Today was mainly an educational day, as we had a lecture in the morning and then a company visit in the afternoon. The lecture focused mostly on Chinese foreign policy and its relation to the world over its long history, as well as how the Chinese government has and is operating. The key ideas that I took from the lecture is that for most of China’s history, it has been an isolationist state. The lack of any key relationships with other country supposedly spouts from an arrogance that Chinese technology, science, and society in general is supreme, which increased a belief that there was no need for any foreign influence. At first western tech was seen as a novelty, which had no real use or purpose but could be collected non-the-less. Soon however, the Chinese realized that they had fallen behind in the race for the most up-to-date technology and science, so they allowed for influence from western societies. The communist government of China was based almost off Stalin’s Soviet Russia, and Mao Zedong, used the USSR’s system as a model, which he emulated nearly identically. At the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, the isolationist China made a comeback, whose effects are still being felt today. After Mao’s death, the new president, Deng Xiaoping created a more open foreign policy known as the “Reform and Opening”, which lead to a greater amount of contact between the west and China.
After class we had a small break before the company visit which I used to write some of the journals, but eventually just fell asleep. I woke up and then got dressed and headed for the bus, which drove us for 15 to 20 minutes to the company Tsinghua Solar, which produces solar powered water heaters for most of China. We arrived at the complex and then headed up in an elevator where we were ushered into a room where we were given a PowerPoint presentation on the company’s main products. We focused mostly on the company’s most popular product, which utilizes a system of vacuum sealed tubes to transfer the sun’s radiation into thermal energy contained in the water, which is then delivered to the customer. They have designed a process that allows for a high level of efficiency, which loses only a small amount of energy in the transfer from radiation to thermal energy. The largest energy drop resulting from the absorbance of the glass tubes. I asked the presenter whether they had encountered any problems with structural failures of the glass due to the environment. He replied that the glass is very sound and would take more of a freak accident to cause a failure in the glass such as hail or extremely high winds. He also quickly added that if this does happen they will replace the system for a very inexpensive price. I found that this was a difficult response to swallow because I cannot imagine having glass on my roof for years and not have something potentially come and break the glass. But I don’t think that the force necessary to break the glass is present very often and it would be somewhat of a freak accident, so I think I’ll agree that he does have probability on his side. After we got to see the products up close and personal we left the company and headed for home.