On October 10, China National Solar Thermal Energy Alliance (hereinafter referred to as the Alliance) announced the 2018 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Solar Thermal Technology . Li Shensheng, professor of Department of Physics at Capital Normal University and Li Yuanzhe, professor of Department of Thermal Engineering (now in School of Architecture) at Tsinghua University, won the award.
The Award for Outstanding Contribution to Solar Thermal Technology (hereinafter referred to as the Award) is initiated by the Alliance, aims to affirm and express gratitude to individuals that make significant contributions to China’s progress in the solar thermal utilization technologies and play an important role in promotion of such technologies, so as to set up the benchmark in the industry, and thus encourage more solar thermal utilizers and enthusiasts to vigorously promote the booming of the industry of solar thermal energy utilization in China in the spirit of selfless scientific and technological innovation, through unremitting pursuit and rigorous exploration.
As the China's first award in solar thermal technology utilization, it is in no need of application by the applicants or recommendation from the organizations. In the process, its candidates shall be nominated by the Secretariat of the Alliance, and the winner shall be selected after two rounds of voting by the Committee of Experts and the joint meeting of Directors of the Alliance. It is awarded once a year, with no more than 2 winners each time, for which annual vacancy is allowed, and the prize is RMB 100,000 yuan/person (before taxes). The candidates must have more than 15 years of experience in the S&T research on solar thermal utilization or in high-tech industrialization. Civil servants (including retirees) are not allowed to participate in the selection.
2018 Winners Profiles
Profile of Professor Li Shensheng
Born in July 1930 and a graduate from Zhejiang University, he is professor of physics at Capital Normal University and once served as the director of Department of Physics from 1983 to 1988. Engaged in the teaching and scientific research of theoretical physics and thermal engineering, he is the tutor of 15 postgraduate students majoring in solar thermal utilization in thermal engineering of 7 classes.
He received the Major Scientific Research Achievement Award of the National Science Congress 1978 for "1.5-square-meter flat-plate intermittent solar ice maker", the Beijing Science and Technology Award 1980 for "8-square-meter flat-panel automatic tracking continuous solar refrigerator", and the second prize of key research projects of National Construction Committee 1981 for "heating and heat accumulation of air conditioning system". His representative works include Introduction to Solar Thermal Utilization and Solar Physics. He has published more than 70 academic papers in well-known domestic and foreign journals.
He once presided over the projects of Natural Science Foundation of China "tilt effect of the pyranometer" and "active control and regulation of the internal stability of the solar pool with salt concentration gradient", and the scientific and technological research project of the State Science and Technology Commission "Eighth Five-year Plan", "utilization of solar energy for overwintering aquaculture heating".
Profile of Professor Li Yuanzhe
Born in October 1935, he is professor of Department of Thermal Engineering (now renamed as Department of Energy and Power Engineering) at Tsinghua University, and served as the leader of the national level-2 project of “renewable energy - solar energy utilization” during the “Seventh Five-year Plan”. In China-West Germany cooperation in the construction of renewable energy villages, he won the second prize of Scientific and Technological Progress on solar house, and once the third prize of Scientific and Technological Progress on solar water heater, and has published more than 90 papers and three monographs at home and abroad, namely, Passive Solar House Thermotechnical Design Manual co-edited by 6 institutions with Li Yuanzhe as editor-in-chief, Principle and Design of Passive Solar Houses and Principle, Manufacturing and Construction of the Solar Energy edited by Li Yuanzhe et al. He boasted 35 national patents, including two invention patents.
He first successfully applied heat pipe technology in the solar industry and is known as 100% winner in large area hot water engineering. In 1978, a solar floor heating laboratory was established by him in Tsinghua University, which was also the first solar floor heating house in China. Under the circumstance of no other supplementary energy, low-temperature radiated floor was successfully used for heating in Beijing. Since 2000, the first air-source heat-pump low-temperature radiant floor heating has got promotion in cold region, which achieved the effect of saving more than 60% energy, and was identified by the Ministry of Construction as "domestic initiative, international advanced", creating a new clean energy-saving heating mode for the cold areas in China, and since 2005 has been steadily promoted up to hundreds of thousands of square meters.
In the 2014-2015 winter, the "main test room for the active and passive solar assisted by air source heat pump" was built in staff dormitory (two) of Tsinghua Sunshine Factory. Through the test, the average room temperature was 20 ℃ above and energy-saving rate was greater than 80%, thus identified as "domestic initiative, international advanced" by the experts invited by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
