Homes and offices switching to solar power KATHMANDU, June 26: Long stretch of power cuts in the country has left people searching for alternative energy sources. The never-ending power outage has led to increase in demand for alternative energy like solar power.
In a country like Nepal where weekly outage hours reach as much as 54 hours, solar power is one of the best alternatives that people from both rural and urban areas are looking into. As the situation is not improving at least for seven more years, businesses, homes and offices in the country are fast switching to solar power.
The solar home lighting system that has worked wonders for rural folks, who are yet to get electricity from national grid, is finding space in urban households and offices too. More and more urban homes are switching to solar energy to light their homes even during power outage.
"The growing popularity of solar energy technology is giving rise to news niches by connecting households in rural as well as urban areas with the sun power," said Manish Bajracharya of Lotus Energy. He also said soar power is being adopted in a varied format in urban areas.
Lotus Energy is one of the first companies to introduce this concept under which consumers can run basic requirements such as television, radio, AC appliances and inverter through solar. "Households comprise of about 20 percent of our total customer base. Offices are among the top users of our technology," Bajracharya added.
Navin Bhujel, director of Suryodaya Urja, echoed Bajracharya and said there has been a steady rise in the number of people using solar energy as the alternative source of energy.
"Though the cost of installing solar technology for operating household appliances is relatively higher, people today are finding solar as a solution for operating various kinds of appliances," Bhujel said.
He further added that a slight decline in the price of solar panel is one factor that is contributing to the rise in the use of solar technology for household purposes this year as compared to last year.
Chandreshwar Chaudhary, managing director of Sun Power, said the number of people adopting solar technology to light up their homes during power outage has seen steady rise in the last 4 or 5 years.
"People initially want to use solar technology for all their home appliances. But when the actual costing is calculated, they just go for panel lighting 3 or 4 bulbs," he added. He said the cost of installing solar technology to light four 10 Watt bulbs is around Rs 28,000 to Rs 30,000.
If a costumer wants solar backup for 21 inch television and four 10 Watt bulbs, it will cost in the range of Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000.
These companies also provide hybrid system where one can use both solar energy and electricity to charge batteries for backup. The technology comes for around Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 for 1 KW of energy.