This week, Our Habitat takes the time to look at solar energy and the trends, as well as the challenges, in the use of the alternative energy source in Jamaica today.

AGAINST the background of unstable global petroleum prices, providers of alternative energy systems say the time is right for a sustained effort to use sources other than petroleum to generate a substantial portion of Jamaica’s electricity.

The mostly small companies that generate electricity from the elements – sun, wind and water – say they have been encouraged by the increased interest being shown by the public over the past year, as the cost of electricity supplies by the island’s lone supplier continue to soar.

They say while government has provided some incentives to alternative energy providers, more needs to be done by the state to encourage householders and businesses to look to other sources other than the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) for their power needs.

“In progressive countries that are doing well in renewable energy, their governments have said we are going to have a certain percentage of our energy renewable sources,” said Jason Excell, managing director of Appropriate Technologies, environmental engineering company that, among other things, provides renewable energy technologies.

“We pay no GCT on importing solar systems, but we probably need more tax breaks… Something like taking five per cent off on income tax for investing in alternative energy because you (the investor) are taking your own money to provide saving for the country.”

States like Vermont and California in the USA, Japan, Germany, Brazil and in the Caribbean region, Barbados, are among the progressive countries with a raft of measures to encourage alternative energy systems. Brazil, for example, is spending millions researching alternative ‘green’ fuel sources, such as sugar cane and corn. In Barbados, the building code states that all buildings must make provision for solar water heaters, even if they are not being installed immediately.

In an effort to generate interest from large and small energy consumers in alternative energy systems, Appropriate Technologies recently joined forces with Gormann Corporation, a company that sells solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and power protection devices.

A PV system, Gormann’s managing director Jennings ‘Max’ Gordon explains, basically consists of a solar panel or panels, connected to an inverter that converts energy from the sun into electricity, connected to a battery, which stores the power for use in the night or on cloudy days.

The two companies are part of a growing number of alternative energy providers, some of which are seeking to purchase certain items in bulk in an effort to bring down the cost of these systems to the Jamaican consumer.

“Jason Excell and I decided to join forces because there is a situation where people may look at putting in PV system for projects like farms, external lights in a hotel,” Gordon noted.

Says Excell: “As people paying millions of dollars on electricity, they are saying we can borrow the money for an alternative energy system and pay off the loan in eight or 10 years and be in the clear. The lifespan of a solar panel is about 35 years.”

Under the partnership, Gordon will concentrate on marketing, while Excell will focus on engineering design and installation. Gormann started by selling surge protectors, UPS systems, and installing computer environments during the technology boom of the eighties and nineties.

Then, as oil prices began to spiral at the turn of the century, the company started looking at solar energy systems as a lucrative business.

A visit to Gormann’s small offices in the Cross Roads area was a demonstration of practical energy uses, with computers, fax machines, security system and some lights all powered by solar energy from panels installed on its roof. Air conditioning is powered by the JPSCo.

“We are practising what we preach,” Gordon boasts.

Its monthly electricity bill is about $3,500, a saving of possibly $3,000.

The growing interest in alternative energy systems is reflected by the vibrancy of the Jamaica Solar Energy Association (JSEA).

Launched in 1999, the JSEA is composed of an industry group of manufacturers, retailers, marketers, installers and providers of solar energy.

“At the last public meeting we had (last year) about 60 persons were present,” JSEA past president Eaton Haughton told the Sunday Observer last month.

He said the meeting was also addressed by the German Ambassador to Jamaica, who has shown great interest in Jamaica’s solar programmes in the island.

The assocation is also supported by the state-owned Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), which provides financial and logistic support, and houses its secretariat.

Haughton, who heads Econergy Engineering Services, which provides thermal and electric systems, maintenance, and energy conservation consultancy, agrees that the country needs to focus on solar energy, as its cost to the consumer is now lower than that provided by JPSCo, given the life cycle of solar systems.

“The threshold in terms of ecomomic cost of solar energy is about 18 US cents per kilowatt hour (kwh), taking in consideration the life cycle cost and the amount of energy that can be delivered,” Haughton said.

Jamaican households are now paying a little over US20 cents per kwh to JPS, up from US15 cents early last year before the rapid increase in world market oil costs, he added.

Despite the obvious benefits, the cost of installing a photovoltaic system (PV) to generate electricity from solar energy remains prohibitive for the average consumer.

Gordon says it costs approximately $1 million to equip a normal three-bedroom house with PV-generated power. However, he suggests that people should get into solar electricity with a “building block” system of $200,000 to $300,000 that can be expanded at the later date. But that approach leaves systems out of the reach of the average consumer.

“If I tell someone to install a system with $300,000, he says to me, ‘I can’t pay my light bill of $10,000, how am I going to find $300,000 for a solar system?'” Excell noted.

Haughton’s estimates are even higher. He says outfitting a three-bedroom house with PV power could cost $2 million to $3 million.

Still, he said housing complexes that pay maintenance fees need to consider financing solar systems for their security lighting and surveillance systems, thus resulting in savings in the long run.

He cautions that before investing in solar systems, consumers need to be sold on the importance of energy conservation.

“People should not go for alternative energy unless they reduce demand and conserve energy, or else they will be wasting money and they will be very dissatisfied,” said Haughton.

Solar Light and Power, a business located in Kings Plaza, St Andrew is promoting start-up solar systems from $70,000 upwards. A spokesperson for the outfit said customers must have their own electrician install the systems, which are capable of powering “a small house with the usual appliances – a fridge, TV, iron, lights and so on”.

On the other hand, there are the wealthy, purchasing $20- million townhouses, who feel no pressure to conserve on energy.

“I say to them, ‘why not make that $21 million to outfit your house in solar energy?’ But they are not interested,” Gordon said.

But he commends the government through the National Housing Trust (NHT) for offering low-interest loans for the purchase of solar water heaters. He says the next step is to provide loans for PV systems.

“We will eventually reach there,” he predicts.

According to the NHT’s website, the Solar Water Heater loan is to provide financing to individual NHT contributors and recognised institutions for the installation and retrofitting of solar heating systems.

The loan limit is $100,000 with an interest rate of three per cent, and a maximum of five years to repay.

Both Excell and Gordon agree that the business community, financial institutions and the general public need to be educated more on the economic and environmental benefits of using renewable energy sources.

“We are going to have to move from a fossil fuel-based economy to using renewable energy sources. Plus, people are becoming more energy conscious. They hear about global warming and the need to preserve the environment for future generations,” said Excell.