; enterprises develop household by household, agents mark up prices layer by layer, costs are high, and profits are thin; power grid enterprises repeatedly upgrade distribution network transformer districts for scattered solar development, causing duplicated investment; and the government faces great pressure in filing and management when dealing with scattered projects.
In response to these problems, in July 2026, the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued the "Implementation Plan for the Development of Distributed Solar Power in Jiangsu Province (2026-2030)," which clearly states that, based on the positioning of benefiting farmers, distributed solar should be encouraged to be developed in whole-village contiguous areas. To this end, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., Ltd. promoted collaboration among local governments, village collectives, solar enterprises, and other parties, and explored in Qizhuang Village, Pei County, a market-oriented development model in which "the village collective sets the stage, social capital plays the role, and grid support provides backing."
Qizhuang Village is the province's first landing sample of market-oriented promotion of "whole-village solar." The project was developed and built by Xuzhou Zhaotai New Energy Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 15.01 million yuan, an installed capacity of 3.9 MW, 2.4 kilometers of 400 V collection lines, 10 pole-mounted transformers of 400 kVA, and one 10 kV collection station, uniformly integrating the rooftop area of 73 farmers, about 16,000 square meters, with an estimated annual power generation of 4.485 million kWh.
Through the market-oriented development of "whole-village solar," Qizhuang Village has achieved increased farmers' income, enhanced village collective efficiency, and greener agriculture, providing new momentum for rural revitalization. The village collective first integrated the village's rooftop resources and, through the "four discussions and two disclosures" procedure, publicly selected a solar enterprise for unified development to protect the villagers' vital interests. Each household received an initial benefit of 15,000 yuan. Based on a 25-year lease term, each household's average annual rent in the first five years is more than 3,000 yuan, and in the following 20 years each household's average annual income is more than 1,500 yuan, with total per-household income increasing by nearly 60,300 yuan.
The village collective also obtained stable returns from the whole-village development. Xue Cunwei, Party secretary of Qizhuang Village, calculated an account: "The village collective obtained solar assets worth about 150,000 yuan, equivalent to 39 kW, plus 400,000 yuan in power generation income, totaling about 550,000 yuan, which can be used for later infrastructure maintenance and assistance to disadvantaged groups."
For solar enterprises, against the backdrop of increasingly saturated space for scattered development, "whole-village solar" has instead significantly enhanced the stability of returns. Taking Qizhuang Village as an example, the development enterprise developed 73 households at once, far more efficient than the scattered model. "In the past, we went household by household, agents took profits layer by layer, costs could not be brought down, and profits became thinner and thinner. If this continued, the survival of the enterprise would be a problem," said Li Lingchong, head of Xuzhou Zhaotai New Energy Co., Ltd. "After whole-village development, with unified procurement, unified construction, and unified operation and maintenance, the volume has increased, market share has stabilized, and overall revenue and profit have also grown. Overall, this is conducive to the sustainable development of the enterprise."
For power grid enterprises, whole-village development and construction reduce the difficulty of repeatedly upgrading the distribution network. Taking Qizhuang Village as an example, the collection and boosting equipment was invested in by the solar enterprise, and the grid was responsible for connection at the public connection point, saving about 2.1 million yuan in supporting investment, with unit investment reduced by nearly 90% compared with scattered development. "Whole-village solar" is connected to the Jiangsu power grid in a unified manner, achieving "observable, measurable, adjustable, and controllable," and alleviating voltage fluctuation and regulation difficulties at the end of the grid.
"All parties have found room to reduce costs in this 'grouping together.'" said Bai Jinhua, director of the Distribution Network Management Department of State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company. The pathfinding in Qizhuang Village has achieved a win-win situation in which "enterprises get projects, farmers get rent, village collectives get returns, and the power grid gets security."
As a major economic province, Jiangsu has dense industrial parks and strong demand for green electricity, with more than 150 development zones, and the number of national-level economic and technological development zones and high-tech industrial development zones ranks first in the country. "Jiangsu's manufacturing industry has great demand for green electricity, but enterprises building their own solar power are often limited by rooftop area and find it difficult to meet their own needs," said Chen Hui, head of the Distribution Network Department of State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., Ltd. "We encourage villages near enterprises with industrial electricity and green electricity needs to give priority to advancing 'whole-village solar' development. After supporting dedicated lines are built, enterprises can use physically traceable green electricity, which is equivalent to building a 'power green oasis' around the park, allowing rural green electricity to serve industrial development nearby."
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