Going Solar By Samar Ahsan

Going Solar

By: Samar Ahsan

In these days of escalating inflation, it is extremely difficult for a common citizen to pay off his monthly dues. This adds to the miseries of people.

These increasing bills of electricity can be reduced by resorting to other means of power generation like Solar Energy.

Government encourages alternative sources of energy to overcome the present power crises.

Therefore, collective measures are required to combat the problems, however, private companies and personal business has taken initiative in this regard.

The initial cost of installing solar panels or other sources of solar energy is high and that is not affordable by most of the people.

Recently, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi along with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Phase-II of the US Signature Energy Program for Pakistan that will provide an additional $60 million for seven projects to be implemented by USAID.

An agreement has also been signed between the Beacon House School System and the US Government regarding the installation of solar energy panels throughout BSS schools and hundreds of private schools owned by Educational Services Limited.

Secretary Clinton also announced Phase-I of the Signature Energy Programme during her visit in October 2009. The programme is designed to help Pakistan to meet its energy needs through increasing power generation.

Phase-I provided $125 million for six projects. Work has begun with the electricity distribution companies in Peshawar, Hyderabad, Quetta and Multan.

Solar energy has excellent potential in areas of Pakistan that receive high levels of solar radiation throughout the year. The country receives an average of about 19 Mega Joules per square metre of solar energy. 70% of the population lives in 50,000 villages that are very far from the national grid, according to a report by the Solar Energy Research Centre (SERC).

In Sindh, weather is preferable to solar energy, and the availability of sun light is up to 16 hours on average.

If offices, schools, universities and hospitals are equipped with solar panels, it would help in conservation of electricity, however, solar panels being expensive and unaffordable for consumers, but investors can still equip their commercial areas with solar energy systems.

For the past years, Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) has been involved in undertaking projects of providing Solar Home-based Systems (SHS) to hundreds of households across Sindh.

SHS are capable of powering loads ranging from 40 to 120 watts. The cost of a typical 40W SHS comes to around 60,000 PKR with the amount being recovered from the household over the life of the product.

The provision and maintenance services are also arranged at the village level by training local technicians.

A project, named Rural Electrification Project (REP), is working under the Federal Ministry of Water and Power. A total of 3,000 solar home systems are approved for all the four Talukas of Tharparkar in the first term, including 1,048 SHS in Mithi, 452 SHS in Diplo, 967 SHS in Chachro and 533 SHS in Nangarparkar.

Considering the fact that electricity tariff will undoubtedly rise, the solar system will become more valuable with time. It will create the same amount of power, which only becomes more valuable with each year that passes.

The media should also contribute to the promotion and discussion regarding production of electricity through solar means and discuss a cost-effective strategy to bring about a profound change.

This should be especially focused on low cost energy generation, which is only possible if cheap energy resources available in the country are utilized optimally.

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Going Solar By Samar Ahsan