Solar Energy Lights Up Homes, Schools and Factories in Pakistan

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 16, 2012 at 9:27am

China's solar push has cut solar energy prices down to 17 cents per KWhr vs 12 cents per KWhr for wind, reports Bloomberg:

For years, solar took a back seat to wind as China’s preferred form of renewable energy. Solar was less efficient and cost about four times as much per kilowatt hour of production. As raw materials costs for panels have fallen, that gap has narrowed, says Ming Yang, vice president for business development at Shanghai panel maker JA Solar (JASO). Today, producing a kilowatt hour of solar power costs about 17¢, he says, vs. 12¢ for wind, and prices are falling fast.

That’s gotten the attention of Chinese officials. “There’s been a big change in the mindset of policy makers,” says Yang, whose company is on track to sell “north of 20 percent” of its production in China this year, more than double last year’s share. Like most in the industry, JA has benefited from an initiative dubbed Golden Sun that offers state support to developers of solar installations. Although introduced in 2009, Golden Sun started to take hold last year, when the government approved more than 600 Mw of projects. NPD Solarbuzz says there will be about 1,000 Mw of new Golden Sun projects in 2012.

Like Europe, China has started requiring “feed-in tariffs”—guaranteed prices utilities must pay solar power producers for their electricity. Though the rate fell to 16¢ per kilowatt hour this year from 18¢ in 2011, with production costs falling the lower amount is plenty, says NPD Solarbuzz analyst Ray Lian. “If this rate is maintained, we expect to see another surge in installations,” he says.

A larger Chinese market should be good news for renewable energy worldwide, with growing demand from China helping shore up prices at a time Europe is reassessing its solar energy policies. On Feb. 23, German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said his country would cut its assistance by as much as 29 percent. Although U.S. producers such as First Solar (FSLR) have made little headway in China, the country’s growth “will open up a much-needed source of demand,” says James Evans, a senior analyst with researcher Bloomberg Industries in London. A bigger Chinese market “will continue to allow the cost of solar technology to come down,” Evans says, “even without the European subsidized markets.”

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-15/firing-up-chinas-so...

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 27, 2012 at 10:50am

Here's an excerpt of an AFP report on solar adoption in Pakistan:

Arif Allaudin, who heads the Alternate Energy Development Board, would like to see more of that help coming from renewable sources, saying there was a 2.4 million megawatt potential for solar energy alone in Pakistan.

Niaz Ahmed Kathia, director of private company Alternate Energy Systems, said abundant and free sunshine was the answer to Pakistan's energy woes.

"Energy is our biggest issue, more than terrorism, and if we replace our one million tubewell pumps with solar ones, we can save 7,000 megawatts," Kathia told AFP at the demonstration of a solar well in the capital.

The majority of Pakistan's tubewell pumps, which pump out underground water, run on the strained national grid or on diesel power.

There is no pretence that solar power is the only answer, but this month the prime minister ordered the government to provide solar electricity in remote villages far from the national grid.

The government described renewable energy as the "investor's choice" and said the private sector has offered to produce 1,500 megawatts a day.

In the mountains of Kashmir there is no gas pipeline and in the cold winter months electricity bills are prohibitively expensive.

In Azam's hometown of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, solar panels light up a public park and mosques.

Solar street lights are also being installed slowly in cities such as Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.

Pakistan's first on-grid solar power station, capable of producing 178.9 kilowatts, began test operations in Islamabad this month with a grant of $5.4 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

"It is a seed for thousands more solar power plants," Senator Rukhsana Zuberi, a former chairperson of the Pakistan Engineering Council told AFP.

This winter Pakistan suffered a two billion cubic feet a day shortage of natural gas -- usually the mainstay of millions delivered to homes and industry via pipelines -- sparking protests and forcing factories to lay off labourers.

The trouble is remedial plans are only at an embryonic stage.

"We plan to promote the use of solar geysers as the gas shortage is becoming acute," petroleum and natural resources minister Asim Hussain said.

"The gas companies would install solar water heaters at consumer premises and deduct the amount in installments in the gas bills," he added.

Power generated during sunlight hours can be stored in deep cycle lead acid batteries to power lights, radios, televisions and fans at night.

Norwegian company Telenor says it has set up 50 solar-powered cell sites, mostly in remote areas, capable of reducing 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per site by saving over 940 litres of diesel a month.

Traders say demand has certainly risen. A 170-litre (37-gallon) capacity solar geyser starts from 27,000 rupees ($300) and a 218-litre version for 32,000 rupees as a one-time cost.

"Solar geysers can reduce gas bills considerably. The technology is not only environment friendly but also pocket friendly," said vendor Shakil Ahmed.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/technology/Energy+starved+Pakistan+eye...

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 27, 2012 at 6:37pm

Here's a News story of how the worst-hit Punjab industries are switching to alternate power and gas generation:

The Punjab industries are converting on alternative energy due to uninterrupted power and gas outages of six to eights hours daily, besides improving their efficiency to reduce costs and stay competitive domestically and internationally, analysts said on Tuesday.

