Editor's Note:

In today's world, green has become the defining color of the New Era in China, with green development emerging as a significant feature of Chinese modernization. Green development, which seeks to promote harmony between humanity and nature while maximizing economic and social benefits with minimal resource consumption, has now become a global consensus. China is actively implementing the concept of sustainable development and is playing a key role in driving the global transition toward a low-carbon future.

However, this year, the US launched a narrative of "overcapacity" against China's new energy sector as part of its unilateral trade protectionism. Against this backdrop, we are launching the yearender 2024 series that casts a global gaze on the transformative power of China's green energy initiatives, illuminating how they empower individuals around the world to realize their dreams and foster hope and development.

In this article, we journey to the Caribbean island country of Cuba to explore how Chinese solar technology is helping this energy-strapped nation reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, lighting the way toward a brighter and more sustainable future for thousands of families and businesses.

City view of Havana, Cuba Photo: VCG

Sitting in his office in Madrid, Roberto A Paneque Fonseca's thoughts drift thousands of miles across the vast Atlantic Ocean to his home country of Cuba, grappling with a severe blackout that had profoundly affected the lives of its residents. 

Despite the distance, Fonseca felt an urgent need to take action and find a way to illuminate the homes of those in Cuba. Just then, his cellphone buzzed with a flurry of calls from Chinese companies which expressed a willingness to provide solar kits, presenting a potential solution to the crisis.

Cuba has never lacked sunshine - the brilliant rays of the sun imbue Cubans with a passionate and vibrant spirit, lively dance moves and music, and high-saturation colorful architecture. Now, Cubans can benefit anew from this blessing by harnessing solar energy to brighten their lives.

In recent years, the Cuban government has actively promoted energy transition policies aimed at reducing dependence on fossil fuels and increasing the share of renewable energy in the national energy structure. 

The Cuban government plans to invest $3.5 billion over the next 15 years to develop renewable energy, with a target to raise the proportion of renewable energy to 24 percent by 2030, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

China's photovoltaic products and technology have become a solution to this vision, helping improve Cuba's power supply capacity and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

Find the path

The solar energy technologies are not new to Fonseca, the president of the Robert A Paneque Foundation, in Spain, who had his first contact with the technologies back in 1975 when he frequently visited a solar panel and inverter factory run by a Spanish businessman in Havana. 

He believed that the solar kits could work in Cuba. "After all these calls from Chinese company executives, I began to investigate the demand and find out about the high demand throughout Cuba for solar panels, batteries, chargers, charge controllers, inverters, wind turbines, and other elements that make up the solar kits," he said.

He then quickly contacted several Cuban engineers and technicians and they made up a group on a social network where they discussed the possibility of being able to produce all this equipment and devices in Cuba.

"Due to our isolation from the outside world, if Cuba's National Electrical Grid continues to fail frequently, hundreds of thousands of Cuban families and companies would suffer a brutal impact on their standard of living and operation due to the lack of energy, electricity," he said.

However, it is not easy to accomplish this mission, starting from the basic purchase of essentials, which is straightforward in most other countries.

"Any consumer in most parts of the world can buy almost anything online and receive it within hours or days. However, the situation for Cuban consumers is entirely different. The inhumane economic and financial blockade imposed by the US government and its Western allies exacerbates the already significant challenges of transporting goods to Cuba via air and sea, which raises costs by 120 percent for solar photovoltaic and wind energy systems," Fonseca explained.

On top of this, there is a critical issue: When any of this sensitive equipment fails due to voltage and frequency fluctuations in Cuba's National Electric System, breakdowns and damage become a persistent problem. 

According to him, it is nearly impossible for customers to repair or replace the damaged equipment necessary to continue benefiting from solar or wind energy. Technicians are also unable to fix inverters, panels, or batteries due to the lack of electronic components, spare parts, and other essential materials.

To find a way out and given the compelling and urgent need to put together a "Made in Cuba" solar kit, the first option they turned to was Chinese producers.

"We went to those companies' website according to their specialty, and found the different circuits, components, electronic boards, circuits, elements, parts and pieces that we needed to be able to assemble our Cuban solar kit," he introduced.

Fonseca made the goal clear to his team - he wanted the solar kit to be as simple as possible: A solar panel, an inverter, and a battery.

