The world's highest-altitude photovoltaic power station in Shannan Prefecture of Xizang Autonomous Region in China was connected to the grid on Saturday.

The daily output of the power station can meet the demand of nearly 4,000 households. Located on the 4,994-5,100-meter-high plateau, the power station is blessed with abundant sunshine all year round and is among the four areas perfect for building up solar power stations. The construction began in August.

It is the first time domestically built components have been used in a photovoltaic power station at such a high altitude, which ensures the station's stable operation and improves the efficiency.

"The photoelectric conversion efficiency of the station has reached the same level as the ones in low-altitude areas, which provides experience for other similar projects in ultra-high altitude areas," said Gong Ke, head of the power station project. "After being put into operation, it is expected to supply 90 million kWh of clean electricity to the local area annually, an equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 92,000 tonnes."

Such a large photovoltaic field covers an area as large as the size of 100 football fields, making great challenges for the staff to do maintenance work.

The station can carry out real-time monitoring to observe the operation and equipment can keep the station functional while maintenance workers arrive if a sudden accident were to occur. Other technologies such as intelligent recognition and drones also increase the maintenance efficiency.