The Jamaica Renewable Energy Association (JREA) is looking to further heat up the market as it continues to lobby for the adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) resilient systems among the energy solution mix for more businesses across Jamaica.

Jason Robinson, CEO of Solarbuzz Jamaica and JREA board member, speaking at a recent Jamaica Observer Business Forum, said that while its forerunner, the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance (JERA), has done a wonderful job in starting a ‘revolution’ in the industry, there are some other areas concerning policy on which his entity wants to double down on as it takes the baton and build up the momentum.

“We want to have a greater working relationship with government and also with more partners in the financing sector to help with the build-out of residential solutions for more of our clients. As efforts to develop the country’s renewable energy footprint gets bigger each year, we believe there will be lots more opportunities in this area under which businesses can thrive. The JERA has over the last three year significantly helped to pull the industry together and we will do our best in moving those efforts forward,” he said.

The JERA, following its culmination of a three and a half years partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) led by the CADMUS Group, has sought to re-energise the country’s energy sector. Through the implementation of its Strengthening Energy Sector Resilience in Jamaica programme (SESR-Jamaica), the body has helped in the adoption of distributed and resilient solar PV and PV+ technologies.

In bringing together sector players comprising independent energy advisory services, financing options and a network of qualified and reputable solar PV installers, the programme supported more than 100 commercial and industrial businesses offering tailored assistance, regulatory guidance and access to financing opportunities for investment quality projects.

“We had several entities that formed JERA, made up of local, international, private sector and academia all aligned to the same goal of strengthening the resilience of Jamaica’s energy sector. Over the life of our programme we’ve managed to mobilise US$5.4 million for the financing sector in Jamaica which was spread across 24 commercial and industrial clients and 35 facilities. In other task areas we also provided training for approximately 97 students and professionals in solar installation. In the last few years I would say that the JERA as a body has definitely moved the needle in the mobilisation of solar PV systems,” said Mark Dennis, chair and senior energy expert for JERA.

“Our programme wrapped up on June 14, but it paved the way in re-energising the industry as it demonstrated to the various stakeholders that there can be a seamless way in doing things. We’ve created a database and is now looking to hand over to the JREA for them to continue that push we’ve started. Based on the work they have been doing in terms of their advocacy and skill sets, we believe they are the most ideal [body] to pick up from where we have left off,” Dennis further noted.

Based on its technical experience from working with a number of clients, the lobby group said it is confident that a new wave of solar PV/PV+ adoption will be robust and consistent across multiple businesses beyond the traditional hotel and manufacturing sectors, to include new areas such as agriculture, medicine and business process outsourcing.

For agriculture, the entity said that high daytime loads due to water pumping for irrigation and cold storage of produce will result in solar PV becoming a more cost-effective solution. This, as agrivoltaics offers additional benefits such as shade and temperature control for certain crops.

Within business process outsourcing and medical facilities which usually drives high energy costs, accounting for about 70 per cent of their electricity bill, installing PV panels, the body said will significantly help to reduce these costs as it increased roofing insulation and lowers daytime AC loads. This, largely as up to 50 per cent of the heat in a space, can come from an uninsulated roof.

“Any facility where most consumption occurs between 8 am – 5 pm stands to benefit greatly,” the JERA indicated, noting that for those entities in the hotel and tourism sectors, usually having high night-time loads and lower daytime consumption, they too will also find solar PV feasible, particularly when combined with storage solutions.

Business development manager & director at Jamaica Macaroni Factory Nick Chen, in sharing the experience of his company with journalists during the forum, said that as a result of the assistance received from the JERA to set up a PV system across its business, this has since then allowed it to power about 60 per cent of operations from the alternate energy source during the daytime.

“Since installation, we’ve been able to save about 20 per cent on our JPS bill. This has been a major help for us in our cost savings and our ability to become more competitive, especially in our export market where our main brand, Marco Polo, is sold the most,” he said.