Light at the end of the tunnel; Solar Energy

[stingingnettle]

You do not have be Einstein to see this one; Pakistan has a ridiculous amount of solar energy potential but quite mysteriously there has never been a serious attempt to invest in it, I wonder why? Who benefits most from keeping solar energy out of our national grid?

I appreciate that the initial installation of solar energy equipment is not cheap but once installed there are no overheads and the equipment can work without any fuss for many many years. With all the money being squandered left, right and centre, why can't we subsidise solar equipment for commerical and domestic use?

Why have successive Pakistani governments ignored solar energy?

[semirza]

[LifeH2O]

Japan could become second biggest solar power nation

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... nline-news

Transparent solar cells could come cheap
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepe ... nline-news

[stingingnettle]

One thing that we cannot deny is that Pakistan has an astonishing amount of sunshine throughout the year so solar energy has got to be obvious choice for us as a nation. I think SEMIRZA has a point about all these mafias with vested interests who are doing everything possible to kill any solar energy initiatives even before they have started. There are many rich and corrupt individuals and groups that are involved in the purchase and sale of the various derivatives of black gold so going past them is going to be a big challange. Also dinosaurs like WAPDA are a huge impediment to this because this would mean they would have little or no control over business and domestic consumers. We need to prise domestic and business consumers free from the deadly dependence on WAPDA which is a highly corrupt and inefficent organisation just like are all the other power companies around Pakistan. We have got to break the back of these mafias.

As H2O has pointed out, there are countries that are seriously investing in solar energy and the technology is getting better and cheaper all the time. I am sure China can help Pakistan in this respect if there was some degree of seriousness. The general rule is that the more people use a certain type of technology the cheaper it gets. Demand will bring about innovation along with price reduction.

Americans have been investing in solar energy for many years now and Britain with its laughable amount of sunshine is encouraging domestic users to install solar panels on their roof tops and you can see more and more of these around England.

Like all things in Pakistan, the incompetence of those at the helm coupled with political interference in technical initiatives keeps us back as a nation from pursing new directions and initiatives. If Pakistan is interested in tackling our energy crises, we need to embrace the obvious; solar energy is the light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s not be last in this race too.

[Holly Flame]

I think that it will not be possible for Pakistan to get our power grid on solar power.It needs lot of technical care,which Pakistan can not provide right now.The biggest problem that has to be faced during power production from solar energy on such a large scale is the storage of electricity.During day times power is directly supplied,but it must be saved for the night when there is no sun.The easiest method of doing this is using rechargeable batteries.Batteries have limited capacity,they are generally expensive and they require good care the worst part is they expire and needs to be replaced.Pakistan needs to be economically strong enough fully utilize solar energy.
Apart from that,Solar energy is cheap

[Mirza Ghalib]

If not today, then tomorrow, Holly Flame. Not all Pakistanis are dumb. We shall definitely transfer to solar energy sometime in the none too distant future. I count within the next five to ten years for our self-sufficiency in the high-tech battery techonology. Obviously self-sufficiency in sunshine will not be a problem for our particular country.

[Holly Flame]

Why is there so much focus on Wind power only?With the limited resources of Pakistan energy crisis can be solved easily with the alternates.Wind turbines are efficient and relatively much cheaper,Pakistan has vast deserts which are perfect for wind turbines because of fast winds.Moreover wind turbines also don't need batteries for power storage.It will still be expensive for Pakistan because Pakistan can't produce its own turbines.Energy crisis can be solved on short terms by collecting the unpaid bills from Sindh only and paying that money to power production units.Pakistan is not producing electricity on its full capacity.Several power plants are shut down because WAPDA can't pay them.

[stingingnettle]

Holly Flame;

The points you raise about solar energy are all valid. You are right, the technology is expensive and there are inherent difficulties in storing it. The trick is to use solar energy in tandem with other forms of power generation as is the case in many places. The expectation that we can have continuous and reliable source of energy without a back up is not tenable. In case of Pakistan, we can rely on the sun shining brightly on us a lot more than timely rains to fill our dams. Future technologies are never cheap, they only become so when they become popular.

