By Yang Zhang August 26, 2025
🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to Professor Yangsiyu Lu and PhD student Yang Zhang!
We are proud to share that Professor Yangsiyu Lu and PhD student Yang Zhang have published their paper titled “Mine Photovoltaic Systems for a Sustainable Energy Transition” in Joule, one of the world’s top journals in the energy field.
In this study, the authors highlight that the rapid expansion of photovoltaic (PV) systems often competes with ecological and agricultural land use. By repurposing degraded mining sites for PV deployment, however, it becomes possible to generate large amounts of clean electricity while alleviating land-use conflicts. Through an analysis of 81,773 mining sites worldwide, the study demonstrates that mine-based PV systems have the potential to produce over 12,000 TWh of electricity annually, while also safeguarding approximately 56,450 km² of land that provides essential ecosystem services from being occupied by solar farms. These findings shed new light on how converting global mining lands into PV systems can both enhance renewable energy generation and promote sustainable land management.
Joule is a top Q1 SCI journal in the Energy category, with an impressive impact factor of 35.4. This marks the first student-led publication from the EICP group since its establishment — a significant milestone in our research journey.
We extend our warmest congratulations to them for this remarkable achievement!
For more information, please visit the link.