JINAN -- On the rolling hills surrounding Banshi village, photovoltaic (PV) panels are arranged like fish scales to absorb the warm sunlight. The numbers on the electricity generation meter spin speedily.

Next to the panels, villagers are busy growing honeysuckles -- a kind of edible flower used as traditional Chinese medicine.

"Life has largely improved, as I can bring home 50 yuan ($7) a day by working in the honeysuckle field and I have leased my farmland to the solar power project," said Sun Yuanxiang, one of the growers from Banshi village.

The vast area of panels is a 90-megawatt solar power project for poverty alleviation in Donggang district in the city of Rizhao, East China's Shandong province. The State Grid will buy the generated electricity, which will be integrated into the power grid for use by the province.

As part of China's efforts to eradicate absolute poverty by 2020, numerous clean energy projects established in rural areas of the country have not only brought income for villagers but also improved the environment, fuelling rural vitalization.

The government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang last month said the Chinese government will continue to promote both poverty alleviation and rural vitalization in an all-out effort to help people who have risen out of poverty move toward prosperity.

Liu Fenggui, Party chief of Banshi village, said the solar power project not only helped 23 impoverished households in the village shake off poverty but also generated annual revenue of 1.2 million yuan for the village. This is the first-ever collective income of the village, which can be spent on local infrastructure.

Villagers can also enjoy free illumination with the solar road lamps installed in the village, saving electricity fees and also cutting emissions.

Li Qianyu, a manager of the solar power project with the Donggang agricultural development group, said villagers grow the shade-tolerant plant of honeysuckles below the PV panels, which will induce even greater economic output next year.

Thanks to the project and the development of other poverty alleviation industries, Donggang district cleared all its 42 impoverished villages on the poverty list, with over 6,000 households lifted out of poverty. The per capita annual income of these households surged to 9,741 yuan in 2019, an increase of 76 percent over 2016.

As a targeted poverty alleviation measure, more than 12,000 PV power generation projects have been established in Shandong province, benefiting some 317,000 poor households.

In February, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued a circular, encouraging the development of PV power projects to create jobs and incomes for impoverished people.

In Kunlun township in the city of Zibo, after the introduction of garbage power plant and a biomass power project, the annoying garbage piles have disappeared and cornstalks are no longer burned.

Shan Zhige, Party chief of the township, said the two plants process 142,500 tonnes of crop straws and 50,000 tonnes of household waste every year.

"The projects have helped realize a virtuous circle by consuming unwanted crop straws and garbage and ensuring the power and central heating supply for villagers," he said.

Zhang Qingjin, head of the rural development research institute of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said clean energy helps protect the environment and lift many farmers out of poverty.

"Clean energy is becoming a green engine for the rural vitalization," he said.