LANDI KOTAL, June 22: Excessive loadshedding is compelling many residents of Landi Kotal to use solar power by installing solar panels, mostly connected with UPS, at their houses and workplaces to get uninterrupted power supply.

The areas inhibited by Zakhakhel and Shinwari tribesmen are facing about 20-hour daily loadshedding, while Loe Shalman and Kam Shalman residents complain of power suspension for 72 hours at a stretch.

“The rising demand for solar panels in Landi Kotal tehsil can be gauged from the fact that such panels of different types are displayed even by fruit and vegetable vendors and at cycle repair shops in the local bazaar,” said Mohammad Ilyas, one of the major solar panel dealers. He said that his sales of solar panels had increased five times due to excessive loadshedding and rising temperatures.

The price of one solar panel unit with 60 watt power was available at about Rs7,000 two months ago, but now the price for the same unit had shot up to Rs13,000.

Mr Ilyas said that in the beginning they used to sell India-made Tata panels, but their prices were much higher than that of Chinese panels. He said that as people liked cheap products they started bringing Chinese panels via Afghanistan.

The Chinese-made solar panel units are being imported by Afghanistan under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement and after reaching Jalalabad and its customs  duty paid to the Afghan government, these are  brought to Landi Kotal in Khyber Agency and Karkhano market in Peshawar through secret routes along Torkham border.

Zahid Ali, another dealer, said that by now almost all the well-off families in Landi Kotal have these panels installed at their homes and workplaces.

Azmat Ali, who runs a chemist shop, told Dawn that power outages had virtually made all his family members mentally sick.

“Now I have two panels along with a UPS installed at my home, which could run at least five ceiling fans and illuminate half a dozen bulbs at night time, thus enabling the entire family to sleep a peaceful night,” he said.

Mr Ali said that he had also installed one unit at his medical store to keep some medicines under desirable temperature in refrigerator.

Frustrated with load shedding, a second year student of a local girls college, Bakhtawar, prevailed upon his father to install a solar panel at her home so she could properly prepare for exams.

Mr Ilyas said that the panels had been in great demand in Loe Shalman and Bazaar Zakhakhel areas, as most parts of these localities were without electricity. He said that he intended to import solar-powered refrigerators as people wanted their edibles stored for long time for later use.

Officials in Landi Kotal said that they also had distributed at least 200 solar panels free of cost among the needy families in Bazaar Zakhakhel and Loe Shalman areas and would also install solar-powered streetlights at Landi Kotal bazaar.

These panels, provided by Fata Development Authority, are meant for distribution in areas where people have no access to electricity at all.

However, some residents claimed that most of such panels were given to pro-administration elders.

Duniya Gul, a resident of Ghundakhel in Loe Shalman, said that a cloudy day or even a cool breeze was not liked by the users as it curtailed energy production capacity of their solar panels.