I see the future of wind power as bright too except that they are a lot more mechanical therefore more prone to wear and tear as compared with Solar. Bio-fuels is so last year and we have to be really careful not to put many of our eggs in that basket.

Without investment, we cannot hope to even produce a nut and bolt. Training the right kind of engineering graduates may be the first step in the right direction.

[Mirza Ghalib]

Agreed with all that was said above. But I have one question regarding wind turbines. One country which has invested quite heavily in that field is Great Britain. And from all that I've got to hear on the subject it has been no great success. So can anyone cite even one example proving that wind turbines have made a serious difference to energy consumption?

[Holly Flame]

MG sahib, from what I have read,Wind turbines are not efficient than solar panels.But yet they are a good alternate for the countries that can not afford Solar panels on commercial scale.Two or three years ago,a nation wide study was launched to learn about Pakistan's capability for wind turbines.And the results were very satisfactory.Pakistan can easily build fully functioning wind farms in different parts of the country,I am not saying its the best choice.Again, they are good alternates.

[Holly Flame]

@stingingnettle
You are right.Good thing is that people have started to buy solar panels for domestic needs.I hope it gets cheaper in the future so that everyone can buy it.

[Holly Flame]

A great plan to solve world's energy crisis on Pure commercial grounds.
I think it was also one of the main reasons behind Qaddafi's execution.Alongside with his plan to launch African satellite system.
[newtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdO6T1TIDzQ[/newtube]
http://www.africaportal.org/articles/20 ... ara-desert
http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn1 ... ng-the-sun
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... power.html

[Mirza Ghalib]

Holly Flame, Thanks for your reply on the wind turbine and the added links on solar energy. As for that most shameful of things, the assassination of Qaddafi, the reasons were multiple: The Libyan Central Bank was one of the only four in the world NOT in Rotschild hands, Qaddafi's tremendous plans for Africa, his intention of introducing the gold dinar in place of this worthless paper money we so covet, Libya's oil wealth, its manmade river as a source of water which Israel definitely wanted to get hold of, etc., etc. So the plans to generate solar energy and the west's opposition to it might well have been among them, too

[Shimatoree]

I will side step the issue of Qaddafi for now..but let me tackle the stuff that has been said in regards to Solar and Wind.

First wind as a lot of people- appear to be more in favour of Wind in Pakistan. I will try to point out that in the US.....Minnesota has the most wind turbines in place. They do generate electricity.....BUT and that is a big BUT.....and that is that Wind Turbines are NOT cost effective.
First they require great amount of money for initial outlay-( over 1 1/2 Million US dollars) but the KICKER is the issue of maintainenece which is very substantial.......yes very substantial. And if you take the initial money spent plus maintainence costs.........they are very expensive. They are only being put up because the State( province)- provides substantial subsidy not only for starting them but for maintaning them too. And of course certain capitalistic profiteers who have supported the proper politicians to put these things in place so that certain people can become very rich at the State's expense.
One of the problems that was not thought ahead of time is the sheer size.....in a triple Blade turbine.....in Minnesota each Blade is 150 foot long.......when you take up the PHYSICS of things in motion and that involved in building the tower, then install the blades the sheer mechanical problems are immense and costly.
So anyone who thinks Wind Turbine Farms for Pakistan must have the Zardari mindset where one would go for that so that Zardari or Nawaz Shareef can make a whole lot of kick backs.

What about Solar?

Well, the technology is there for anyone and everyone.........initial out lay might be expensive but since Solar panels do not have moving parts........once installed........maintainence is little. Yes there is problem of storage of electricity but that can be dealt with simply piping it into the present grid........and encouraging the local people to start using it.

All these things are not going to be THE solution but they will help and help greatly.

It again boils down to if we really are serious and want to do the right thing. Just look at across the border in Rajhastan , India where the common village people who do not even have shoes have been and are being taught to build the solar panels to electrify their villages.

More Black Bile later..........