The city of Datong, Shanxi province has purchased some solar powered houses that took part in the Solar Decathlon China, in the city of Datong, Aug 2-13, a program for college teams that have to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive.

The idea behind the college competition is to push cooperation and innovation in the solar power industry and the use of solar energy and energy-efficiency technologies.

The house demonstration site has had more than 200,000 visitors since Aug 2.

Datong bought the 15 winning houses because of its abundance of solar power, with an average of 2800 hours of sunshine annually and 6.1 kWh per square meter of solar radiation. Datong is also working hard to build a solar power industrial base, so these solar powered houses are a way to encourage the development of the industry.

Edited by Roger Bradshaw