KARACHI: Amid an unending electricity crisis, common users put themselves at risk by opting for solar energy solutions as the government is yet to play an active role in formulating policies required to broaden the use of green technology by making it economical for the masses and regulating its business.

This official gap is the main obstacle to the progress that other countries have achieved in solar energy production within a limited time, it emerged on Monday while interviewing stakeholders including residents, traders, and representatives of the government and the associations pleading the cause of solar energy.

“The government policy on the use of solar power is not clear. For instance, when I decided to get a solar energy system installed at my house, my concern was how the power utility would respond to a significant reduction in the electricity consumption. The first thing some might deduce would be power theft, which was something I would never desire,” said Khalid Mehmood, an air traffic control officer who had been successfully running a solar power system at his home in the Drigh Road area for the past two years.

Mr Mehmood said he contacted the power utility offices and their helpline but to no avail. Finally, he had to send a letter to the power utility, citing that he had installed a solar system at his home, but they did not even acknowledge the letter, he added.

Substandard devices

About the purchase of a solar energy system, Mr Mehmood said: “The societal and business trend of fleecing and deceiving a buyer or consumer is so overpowering that one will be lucky not to get caught in the trap.”

He said he was told that a one-kilowatt system was priced at Rs300,000, which included Rs10,000 as installation charges, but it turned out far less when the breakdown of the figure (with prices of each equipment) was calculated. The seller finally agreed at Rs268,000, he added.

He said those dealing in the solar energy system could charge people anything even for a second-class equipment. “As for the after-sale service, some companies do that but they charge you for it. Their target is to make maximum profit in minimum time,” he believed, explaining that he had to upgrade his solar system to 3-kW on a self-help basis.

Quite satisfied with the system, Mehmood said the entire house (excluding air-conditioners) could be run on a bright sunny day when the system worked at its full capacity. The back-up time during the day, he said, could be unlimited as long as there was sunlight and the consumption was within limits of the electrical power being generated by the solar system. At night or on cloudy days, the back-up depended upon the storage power of the batteries installed, he added.

He cautioned that while using solar generated electricity, care must be taken to ensure that batteries were not fully discharged, as this could damage their storage capacity.

About maintenance, he said solar panels and other equipment must be properly cleaned to keep them dust free. Besides the maintenance and usage, the quality and type of the equipment were other factors responsible for problems that could later emerge.

The latter factor is not just a big issue for solar system users but also for the shopkeepers selling solar-powered appliances and system. “Substandard solar panels and devices being offered by some vendors cause distrust between us and the buyers who have no technical know-how about these products,” said Abdur Rahim who runs a shop of solar energy products in Saddar.

“They question us why our equipment costs higher, though ‘the same’ equipment is being offered at a very low price at another shop,” he said.

It’s difficult to explain the reasons for the price difference until when people had a bad experience with the substandard equipment, he added.

Unlike many other vendors, Abdur Rahim assembles different solar system equipment according to people’s needs and their purchasing power. “I am offering a Rs60,000 solar system comprising four solar-powered energy efficient ceiling fans, four tube-lights, a battery and a charge-controller,” he said, adding that no inverter was required for running this advanced system.

Net-metering

Representing the Pakistan Solar Association, a group of private solar companies, Engineer Faiz Mohammad Bhutta said the government must strengthen its grid system and start net-metering (a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid) to encourage the use of solar energy.

Net-metering was practised across the world and was important to attract investors and enhance solar power production in the country, explained Mr Bhutta.

“You could sell extra electricity to the grid which otherwise would go waste. In this case, a person doesn’t need to have batteries to conserve his generated electricity as he sells the surplus energy on a tariff set by the government,” he said.

Net-metering, however, could only be done if the investors were provided with power feeders that were not shut down. Bangladesh and India, he said, had made significant progress in the field of solar energy and Pakistan could learn from their experience.

Tips to boost production

“Besides, the government should announce major incentives for importing and installing solar systems; make all components of solar system tax-free and not just the solar panels, which currently is the case, and direct banks to significantly reduce their mark-up on loans for renewable energy investors. New constructions should be bound to generate at least 20 to 25pc of their total energy from solar,” he said.

The solar business should be regulated by binding the importer to produce a certificate indicting that the products meet certain international standard, Mr Bhutta believed.

Shaaf Mehboob of the Renewable and Alternative Energy Association of Pakistan voiced his organisation’s concern over government’s lack of interest.

He said the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) had approved a tariff for net-metering months ago but its implementation required strengthening of the grid, which was not being done. “The grid needs to be alive and running to transmit electricity,” he added.

Citing some media reports that the import of substandard solar panels had been criticised in the assembly, Mr Mehboob said such criticism was understandable given the fact that the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) had issued import permits only after receiving all relevant documents including certifications.

“The problem is that anyone can open a shop here and start selling solar energy products,” he said.

He argued that there should be a regulatory body with the authority to issue a licence to a vendor interested in selling such products. Besides, solar energy components be exempted from all taxes for five to 10 years, he demanded.

The association, he said, had also received complaints in which the K-Electric staff argued with people installing solar system at their homes. “But when I contacted the K-Electric, I was told that the company policy is to encourage renewable energy initiatives. I think such policies should be communicated to all in the organisation,” he said.

However, no K-Electric official was available for comment.

AEDB chief executive officer Amjad Ali Awan admitted that the government lacked proper regulations for the solar energy sector, but expressed the hope that some important policy decisions would be taken within the next few months.

“The AEDB is focused on projects and currently it’s not catering to off-grid issues [related to residential installation of solar systems] and presently this area has been left to power distribution companies. But we are planning to regulate this sector in coming months,” he said.

Also, a plan was under way to set up standards for all components of the solar system though their enforcement would require another government policy, he added.

Net-metering in Islamabad

On net-metering, he said, the case was pending with Nepra and until it was decided the AEDB had decided to implement it in Islamabad on an experimental basis provided there was no legal hitch.

“According to the government policy, there is no tax on imported components of a solar system but if people are having a problem, they can contact us for help,” he said.

Agreeing that the State Bank of Pakistan had to come up with policies supporting renewable energy initiatives, he said the country had lot of potential for renewable energy but investment was needed to expand electricity transmission network.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2015

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