CHINA’S LIGHT

China's shining light in the energy challenge
February 22, 2010 (China Daily via Xinhua)

"…[Peng Xiaofeng, 34-year-old modest and quietly spoken chairman and chief executive officer of LDK Solar, one of China's leading solar energy companies]…insists solar energy will provide 60 per cent of the world's energy supply in 100 years…[and] will eclipse coal, gas and oil in the 22nd century…[H]e believes people consistently underrate this natural form of new energy.

"China's solar power usage currently barely registers…Because of their current marginal status, it is all too easy to dismiss new energy sources…The Chinese government, however, wants 20 percent of the country's power to be from renewable energy (of which hydro will be a major part) by 2020…Peng insists people fail to realize existing energy sources, oil in particular, are going to run out…"

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"LDK has had something of a torrid time itself recently. Its shares on the New York Stock Exchange initially soared to nearly $70 from their initial flotation price of $27 in 2007 but have since slumped to just a tenth of their peak value at around $7…With Peng owning around 70 per cent of the equity of the company, this has put a considerable dent in his personal fortune…In December, the company went back to the NYSE and has raised a further $122 million…[D]espite stock market nerves the company is still the world's largest maker of solar wafers and has increased its global market share from 11 percent in 2008 to 18 percent now…

"…Xinyu…in Jiangxi province is now known as 'Solar Power City'…Around 80 percent of LDK's 14,000 employees are from the city itself. The presence of LDK has also generated a cluster of other companies from processing raw materials to all other aspects of solar power engineering…LDK has also established schools to train people to work in the solar power industry and it has also contributed towards the city's infrastructure…"

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"Peng, who likes to be referred to by his nickname "Light", comes from a rural area…In 1997, with China products now in demand throughout the world his timing to start a business couldn't have been better…Suzhou Liouxin Industrial Group, began to locally manufacture and sell protective products such as safety gloves…The business was a spectacular success, soon hitting sales of $7m and within a few years $200m…Then came the idea to move into solar power, which was inspired by a trip to Europe…

"…He spotted there was a shortage in China of companies producing multi-crystalline wafers, the light sensitive tiles which capture light and turn it into usable energy…He decided to invest $30 million of his own money to launch the business in 2005…China is now one of the major world centers for solar power…Apart from LDK, Suntech…is a leading player, as is GLC-Poly…The future of solar power is still dogged by questions about its cost…Peng says the cost is being driven down all the time as the technology improves…Still only in his mid-30s, Peng has every intention of being around when the age of solar power finally dawns…"