“We are unable to compete with similar industries in other provinces that enjoy full gas supplies and lower electricity load-shedding, said Syed Nabeel Hashmi, Chairman Punjab Economic Forum.

The majority of industries are suffering from power and gas load-shedding, but some have managed to reduce the operating cost through improvement in their efficiencies.The manufacturing sector in Punjab is now using biomass (agricultural waste), solid municipal waste, coal gasifiers, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used tyres, rejected leather soles as alternative fuels to gas, furnace oil and diesel, he said.

In addition, Punjab industries have upgraded technology and their human resource to improve productivity, said Hashmi.Gohar Ejaz, group leader All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, said, “We would never have realised the quantum of savings that could be made through energy audits.”

German non-government organisation GIZ and Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (SMEDA) have facilitated APTMA member mills by providing free services of highly qualified foreign energy audit and management system experts, he said, adding that only through energy audit and the resultant cost-free changes in the manufacturing system 25 APTMA members gained a cumulative benefit of Rs258 million per annum.

The benefits doubled for those mills that agreed to make some minor investments, he said, adding that savings made through improvement in efficiencies did provide some relief to the mills when they used alternative energy resources.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Senior Vice President Kashif Yunus Mehr, who is associated with the steel melting industry, said that larger steel melting units have imported coal gasifiers from China.

The gas produced is use to heat the furnaces, he said.“It costs 20 percent higher than the natural gas as it was the only alternative to keep the industry running as natural gas is mostly unavailable.”

These gasifiers require investment of Rs25 million that mills with small capacities cannot afford, he said, adding that the small steel melting units are using locally-fabricated small gasifiers that are highly inefficient, but serve the purpose of keeping the production intact.

Among the larger corporate sector, Nishat Group has established a 12MW biomass and solid municipal waste-run power plant at its textile processing unit in Lahore, he said.To cut its cost, it is recovering the caustic soda used in its processing mills by installing a recovery plant at its water treatment facility, said Mehr.

At its cement factory in Kalar Kahar, it is using solid municipal waste, used tyres, rubber chappals, rice husk, wheat straw, corn cob, as fuel for heating purposes.“We are not using power supplied by the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) in most of the manufacturing facilities of our group,” said Nishat Group Chairman Mian Mohammud Mansha.

Engineering sector entrepreneur Almas Hyder said, “Unfortunately our industrial sector grew initially on protection that gave rise to huge inefficiencies.”By improving efficiencies the increase in cost of production could be absorbed to a large extent, he said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-99810-Punjab-industries-con...

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 24, 2012 at 1:21pm

Here's a News story except on solar energy applications in Pakistan:

A technical training workshop on ‘Solar Pumping System’ was organised by Institute of Space Technology (IST) here on Friday in collaboration with M/s Lorentz a leading manufacturer of solar-operated pump systems in the world and Nizam Energy Pakistan.

A large number of people from government, Research and Development organisations, HEC, universities, students and faculty attended the workshop. Participants showed keen interest in the workshop and the products presented by the companies.

The first of this series of workshops, ‘Solar Energy — A sole Savior’ was organised on November 16 in collaboration with M/s Canadian Solar and Nizam Energy Pakistan.

The purpose of these workshops was to discuss strategies for creating awareness which encourages wider adoption of solar power by businesses, households and agriculture etc. There are various options for the solution of energy crisis which include building dams a time consuming process, wind energy is available in some corridors, however, there is no dearth of sunlight which is not only abundantly available but Pakistan has some of the best irradiation in the world, yet we are amongst the slowest to take advantage of this God gifted source.
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IST Vice Chancellor Engineer Imran Rahman while welcoming the delegates and experts from world renowned enterprises in solar energy apprised the audience about possible co-ventures with international companies in order to make available import substitution through research and indigenisation of some important components, a dire need of the time for promotion of industrial-academia culture in the country.

The vice chancellor thanked Nizam Energy CEO Usman Ahmed for generous donation of 2 KW of complete solar system and to establish research lab facilities at IST in collaboration with world renowned companies and provide job opportunities to IST graduates.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-144718-IST-holds-workshop-o...

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 9, 2012 at 6:52pm

Here's a Nation report on solar lighting for a Sindh village:

