Solar Energy; The King of Future and Pakistan’s Potential

Modern economies rely heavily on energy. No country can prosper without the appropriate utilization of energy. Almost all areas of economic activity need energy for smooth functioning. This is equally true for developing countries like Pakistan.

Hence, Pakistan has realized the need to explore the potential resources of renewable energy to cope up with the increasing gap between demand and supply.

One of the most bounteous and reliable natural energy resources is solar energy. It holds even greater significance for Pakistan since we are facing a severe energy-crisis, negative effects of climate change, and economic challenges as well.

Need to Explore Solar Energy

The energy crisis is not only hampering economic activity but also badly affecting the daily lives of the public. All the vital sectors of Pakistan such as agriculture, industry, transport, and household need a consistent supply of energy to work smoothly.

Pakistan has great potential to generate renewable energy with a good deal of options such as hydropower, wind power, etc. but solar power surpasses the other available choices on account of serviceability standards. It is the most feasible alternative energy resource for Pakistan.

The president of the Renewable and Alternative Energy Association of Pakistan once said that investment in (solar) energy was much better than expending in the exploration for fossil fuels and the construction of dams.

Once Pakistan utilizes its full potential to exploit solar power generation, it would not only lead to self-sufficiency in power generation but also economic stability and prosperity.

Requirements for Solar Industry and Opportunities for Pakistan

To have a booming solar power industry, a country must have a substantial supply of photovoltaic panels, persistent regulatory setup, and sound transmission infrastructure to regulate the distribution of generated power effectively.

Above all, a country needs to have the most basic thing i.e. sunlight. According to experts, an area requires a minimum of 4 hours of peak sunlight to generate economically viable solar energy.

Peak hours mean the time when the sunlight is bright and shines directly on solar panels.

Do you know what makes solar energy generation exceptionally feasible for Pakistan?

It is the unique geographical location that renders Pakistan a great potential to meet its energy requirements with the natural asset of solar energy.

In this regard too, Pakistan is blessed to receive ample sunlight during the whole year, with almost over 300 sunny days in a year. Out of this, peak hours’ time comprises mostly of seven hours a day on average.

Why solar power generation?

All we need to do is to plan for going solar in a systematic manner. Along with the full utilization of available energy resources, we need to stimulate private and public sector investment.

Different researchers have carried out studies to identify the best renewable energy solution for Pakistan. All of these research results have shown solar power generation as the most acceptable solution.

Several factors make solar energy a better choice as compared to other options such as wind power etc. These include price, maintenance and operation costs, and life span of solar panels.

Economic benefits

Pakistan imports raw materials and has to bear a huge expenditure on electricity generation. With a substantial solar power generation system in the country, Pakistan can save its valuable non-renewable resources without affecting its pace of growth. Moreover, while facing challenges like poverty and unemployment, Pakistan sees the solar energy generation industry as a big opportunity at hand.

By expanding the industry, Pakistan has great chances to deal with unemployment effectively along with gaining a boost in other sectors.

Improvement in quality of life

Switching to solar positively affects the quality and living standards of the community.

Many areas receive direct sunlight and remain hot for most of the year. Household owners find it a relief to air-condition their homes without bothering about electricity costs while using solar energy.

In winters, big trouble of gas shortage shadows the whole of the country. Just imagine everything going smoothly even if the gas is not there, you don’t get late for work, school, or university and you have your fresh and hot meals ready in time. It sounds pleasing to cook in winter without any hassle due to gas shortage.

Similarly, during the winters, people need to keep their homes and offices heated. Expensive electricity and the absence of gas make the solar solution the best alternative to beat the chill with no extra burden on your pocket.

Better Climate quality

Solar power generation is eco-friendly as no green-house gas emission is involved in this process. Furthermore, it doesn’t require the destruction of eco-systems for the sake of raw materials.

Since Pakistan is facing great challenges in coping with climate change, it’s a good idea to exploit the valuable natural energy sources and save our environment and other limited resources from depletion.

We can get full advantage of the sun’s rich energy to meet our needs while being harmless to our natural environment.

It can also prove to be a vital measure to support the Clean and Green Pakistan initiative by the PM of Pakistan.

Measures to Promote Solar Energy

Like all developing countries, Pakistan has been looking out for less-expensive alternatives for energy.

Realizing this need, Pakistan has set up its agency named AEDB to facilitate and promote the development of alternative and renewable energy in 2003. The government handed over its administrative control to the Ministry of Water and Power in 2006. Initially, it was assigned the task to execute policies and projects in the private sector regarding ARE, support in sustainable economic growth, and promote local manufacturing base for ARE technology.

The government tasked the AEDB to make sure 5% contribution of renewable energy to the national production. Also, AEDB aims to electrify 7,874 remote villages in Balochistan and Sindh provinces with the help of ARE technologies.

Did you know?

Pakistan’s Parliament is the 1^st in the world to be fully powered by solar energy.

In 2015, Pakistan introduced the policy of net-metering to encourage homeowners to divert to the solar power system.

In November 2017, Pakistan took a big initiative and outlined regulations in this regard. The objective was to exploit almost 5k to 7k megawatts of green energy and encourage household users.

The idea of being paid for the excess energy is so exquisite that people are eagerly thinking to go solar. The government also facilitates the consumers who install net-metering compatible solar panels up to 25 kilowatts by making the process efficient and smooth.

Importance of technology and quality

Solar is the future. But to achieve the leading position in solar panels installation, Pakistan has to cater to one essential aspect i.e. the quality and technology of solar systems.

Different technologies such as photovoltaics, desalination, and solar thermal, etc. are being used in Pakistan for customized solar solutions.

Monocrystalline Photovoltaics have proved to be the most efficient and beneficial for homeowners.

The technology and quality of solar panels determine the efficiency of the system. Efforts are constantly carried out to enhance the capacity of cells of solar PVs to make it more productive.

Final Thoughts

The socio-economic development of a country depends upon the energy supply. Like most of the developing countries, Pakistan has been relying on conventional ways of power generation.

On the other hand, energy demand is increasing as a result of the rising population and growing industry. This resulted in huge shortfalls in the power supply.

Pakistan has to take advantage of its ideal climatic and geographic conditions as well as other opportunities at hand to combat the energy crisis.

Pakistan can also reap great benefits of solar energy by introducing a sound mechanism of converting solar power into a viable energy resource for use.

It’s gaining even higher prominence in the current scenario when the winter is around the corner, and minister for petroleum division Omar Ayub has announced a premonition of gas shortage and a rise in prices.

Going solar would save us from the nuisance of shortfall of gas in severe weather for the time being, and it would also render its long-term fruits over time.

Instaenergy has stepped up as the best solar service company to help Pakistan go solar in an efficient manner.

With its innovative technology, it gives its customers optimized solar solutions in diverse categories including advanced solar panels, PV system design technology, and inverters.