Milestone in Solar Architecture: Himin’s Start of a Solar Valley
Submitted by Baerbel Epp on January 30, 2009
Ming Huang, founder and chairman of Himin group and since 2008 vice president of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).
Photo: Sven Tetzlaff
It’s a milestone in solar architecture - the new International Exchange Center (IEC) of the vacuum tube collector manufacturer Himin Solar Energy Group Co. in the city of Dezhou in Shandong Province in China. It is called "Sun-Moon Mansion". The energy efficient building complex needs 1/10th the energy that a conventional building would consume. The building's heating and cooling demand is covered by a huge solar thermal installation including an aquifuge trans-seasonal energy storage and a ground source heat pump. Sun-Moon Mansion is a public house combining five institutions on a floor space of 45,000 m2: the Himin manufacturing base, an international conference centre, a scenic spot, an international training center as well as a R&D and testing center. The compound will host the 4th International Solar Cities Congress in 2010.
The start of the Solar Valley: Himin group’s chairman Ming Huang dreams of a Solar Valley that "demonstrates to the international community everything that solar energy can do."
Figure: Himin
The Sun-Moon Mansion is part of a Solar Valley idea of Himin founder Huang Ming. “It is my dream to show the international community everything that solar energy can do,” Huang describes his vision. “The Solar Valley should include production, R&D, a quality assurance centre as well as a group of suppliers, a solar museum, an international solar promotion and education centre and a sightseeing spot.”
The "Sun-Moon Mansion" building with a remarkable solar architecture. Photo: Sven Tetzlaff
Huang started with the production of solar thermal components in 1990. From the very beginning, he took quality management very seriously. For checking the quality of the raw materials Himin is receiving, it developed numerous internal standards: “We now have over 360 internal company standards. There are only 48 relevant international standards and we have only 20 national standards here in China”. Today, Himin employs 6,300 people in Dezhou and has about 60,000 partners throughout China. It is one of the very few companies that combine all the production steps of solar thermal systems under one company roof, starting from borosilicate glass to the collector panel as well as tanks and complete thermosiphon systems.
Still under construction: Himin already moved into the Center in September 2008, but the heating technology is not yet complete.
Photo: Sven Tetzlaff
The text was written by Sven Tetzlaff, a specialist for solar thermal technology. His office is based in Hangzhou in the province of Zhejiang, China. E-Mail: mail@sventetzlaff.de
More information: www.himin.com
