Tech applications spur private firms' rise

BEIJING — The life span of a standard photovoltaic cable is usually 15 years. However, it was only 8 years on western China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau due to severe weather conditions such as extreme temperature swings and intense ultraviolet exposure.

How to extend the life span of PV cables under such circumstances was a pressing question.

Ounaite Cable Group Co Ltd, a private cable maker in Qinghai province, found its own solutions in the form of soybean oil and rapeseed oil, with both oils considered useful in modifying the properties of cables.