This is a solar thermal power experiment (unmanned aerial photo) that was taken on 12 july 2024 in the yanqing district of beijing. Xinhua
Xinhua news, beijing, 16 december: scientists who burn ceramics with solar energy
Xinhua news agency journalist yuan zhuang
The scientist wang zhi feng, who studies solar thermal power generation, is extremely enthusiastic about the ice movement. His office had a photo wall full of photographs of him and his family skimming and turning on the snowway。
He even envisaged the establishment of solar-powered indoor ski fields on the southern sea islands. In his view, solar energy was a clean energy source that could be applied across borders to multiple scenarios, either to heat people or to a variety of energy forms, including refrigeration。
“the earth's energy source is solar energy, so solar energy is theoretically and practically viable for conversion to low-energy electricity, heat, and chemistry.” wang zhi feng said。
On 23 june 2025, wang zhifeng, a researcher at the electrotechnical institute of the chinese academy of sciences, was interviewed by a journalist at his office. Xinhua news agency
As a researcher at the electrotechnical institute of the chinese academy of sciences, wang zhi feng has been working for decades to expand the technological boundaries of human use of solar energy。
For example, he is currently studying the use of solar light to burn ceramics. He developed a pottery-burning process with zero carbon emissions through precision regulation of the angle and temperature of the optic lens. The results of this solar pottery technology were highlighted at the 27th united nations climate change conference, which demonstrated to the world the innovative applications of china's solar thermal technology in the high carbon industry。
Wang zhi feng never lacks innovative ideas. His research is rooted in the earth and extends to space。
In 2021, he led the solar inter-seasonal heat management project, which successfully achieved 210 days of summer heat storage for winter heating and effectively addressed the issue of solar intermittentity。
This year, he also extended solar applications to the moon survey project, which proposed a solar power program for the moon, which aims to generate solar power on the moon through the development of technologies such as axle solar power poles。
In 2024, wang zhi feng also led the team to successfully develop the first global supercritical co2 solar thermal generator set. The unit uses solar energy as a source of energy, generating electricity from supercritical carbon dioxide as a work mass。
"i've been very upset since i got the job." king zhi-fong remembered. At the start of the 2019 project, there was no global precedent for the success of such power plants. At the same time, the eu's horizon 2020 plan and the us department of energy's “raising day plan” were set up, but none of them made a breakthrough。
After five years of deep-seated research, wang zhi feng led a team of 18 scientific institutions to overcome many of the technical difficulties involved in equipment design and manufacturing, and eventually achieved solar supercritical co2 generation by collectors working at 700 degrees celsius。
“the key value of this technology is not only to reduce the cost of generating electricity, but, more importantly, to sustain the power supply through heat storage devices, solar thermal power stations, or in bad weather, so that it can actually be generated all day。
In his assessment, suh jiancheng, a member of the chinese academy of science and technology, said: “there will be no solar thermal development in china without the efforts and insistence of comrade wang zhi feng.”
In recent years, china's solar thermal power industry has ushered in a golden period of development — a steady increase in installed capacity, a continuing expansion in the application of technology and a growing number of enterprises embarking on this track。
China's first energy law, which came into force on 1 january this year, clearly states that it “has actively developed photovoltaic power”. Central and local governments have also issued policies to promote photovoltaic technology and industrial development。
According to china's blue book 2024 for the solar thermal power industry, by the end of 2024, china's cumulative installed capacity for solar thermal power generation had risen from 83. 8 to 10. 6 per cent globally。
But 30 years ago, when wang zhi feng entered the industry, solar power was still on the cold track in china. However, he was convinced that solar thermal power had great prospects, a vision which stemmed from his father's influence。
Wang zhifeng's father, wang devon, is also an expert in solar thermal use. In the 1950s, after graduating from qinghua university, wang de fong was able to travel from his hometown to the north-west to build in the new china, where he moved to the frontier of solar construction in the 1980s. Wang zhifeng said that what is most reminiscent of his father's dedication — often voluntarily abandoning his unit's welfare and giving priority to his colleagues in everything。
"this has made a big difference to me, so that i learn not to fight for anything." wang zhi feng said. In his words, all achievements were the result of teamwork, but his own efforts were rarely mentioned。
Photothermal power stations are built mostly in gobi and desert areas, with temperatures as high as 40°c in the summer and as low as 20°c below zero in the winter. Scientists like wang zhifeng travel in difficult places。
A solar thermal power station is usually composed of tens of thousands of sunglasses. These mirrors are clothed on the ground in a concentric circle, following the trajectory of the sun like sunflower, reflecting the sun and bringing it together in the central heating tower。
Wang zhi feng's most successful work was the solar thermal power pilot plant built near the great wall of yan qing dynasty in beijing in 2012. From the first generation of solar-heated water to 400 degrees celsius to the fourth generation of solar-heated particles to 700 degrees celsius, driving the upgrading programme of ultracritical carbon dioxide generation, the power plant he led witnessed the successful landing of several major experiments. He and his colleagues named the power station's heating tower the “sun tower”。
Today, wang zhishang's team is relying on the power station to conduct solar ceramic and cement studies up to 1460 degrees celsius. “the significance of this study is not only a substitute fuel, but also a high artistic value.” wang zhi feng said that his future direction of research was to achieve the integration of science and art。
"as the sun is different every minute, each piece of work that is burned will be different in texture, colour and color." wang zhi-fong said, "this is an interesting job."
