Potential for households going solar

ISLAMABAD:

The potential of solar power as a clean, renewable source of energy for everyday usage has been a subject of interest ever since the black glass panels first appeared in the lower house.

It was in the year 2016 when Pakistan’s parliament became the first in the world to be completely powered by solar energy and since then, the futuristic-looking solar panels atop houses have become an increasingly popular sight in the capital.

Depending on their size, solar panels generate a small amount of electricity by absorbing the energy radiated by the sun. So in a country like Pakistan where sunlight is abundant year-round but electricity is often flimsy, the prospect of solar energy as a reliable power source for domestic usage is one that has started appeasing many.

Although most small-scale panels may not be ideal for powering heavy machinery and electronics, they can easily power a few LED bulbs and fans which makes them an affordable source of backup power in most cases.

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“The installation is not too complex and panels and batteries can be easily found at most general electronics stores across Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Given the convenience, rooftop solar systems are now becoming increasingly popular in residential areas here,” informed a twin city resident.

Following the country-wide rise in temperature, these panels have also become common in suburbs across various other cities like Murree, Gilgit-Baltistan, Mianwali and Karachi, where electricity can be erratic. According to solar energy expert Col. Ijaz Hussain Malik, Pakistan is on the move towards becoming entirely self-sufficient in terms of solar energy generation in coming years.

“Solar panels produce DC current, so energy generated from these panels can be used to power a range of devices which use the same form of current,” Malik explained. “However, setting up a solar system is still quite expensive. So given the current cost of the system, it is not practical to rely on them to power entire households. At this point, it’s best to keep solar energy as a backup- like an inverter or a generator in times of power outages,” he added.

Residents Waheed Kayani and Arshad Javed who are well acquainted with solar energy as a domestic power source, believe that a solar system can prove to be much cheaper than a generator of the same capacity.

A decent solar system can generate up to 21 to 25 cents per hour of electricity, however it is the battery currently used on these systems which can be steeply priced. “The smallest solar panel system can cost anywhere between five to ten thousand rupees to install and it can easily light a room. If you’d want it to run fans as well, the cost may increase a little but all of this will be a one-time investment which will pay itself back in the form of savings on your electricity bill,” Javed told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2020.