The ongoing power woes — weekly outage has hit an all-time high of 108 hours from today —has led to a growing demand for installation of solar photo voltaic energy in the capital.
The concept is by and large similar to solar water heater. But lack of marketing and advertising drive has failed to strike a chord with consumers all these years.
“The demand is on the rise. But the pace is yet to pick up because the installation costs are quite high. At a conservative estimate, more than 30 companies are involved in this trade in urban areas. We are installing the device in one or two households daily. The cost depends on the electricity that the apparatus will generate,” explained Nabin Bhujel, chairperson, Solar Electricity Manufactures’ Association of Nepal.
Dr Govind Raj Pokharel, an energy expert, had converted to the solar photovoltaic energy cause eight years ago. His residence — he lives at Imadol in Lalitpur — boasts of 85-watt system, which had cost him around Rs 50,000. The average cost per watt works out to Rs 400-600.
“Usually, in urban households, the demand for electricity is high. Hence, the installation of the system will bring the much-needed relief,” said Pokharel.
Buoyed by the technology, the energy expert uses more than 10 fluorescent lamps, whose capacity range from three to seven watts, at his home. He can also watch television and work on his laptop during outage. The government has introduced sops — like exemption of sales tax, Value Added Tax and customs duty — for importing the equipment. The importers, however, have to comply with minimum standards set up by Nepal Interim Photo Voltaic Quality Assurance. Renewable Energy Test Station at Nepal Academy for Science and Technology also checks the compliance norms before consumers can lay their hands on it. “Consumers have become quality conscious since a number of cases have been reported, where fake certificates were planted to boost sales,” said Pokharel.
Raju Munakarmi, energy expert, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, said the demand and supply would determine the viability of the concept.
“At present, the installation work, too, has been severely hampered due to frequent power cuts,” he said.
Solar energy can be utilised in two ways: water heater, solar dryer and solar cooker rely on thermal system. While, the solar photovoltaic system generates electricity through silicon cells once the sun rays hit the panels. Energy is stored in a battery, which has chemical energy. Inverter connected to the device converts Direct Current into Alternate Current.
The concept is by and large similar to solar water heater. But lack of marketing and advertising drive has failed to strike a chord with consumers all these years.
“The demand is on the rise. But the pace is yet to pick up because the installation costs are quite high. At a conservative estimate, more than 30 companies are involved in this trade in urban areas. We are installing the device in one or two households daily. The cost depends on the electricity that the apparatus will generate,” explained Nabin Bhujel, chairperson, Solar Electricity Manufactures’ Association of Nepal.
Dr Govind Raj Pokharel, an energy expert, had converted to the solar photovoltaic energy cause eight years ago. His residence — he lives at Imadol in Lalitpur — boasts of 85-watt system, which had cost him around Rs 50,000. The average cost per watt works out to Rs 400-600.
“Usually, in urban households, the demand for electricity is high. Hence, the installation of the system will bring the much-needed relief,” said Pokharel.
Buoyed by the technology, the energy expert uses more than 10 fluorescent lamps, whose capacity range from three to seven watts, at his home. He can also watch television and work on his laptop during outage. The government has introduced sops — like exemption of sales tax, Value Added Tax and customs duty — for importing the equipment. The importers, however, have to comply with minimum standards set up by Nepal Interim Photo Voltaic Quality Assurance. Renewable Energy Test Station at Nepal Academy for Science and Technology also checks the compliance norms before consumers can lay their hands on it. “Consumers have become quality conscious since a number of cases have been reported, where fake certificates were planted to boost sales,” said Pokharel.
Raju Munakarmi, energy expert, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, said the demand and supply would determine the viability of the concept.
“At present, the installation work, too, has been severely hampered due to frequent power cuts,” he said.
Solar energy can be utilised in two ways: water heater, solar dryer and solar cooker rely on thermal system. While, the solar photovoltaic system generates electricity through silicon cells once the sun rays hit the panels. Energy is stored in a battery, which has chemical energy. Inverter connected to the device converts Direct Current into Alternate Current.