KARACHI - Pakistan still has thousands of villages that are not electrified and routine activities of villagers therein are limited to sunlight. Nevertheless, in a unique project, 115 households of Jhimpir area of Thatta district have been electrified through solar energy. The project has been implemented by the Centre for Environment & Development (CEAD) with the support of the USAID’s Ambassadors Fund Programme. The villages covered by the project are off grid and received electricity for the first time through solar systems. The area has moderate weather and average sunshine availability ranges from six to eight hours. The area is most suitable for the use of 40-watt solar house system that fulfils the requirements of the average household size for about four to five hours during the night time. Each solar unit consists of two energy savers of eight-watt, one for room and one for courtyard, and one portable emergency light to be used during night-time, one mobilephone charger to charge mobile phones that help the beneficiaries to have effective communication.CEAD Chief Executive Prof Qalander Shah said that people residing in far-flung and off-grid areas still used kerosene lamps and other forms of energy, especially during night-time for their security as well as of their livestock and other belongings. However, these communities use kerosene lamps for only a couple of hours because kerosene oil is costly and harmful for health as smoke emitted by it causes asthma and eye-related diseases.Observing that all economic activities were directly dependent on energy, CEAD Director Dr Ali Murtaza Dharejo and said that with provision of 115 household solar systems, life of Jhimpir families would be changed. The solution is long lasting and sustainable as it is based on renewable resources. He said that solar energy was not only cost-effective but also environment-friendly and was without any operation and maintenance cost. He said that the provision of solar systems at the household level would certainly bring far reaching benefits to communities, who earlier had no source of electricity. He added that the use of kerosene oil for lighting brought many health problems and as a result, poor people in rural areas were struck down with many diseases.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-onli...

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 11, 2012 at 8:03pm

Here's a report on Punjab govt's Ujala solar lights scheme:

Punjab Govt Ujala Solar Lamp Kits Scheme For Students Launched by the Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif as under this scheme around 5,000 students of Pakistan government schools in the whole Province Punjab can get solar energy kits and table lamps so this will help then in studying in the day and night during load shedding in Punjab.

In the first session of this table lamps and Solar kits distribution scheme there are 36 districts of Punjab us under consideration. This scheme is given a name of “Ujaala Scheme” as it will bring light in the students life so they are not disturbed by the load shedding even in the load shedding hours at night they can study and this will help in strengthen our country.

After the first phase in the second phase the same number of Lamps and Solar kits will be distributed among those who are new comers and are most junior. So those students who are in 9th class and obtained 50 to 55 percent marks in the annual board exams will be able to get these lamps and solar kits which also has chargers and bulbs in it. These solar system are so much power full that it can provide up to 18 consecutive hours light if there is a sunny weather not rainy or cloudy.

Students will be able to get these lamps an solar kits in the next month that is December the schedule for the distribution of solar kits are not yet announced by the any officials but officials just declared that it would be in December anywhere. These Solar Energy kits have these silent features

Solar PV 30Wp
Battery 12 V, 30 Ah SLA Gel type Battery
Battery charger
LEDs 3×5 W each of 100 lumens
Charge Controller 10 A with LVD (Low voltage disconnect)
Load Limitter
DC Wires with LED Holders
Mobile Phone Charging facility
System Autonomy 3 days
Reverse Polarity protection provision

http://ilm.com.pk/education-news/news/punjab-govt-ujala-solar-lamp-...

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 24, 2013 at 7:59pm

Here's PV Magazine on solar pumps in Pakistan:

The solar company Phaesun GmbH from Memmingen has installed 200 solar water pumping systems in 12 districts in Pakistan.

The latest systems were successfully put into operation together with the Pakistani partner Izhar Energy by December 2012 in the district of Sukkur. The project has been initiated and financed by the United Nations Development Programme UNDP to counteract the destructive tidal flood in Pakistan in the summer of 2010.

Thousands of families will benefit from the project that secures the water supply for drinking water, irrigation and livestock farming. The people in Pakistan still suffer from the devastating consequences of the flood disaster in 2010: Thousands of people lost their lives, 6 million people urgently needed humanitarian aid, the infrastructure was severly damaged in many parts of the country.

Even the water supply was disastrous in many places. Clean drinking water was often only available after having covered long distances. Organised water supply for agriculture and livestock farming was often not existent in many places. The UNDP-project aims at a sustainable water supply for local communities by means of renewable energies.

In twelve districts of Pakistan, local communities have been identified where the water supply was almost completely disrupted. The 200 solar water pumping systems have been individually sized according to the needs on site such as water amount and pumping head and were installed from November 2011 until December 2012. The systems use pumps of the manufacturer Grundfos which are operated with solar modules between 400 and 700 watts.

Russom Semere, managing engineer at Phaesun reports: "It was an enormous logistical effort to realise that project. The infrastructure in many regions of Pakistan has not yet been rebuilt. The components often had to be taken to their point of destination with the help of donkey carts and boats. The project could be realised in the first place due to the cooperation with the local partner Izhar Energy and the UNDP members on the spot!"

The project has a sustainable effect on the development of the affected regions. "The local communities are enthusiastic and grateful," Faiz Butta, managing director of the Pakistani solar company Izhar Energy reports. "They are now responsible for the operation of the pumps. During the time of installation, we carried out detailed training courses for the local community authorities.

"When we visited systems we had already installed the year before, I could convince myself that they have been perfectly maintained and serviced. The responsible authorities are aware of the fact that the economic development of their communities depends on the water supply of agriculture and livestock farming."

The UNDP initiated and financed the project, Phaesun sized the systems, prepared and supplied the components. The logistics and installation on site was organised together with the local partner Izhar Energy.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/services/press-releases/details/beitrag/...

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