The birth of his daughter in 1986 changed his destiny and led to his decision to shift to clean energy. "She is so adorable and I feared she would have no blue skies and white clouds to see when she grew up."

Huang made his first solar-powered water heater in 1988, inspired by a book titled Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes written by William Beckman. Seven years later, Huang set up Himin, whose Chinese pronunciation is also "Huang Ming".

Sales were initially tough as solar water heaters were new to Chinese and the public had little understanding or awareness of environmental protection and energy-saving.

With staff in a mini-bus painted green, Huang drove through major cities to promote his product in 1997. The bus, emblazoned with the slogan "You should use a solar water heater to save the blue sky and white clouds for the children, even you don't choose Himin," covered more than 80 million kilometers.

Himin has expanded rapidly since the Chinese government stepped up efforts to promote energy efficiency and cut emissions. In 2008,the company sold 3 million square meters of solar panels, exceeding 10 Bird's Nest Olympic stadiums in area.

Although Himin's solar water heaters are not the cheapest on the market, ranging from more than 2,000 yuan (292.8 U.S. dollars)to around 6,000 yuan for a basic model and up to more than 30,000 yuan for a more sophisticated heater, it topped domestic rivals with technology that enabled the heater's use even in rainy weather.

Himin holds more than 10 percent of China's solar water heater market, ahead of major domestic rivals LDK Solar and Suntech Powerand more than 5,000 other manufacturers in the country, says Huang.

His personal fortune is estimated at 2.05 billion yuan and he was on the Forbes China Rich List 2009 released last month. He is considering an A-share initial public offering for Himin and overseas listing in 2010.

Huang has set a target for an annual increase of 15 million square meters of solar water heaters before 2015.

At the end of last year, China had more than 130 million square meters of solar water heaters, accounting for 76 percent of the world's total, and saving 300 million tonnes of standard coal equivalent in energy consumption, which would produce 200 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, says Huang.

As vice president for industry at the International Solar Energy Society, Huang was invited to the Copenhagen climate change conference.

He says every government in the world should focus more on climate change, but "if tackling climate change becomes something only done by government delegates at international conferences, no matter how many Copenhagen summits we hold, it won't work."

Individual efforts are needed and if the construction, transport and lifestyles can become more environment-friendly and energy-efficient, the world could evolve from the fossil energy era to new energy era in 30 to 50 years, he says.

At the International Solar Cities Congress next September in Dezhou, Huang will share his green dream with other participants and deliver a speech titled "I have a dream."

Editor Li Jing

Source Xinhua