Over 6 lakh Tibetans use solar power: Report

With solar power plants aplenty and household solar facilities a commonplace, more than six lakh people in remote region of Tibet use solar electricity, officials said on Tuesday. 

China has spent about US $644 million to increase solar power capacity to 200 megawatts in the southwestern region with the sunniest skies in China, according to Tibet science and technology department. The Xigaze sand Yangbajain photovoltaic plants have gone online in the last five years, with solar water heaters and 400,000 solar cookers given to Tibetan families, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The region also has many solar-powered phone base stations run by China Mobile. About 79 % of the company's 1,000 base stations in Tibet are driven by solar energy. Even the mobile signal and network coverage along the climbing routes on the north face of Mount Qomolangma come through solar power, the report said.

China has been raising the proportion of clean energy in its energy structure. By 2014, solar power capacity reached 28.05 gigawatts, 400 times of that of 2005, and there are plans to increase the amount to around 100 gigawatts by 2020.