IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v76y2022ics0957178722000431.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation project using machine learning and satellite images

Author

Listed:
  • Yin, Hui
  • Zhou, Kaile

Abstract

Photovoltaic poverty alleviation project (PPAP) is one of China's essential targeted poverty alleviation projects. This study proposes a machine learning model and uses satellite images to evaluate the performance of PPAP in China. The trained deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) with transfer learning was first used to identify the scale of photovoltaic (PV) power stations. Then the PV power capacity for poverty alleviation and carbon emission mitigation were estimated. The results identified 38 large-scale centralized and approximately 5,063,293 m2PV power stations built in Jinzhai County, Anhui province, China, by November 2020. The main findings are as follows. (1) The power generation and carbon mitigation of PPAP in Jinzhai County is about 1.8×103 MWh and 1.389 Mt per year. (2) The PPAP in Jinzhai County can recover the total costs and get benefits within three years, at least after completion. (3) Dynamic subsidy policy is needed to prevent over-scale or excessive government investment in PPAP. (4) The utilization of PPAP needs to be strengthened to transform the current “blood transfusion type” of poverty alleviation that relies more on government subsidies into more sustainable “hematopoietic style” poverty alleviation. This study is of significance to more accurately and comprehensively evaluate the performance of PPAP and give better utilize the role of renewable energy in promoting energy conservation, carbon emission reduction, and economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yin, Hui & Zhou, Kaile, 2022. "Performance evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation project using machine learning and satellite images," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s0957178722000431
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2022.101378
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178722000431
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2022.101378?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jinyue Yan & Ying Yang & Pietro Elia Campana & Jijiang He, 2019. "City-level analysis of subsidy-free solar photovoltaic electricity price, profits and grid parity in China," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 709-717, August.
    2. Wang, Yu & Zhou, Sheng & Huo, Hong, 2014. "Cost and CO2 reductions of solar photovoltaic power generation in China: Perspectives for 2020," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 370-380.
    3. Lv, Yuexia & Si, Pengfei & Rong, Xiangyang & Yan, Jinyue & Feng, Ya & Zhu, Xiaohong, 2018. "Determination of optimum tilt angle and orientation for solar collectors based on effective solar heat collection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 11-19.
    4. Malof, Jordan M. & Bradbury, Kyle & Collins, Leslie M. & Newell, Richard G., 2016. "Automatic detection of solar photovoltaic arrays in high resolution aerial imagery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 229-240.
    5. Zhang, Huiming & Xu, Zhidong & Sun, Chuanwang & Elahi, Ehsan, 2018. "Targeted poverty alleviation using photovoltaic power: Review of Chinese policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 550-558.
    6. Xu, Li & Zhang, Qin & Shi, Xunpeng, 2019. "Stakeholders strategies in poverty alleviation and clean energy access: A case study of China's PV poverty alleviation program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    7. Liu, Jing & Huang, Fubin & Wang, Zihan & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2021. "What is the anti-poverty effect of solar PV poverty alleviation projects? Evidence from rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    8. Deborah A. Sunter & Sergio Castellanos & Daniel M. Kammen, 2019. "Disparities in rooftop photovoltaics deployment in the United States by race and ethnicity," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 71-76, January.
    9. Li, Yan & Zhang, Qi & Wang, Ge & McLellan, Benjamin & Liu, Xue Fei & Wang, Le, 2018. "A review of photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects in China: Current status, challenge and policy recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 214-223.
    10. Xue, Jinlin, 2017. "Photovoltaic agriculture - New opportunity for photovoltaic applications in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-9.
    11. Galen Barbose & Andrew J. Satchwell, 2020. "Benefits and costs of a utility-ownership business model for residential rooftop solar photovoltaics," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(10), pages 750-758, October.
