Did you know that elevators can also work without electricity? The first solar energy elevator has been put into production in Qingdao. It is not only energy-saving but can also work on rainy days.

Qingdao Jinggong Elevator Manufacturing Co., Ltd, is located in Licang Industrial Park. In front of the company building there is an experimental plate labeled "Elevator Manufacturing”. Several solar panels hang on the wall of the experimental plate. Yu Tao, vice president of the company, told reporters that the storage of the solar panels was sufficient for the solar energy elevator. “Since the shining point of the solar energy elevator is the improvement of its materials and technology, there is no difference between normal and solar energy elevators in terms of speed and quietness,” Yu said.

One of the advantages of the solar energy elevator lies in its ability to store energy as well as use it. Thanks to this feature, users can say goodbye forever to the fear of hanging in the air as a result of sudden power outage in the elevator. In addition, the operation of the solar energy elevator would hardly be affected by weather.

"The biggest advantage of the solar energy elevator is not its emergency functions, but its energy-saving ones.” According to a report conducted by the National Inspection Center of Elevator Quality, compared with normal elevators, the solar energy elevator could save more than 60% of its energy. Yu told reporters there were 40,000 to 50,000 elevators in Qingdao. Suppose there are 40,000 elevators, and the power of a normal elevator is 150,000 kilowatt. If every elevator works 8 hours a day and 300 days a week, then 1 billion RMB could be saved if they were all replaced by the solar energy ones.

However, the cost of the solar elevator is so high that it is hard for it to gain ground in residential areas. “While a normal elevator cost 120,000 to 20,000 RMB, the solar energy one is 30,000 to 50,000 RMB higher than the normal one, although they have almost the same facilities”

By Liu Xi and Audrey