ගබඩා කළ ධාන්‍ය සුරකින පරිසර හිතකාමී තාක්ෂණය

Green technology supports safe storage of grain in Shandong

Environmentally friendly technologies have been of great help in grain storage in major grain-producing regions in China as the country enters a critical period of summer grain procurement.

Flat roof warehouses at the Central Grain Reserve Dezhou Direct Warehouse Co., Ltd. affiliated to China Grain Reserves Group (Sinograin), a state-owned enterprise responsible for the management and operation of central reserve stocks of grain, oil and cotton, in Dezhou City of east China's Shandong Province, have all been fitted with solar panels to protect grains from heat.

Each of the warehouses, has a height of over 12 meters, equivalent to a five or six-story building. During summer days, the temperatures can reach as high as 37 to 38 degrees Celsius with the ground temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius outside of the warehouses.

Therefore, every warehouse is now covered by an 1,800-square-meter photovoltaic array composed of 1,584 solar panels, able to bring the internal temperatures down by three to five degrees Celsius during the summer.

"There is 20-centimeter gap between the solar panels and the roof, allowing the wind to flow through and carry away some of the heat, which helps cool the building. Additionally, as the panels reflect some of the sunlight, it's like putting a sun hat over the warehouse," said Cui Chao, an operation and maintenance worker at the photovoltaic power station of the warehouse.

The solar panels do more than just providing shade; they can also generate electricity. The photovoltaic array on top of one warehouse can produce 2,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, enough to power air conditioners for 100 households.

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