Dezhou is a city of about 5.5 million inhabitants and is located in the northeastern province of Shandong where the sun always shines.
Solar power is used everywhere, from the street lights to tourist carts, and every roof is covered by solar heaters. Solar energy has become part of city life, so much so that the design industry is developing a study on the aesthetics of heaters to integrate them into building designs.
All the houses in the new town and the 90% in the old one, use solar heating.

In 2010, 3 million solar panels were produced in Dezhou generating an amount of energy equivalent to 540,000 tons of coal, and saving a total amount of 1.35 tons of CO₂.
Nevertheless, this strong use of solar energy is not only due to "green reasons", but essentially for economic and social reasons: solar energy allows people to save money and to find employment.
Solar heaters pay for themselves over a period of 5 years and a half, and this is the only cost that must be paid. In 2007, 800,000 people worked in the solar industry and this figure is expected to grow to 150,000 by 2020.

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