Hanwha Q Cells said Thursday it will sponsor a local green energy competition to raise awareness on solar energy and deal with fine dust and climate change.

According to South Korea’s No. 1 solar module maker, it will sponsor the 2nd K-Solar League, the Korean version of Germany’s Solar Bundesliga, a renewable energy drive since 2003 that ranks all regions in Germany by the amount of electricity generated by solar power and solar heat.

This year, 17 regional local governments, 226 low-level local authorities and private organizations and companies are eligible to apply, from June 1-30. The award ceremony will be held on Sept. 14, when seven local authorities and six private groups or companies will be awarded.

“Hanwha Q Cells will provide support for activities that use solar energy in building consensus on how to tackle fine dust and climate change issues,” a company official said.

The competition will evaluate private groups and companies based on their “stories” of how they distributed and transitioned to renewable energy.

Energy and Climate Policy Institute for Just Transition Director Park Jeong-yeon who will host the competition explained that they have included a story as a qualitative measure for small groups and companies that can’t compete in the amount of electricity generated with solar power compared to bigger groups and companies.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)