From Resting Places to Renewable Powerhouses: A Green Burial Revolution

During the Qingming Festival, the drizzle is like silk, gently brushing across the earth, nourishing all things. People hold flowers in their hands, respectfully, and slowly walk towards the quiet cemetery to pay tribute to the ancestors who once gave us life and love. In Nanjing Yuhuatai Gongde Garden, a completely different scene is quietly unfolding. On the wall of the burial wall, rows of solar panels stand quietly, as if they are silently telling a story about technology and ecology, life and death.

Here, photovoltaic panels not only convert sunlight into electrical energy, but also add an unusual green hope to this resting place.

In traditional concepts, cemeteries are often regarded as "sleeping land" and the destination after the end of life. However, "cemetery-light complementarity" re-examines the value and potential of this land from a new perspective. It cleverly combines cemeteries with photovoltaic power stations, transforming seemingly useless land into "ecological assets for sustainable power generation."

Site selection secret: The site selection of cemeteries often follows the principle of facing north and south and having sufficient sunlight, which coincides with the site selection requirements of photovoltaic power stations. In addition, the land use period of cemeteries is as long as 50-70 years, and its stability far exceeds that of farmland or tidal flats. These unique conditions provide a solid foundation for the implementation of the "cemetery-light complementarity" model.

Policy breakthrough: As the country's attention to the new energy industry continues to increase, the construction of photovoltaic power stations has also ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. However, farmland photovoltaic projects face many restrictions and challenges. In contrast, cemeteries with construction land attributes have become a more compliant choice. For example, Taiwan has proposed to revise relevant regulations to allow the development of photovoltaic projects in cemeteries. Although the proposal was eventually suspended due to conflicts of opinion, it undoubtedly provides a valuable policy sample for the industry exploration of the "grave light complementary" model.

Emotional resonance: In the promotion of the "grave light complementary" model, emotional resonance has become an indispensable part. Initially, some people resisted installing photovoltaic panels in the ancestral resting place, believing that this was disrespectful to the ancestors. However, with the passage of time and the change of concepts, more and more people began to understand and accept this innovative model. They believe that generating electricity in the ancestral resting place is not only a remembrance and commemoration of the ancestors, but also a symbol of green hope for future generations.

Nanjing's first solar power generation cemetery

The 400KW photovoltaic power generation project developed by Gongde Garden of Yuhuatai, Nanjing, using the spare area on the top of the wall burial in the park, has officially started to generate electricity, and it is expected to generate 600,000 kWh of electricity throughout the year.

After field investigation and multi-party certification, the photovoltaic power generation project will first start the first phase of the 8KW experimental project. Solar panels will be laid on the top of the 58-meter-long wall burial wall. In the later stage, the top of the 3-kilometer wall burial wall in the whole park will also be equipped with 400KW solar panels. Through photovoltaic power generation, the park will achieve self-sufficiency in electricity consumption, and the remaining part will be incorporated into the national power grid.

The person in charge of Gongde Garden introduced that the first consideration for the development of photovoltaic power generation projects is its energy conservation and environmental protection, which is an incomparable social benefit. It is estimated that the current 8KW photovoltaic power generation experimental project in the park will generate 206,156 kWh of electricity in 25 years, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 205.54 tons, reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 6.18 tons, reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 3.09 tons, and reduce carbon dust emissions by 56.07 tons.

At the same time, photovoltaics play a role in waterproofing and heat insulation for the top surface of the wall burial wall. Photovoltaic power generation has significant environmental benefits and plays a positive role in reducing haze and protecting the environment.

Yuhua Gongde Park has the largest number of wall burials in the country, with an estimated total length of 3-5 kilometers. Driven by the concept of green funeral, this time the wall burial and photovoltaic power generation are combined, changing the single mode function of the cemetery's ashes preservation.

Decades later, the cemetery will not only be a humanistic memorial park, but also a green and ecological small power station, becoming a beautiful landscape in the city, and at the same time guiding and demonstrating the green development of cemeteries across the country.

Photovoltaic cemetery in a Spanish town

As the concept of environmental protection has become popular, how to make full use of solar energy has become a new topic for residents of various countries. However, where to place those solar cells that occupy a large area has always troubled everyone.

A small town near Barcelona, ​​Spain, has a unique idea: a large number of solar panels are placed in a "place where few people disturb" - the cemetery.

According to the Associated Press, this small town called Santa Croma has a total of 124,000 residents and covers an area of ​​about four square kilometers. The town is full of houses built side by side.

Local residents advocate making full use of pollution-free and renewable solar energy to slow down climate warming. Soon, the roofs of local residential buildings have become "the world of solar cells."

However, this relatively crowded town can't find other open spaces where solar cells can be installed on a large scale without affecting everyone's public activities.

Long Island Cemetery applies to build a New York photovoltaic power station

The project is located in St. John's Cemetery in West Babylon, New York. "We need to guarantee privacy for the people who are participating in the process. It's silent. It's out of the public eye," Randy Van Yahres, director of planning and development for the nonprofit that manages the site, told Newsday.

Yahres said the 46-hectare site currently has only 18 graves, and two neighboring cemeteries under the same management are unlikely to be filled in the next 120 years. The site of the power station will shield the location of the existing graves.