    12. Christopher Yeh & Anthony Perez & Anne Driscoll & George Azzari & Zhongyi Tang & David Lobell & Stefano Ermon & Marshall Burke, 2020. "Using publicly available satellite imagery and deep learning to understand economic well-being in Africa," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Huiming Zhang & Kai Wu & Yueming Qiu & Gabriel Chan & Shouyang Wang & Dequn Zhou & Xianqiang Ren, 2020. "Solar photovoltaic interventions have reduced rural poverty in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Han, Mengyao & Xiong, Jiao & Wang, Siyuan & Yang, Yu, 2020. "Chinese photovoltaic poverty alleviation: Geographic distribution, economic benefits and emission mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    15. Felix Creutzig & Peter Agoston & Jan Christoph Goldschmidt & Gunnar Luderer & Gregory Nemet & Robert C. Pietzcker, 2017. "The underestimated potential of solar energy to mitigate climate change," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(9), pages 1-9, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Spandagos, Constantine & Tovar Reaños, Miguel Angel & Lynch, Muireann Á., 2023. "Energy poverty prediction and effective targeting for just transitions with machine learning," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Zumeng & Ding, Liping & Wang, Chaofan & Dai, Qiyao & Shi, Yin & Zhao, Yujia & Zhu, Yuxuan, 2022. "Do operation and maintenance contracts help photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations perform better?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    2. Li, Yunwei & Chen, Kui & Ding, Ruixin & Zhang, Jing & Hao, Yu, 2023. "How do photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects relieve household energy poverty? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    3. Song, Chenchen & Guo, Zhiling & Liu, Zhengguang & Hongyun, Zhang & Liu, Ran & Zhang, Haoran, 2024. "Application of photovoltaics on different types of land in China: Opportunities, status and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    4. Su, Xiaoning & Liu, Pengfei & Mei, Yingdan & Chen, Jiaru, 2023. "The role of rural cooperatives in the development of rural household photovoltaics: An evolutionary game study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. He, Jing & Ren, Fu & Weibel, Robert & Fu, Cheng, 2023. "The effect of large scale photovoltaic-based projects on poverty reduction: Empirical evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    6. Li, Jiaxin & Wang, Zihan & Cheng, Xin & Shuai, Jing & Shuai, Chuanmin & Liu, Jing, 2020. "Has solar PV achieved the national poverty alleviation goals? Empirical evidence from the performances of 52 villages in rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    7. Xiao, Han & Song, Feng & Zheng, Xinye & Chen, Jiaying, 2023. "Community-based energy revolution: An evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation Program's economic and social benefits," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    8. Han, Mengyao & Xiong, Jiao & Wang, Siyuan & Yang, Yu, 2020. "Chinese photovoltaic poverty alleviation: Geographic distribution, economic benefits and emission mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. Yang, Ying & Campana, Pietro Elia & Yan, Jinyue, 2020. "Potential of unsubsidized distributed solar PV to replace coal-fired power plants, and profits classification in Chinese cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Wang, Chaofan & Zhao, Yujia & Strezov, Vladimir & Shuai, Chuanmin & Cheng, Xin & Shuai, Jing, 2023. "Spatial correlation analysis of comprehensive efficiency of the photovoltaic poverty alleviation policy - Evidence from 110 counties in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    11. Wang, Chaofan & Shuai, Jing & Ding, Liping & Lu, Yang & Chen, Jia, 2022. "Comprehensive benefit evaluation of solar PV projects based on multi-criteria decision grey relation projection method: Evidence from 5 counties in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PB).
    12. Wang, Chaofan & Wang, Yilan & Zhao, Yujia & Shuai, Jing & Shuai, Chuanmin & Cheng, Xin, 2023. "Cognition process and influencing factors of rural residents' adoption willingness for solar PV poverty alleviation projects: Evidence from a mixed methodology in rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    13. Liu, Yuan & Chen, Jiahui & Zhao, Lutao & Liao, Hua, 2023. "Rural photovoltaic projects substantially prompt household energy transition: Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    14. Chen, Han & Chen, Wenying, 2021. "Status, trend, economic and environmental impacts of household solar photovoltaic development in China: Modelling from subnational perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    15. Li, Jiaxin & Peng, Jiachao & Shuai, Chuanmin & Wang, Zihan & Huang, Fubin & Khayyam, Muhammad, 2022. "Does the solar PV program enhance the social empowerment of China's rural poor?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    16. Yuan, Chaoqing & Ding, Tianli & Wu, Bin, 2024. "Targetedness, effectiveness, and sustainability of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation programmes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    17. Liu, Jing & Huang, Fubin & Wang, Zihan & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2021. "What is the anti-poverty effect of solar PV poverty alleviation projects? Evidence from rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    18. Wu, Jingwen & Qi, Yiyun & Guan, Xinyi & Wu, Xiaomin & Li, Hui, 2024. "Farmers’ attitudes and adoption preferences toward household solar photovoltaics: A survey from Guangdong Province in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    19. He, Yongxiu & Che, Yiran & Lyu, Yuan & Lu, Ye & Zhang, Yan, 2022. "Social benefit evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation project," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1065-1081.
    20. Song, Yazhi & Liu, Tiansen & Ye, Bin & Li, Yin, 2020. "Linking carbon market and electricity market for promoting the grid parity of photovoltaic electricity in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s0957178722000431. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.