After getting those components, they began assembling the inverter among this group of Cuban engineers and technicians who are experts in solar energy and at the same time were receiving advice from Chinese specialists.

According to him, an important reason for using Chinese technology is its affordability and high cost-efficient. The fundamental idea is that this Cuban solar kit with Chinese technology does not exceed the production price of $150 dollars, with a maximum of $200, and that it has a power capacity of at least 1,500 watts, which is made up of at least one solar panel of minimum 500w, a 1.5kw inverter, and a battery of minimum 12 volts and 100 amps.

"A kit with these characteristics would allow a Cuban family to have two or three LED lights on, charge two or three mobile phones, watch TV, listen to the radio and especially keep the refrigerator working to preserve perishable food," he said.

Pass the torch

In a barren field outside a village in western Cuba's Pinar del Río Province, rows of photovoltaic panels stand in quiet order. 

These blue "mirrors," bathed in sunlight, convert solar energy into a steady stream of clean electricity.

This is Cuba's first solar power station project designed, procured, and constructed as an integrated initiative by the Chinese government. Officially handed over to the Cuban government in April 2018, the station represents a milestone in international cooperation, according to the website of POWERCHINA, a Chinese state-owned design and construction company.

Once operational, the station could supply electricity to 20,000 residents. Additionally, it replaces part of the oil-fired power plants, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and setting an example for Cuba's pursuit of clean energy and a low-carbon economy.

To help address Cuba's energy challenges, China's Ministry of Commerce initiated this photovoltaic assistance project. 

The China-aid solar power plant in Pinar del Río, Cuba Photo: Courtesy of POWERCHINA Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited

The Chinese side provided technical and equipment support, while the Cuban side supplied labor and some construction materials.

This cooperative model not only delivers urgently needed clean energy, but also creates employment opportunities for Cubans, the Global Times learned from the POWERCHINA Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited, the builder of the project. 

Zhou Shaoping, the deputy manager of the project, was among the first batch of Chinese engineers and workers to arrive in Cuba.

He told the Global Times that due to international circumstances and sanctions, Cuba faces significant economic challenges. 

"Power outages are a daily occurrence. But here, where temperatures reach 40 C at noon, living without electricity is extremely difficult," Zhou said. 

However, the region's abundant solar resources make it an ideal location for solar power generation.

"Beyond using Chinese-standard equipment and technology, we fully shared our expertise and helped Cuban colleagues enhance their skills through hands-on training. By the end of the project, the Cuban side was capable of operating the facility independently," Zhou noted.

Touch the dream

In the pursuit of a green and low-carbon dream, every individual and every nation stands as equals.

Beside the photovoltaic power station in Pinar del Río, González, a local resident, runs a small restaurant. His life has taken a turn for the better thanks to the electricity generated here. "In the past, Cuba's electricity supply mainly relied on oil-fired power plants, and frequent blackouts caused by fuel shortages made it hard to do business. Now, that's no longer a concern. Blackouts are much less frequent, and business is improving," he said.

For practitioners like Fonseca, there are many plans for the future, even bold ideas. 

He envisions a future where the integration of Chinese technology into Cuban homes and offices through solar kits could revolutionize energy distribution. Thus, it would benefit thousands who cannot afford such technology by generating savings in fossil fuel for Cuba's national electrical system. 

"This is a dream; however, we are confident that with Chinese technology, everything is possible in the world we live in today," he said.

Between the governments, progress is still ongoing.

Tourists ride in a classic car in Havana, Cuba, as the local power company reports that electricity has been restored to half of the city on October 21, 2024. Power outages had affected the entire country previously. Photo: VCG

On December 12, the two sides signed a contract for China's government-assisted project to provide 35 megawatts of solar photovoltaic equipment to Cuba. The project plans to build seven photovoltaic power stations in six Cuban provinces, which are expected to save Cuba approximately 18,000 tons of fuel annually, equivalent to about $7 million, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In June, three China-assisted power stations were connected to Cuba's national grid, generating a total of around 60,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity daily and benefiting an estimated 25,000 power-deficient households, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"For a practitioner in the new energy industry, being able to use my abilities to help more people get on this fast train is my green dream," Zhou said.