Solar energy systems demand and prices

Increasing demand for solar energy systems due to power outages... How are their prices?

Solar energy systems

In the midst of the electricity crisis in Lebanon, the lack of power supply, and the policy of rationing of subscription generators, the market witnessed a demand to purchase alternative solar energy systems to ensure the population's energy needs.

 

These innovative systems from a long time allow their owners to store energy, and they can save the monthly payments allocated to different energy sources, in addition to limiting their maintenance to periodic, long-term work; More importantly, today, it dispenses with fuels and oils. 

 

However, these systems have a cost that is not available to all citizens, because they are mainly imported products, or they are goods assembled in Lebanon from imported parts, which need to be priced according to fluctuating dollar levels as a price for manufacturing materials and Lebanese added value. 

 

In the midst of all this, clean alternative energy systems are a solution within everyone's reach , even if they are the ones who have the ability, who have revived a sector that has not witnessed this movement for a long time.  

 

A citizen recounts that after the October 17 moves, the crisis took an escalating turn, which prompted him to acquire a solar energy system in his house, which he was building in his village, "although I desperately needed these funds."

Roger did not have the dollar to pay the price of this system, but he withdrew what he was allowed to withdraw from the bank in pounds and spent it on dollars, and the other part of the amount he paid through bank checks, “it was all a loss for a loss, but I had no choice but to have this option if it cost me, and if I did not insure Electricity I won't even be able to leave my house, the gate to the house runs on electricity," according to Roger.

 

After he advised his daughter to adopt this system in her home in Beirut, she took the advice. She is the mother of a son and a pregnant woman, and it is difficult to continue without electricity. Roja bought the forty-ampere system, and it cost him more than 15 thousand dollars.

 

At Kypros, the leading solar energy provider, the owner of the company, Samar Aker, states that the demand for solar energy systems is huge and intense, and the work is "fire". People are afraid of a total power outage, and they want to secure themselves a source of energy, whether by adopting solar water heating systems or through traditional electricity generation systems, in light of the high subscription fees for generators, which have become exorbitant, and may rise in the future with the rise in fuel prices.

 

Before today, the company has gone through difficult years, during which the volume of business has diminished. But this year, it resumed its work and launched strongly; Before today - in Aker's eyes - people were not ready to spend 10 or 20 thousand dollars to secure their own electricity system, but today they are ready because of the collapse of the official and alternative feeding system based on generators. 

Solar energy systems

 

In this context, Aker complains about the difficulties in importing supplies; Importing the lowest container costs about $150,000 to $200,000, and requires fresh dollars, which are not readily available. If it is available, the importer will not be able to receive his goods for about three months. 

 

In addition, there are fears for the producer and the industrialist in the midst of a politically and economically unstable country, as he does not know that he can sell his products and recover the amounts spent and make profits, especially for those who were like Mrs. Aker (owner of a factory for the manufacture of water heating systems), forced  to buy raw materials For industry also in dollars, in addition to the high cost of shipping, which increases every week. 

 

Aker's smallest electricity generation system has a capacity of five amperes, and its price is $2,500, and customers are willing to pay for its purchase, according to Aker.

In the same context, Director of Dawtec Solar Energy Insurance, Sandra Aoun, states that the demand for solar energy systems to generate electricity is currently very high, "and sales have increased 8 times over July of last year, since several years we have not seen this movement." The demand for these systems is very wide, because their presence has become a necessity in light of the rationing of subscriptions and the interruption of state electricity, and people want the least amount of energy in order to preserve their foods in refrigerators, with lighting, the Internet and television, as these things are essential in our contemporary life, and they cannot be dispensed with. ; Therefore, resorting to the adoption of solar energy systems has become the ideal solution in these circumstances. 

According to Aoun, the subscription of electricity generators will be replaced by a solar energy system, which must be accompanied by an electrical supply from the state, "However, we are living in an exceptional situation, as even the state's electricity is cut off. For this, people accept the adoption of the system of generating electricity from solar energy. In such a system, they should pay attention to their consumption, and organize it according to the size of the system they have adopted. There are systems with several packages from 5 to 40 amperes and more, according to the needs of people and the available spaces.” 

 

In a question about the possibility of savings in adopting this energy, in light of the high prices of generator subscriptions, Aoun explains that the state’s electricity currently at a price of 1500 pounds is cheaper than setting up the solar energy system, but this electricity is cut off, and the solar energy system remains more affordable than the subscription of generators, especially With the fuel shortage crisis and its high prices. 

 

As for the prices of solar systems, they follow their energy, as the price of a five-amp system is $2800, and provides electricity for four hours at night, in addition to its operating hours during the day. A ten-amp system is $3900, and a twenty-ampere system is $6600. 

 

As for the extent to which people are able to buy these systems with a decline in their purchasing power, Aoun says that most people resort to this option, and rely on the ten and twenty amps. But in order to reduce some of the cost to the customer, the management resorts to selling all the components of the systems to the customer, and assigns him to install them under the supervision of an engineer by the company. There are also people who have a UPS, but are unable to take advantage of it due to the lack of electricity from the generator and the state; Therefore, they adopt the five-amp system only, and thus reduce the cost on them. 

 

All tools of these systems are imported, and therefore all prices are dollarized. According to Aoun, it is also difficult to import them due to the banking crisis and the restrictions that they placed on accounts, in addition to the high cost of shipping due to the spread of Corona globally.

Are we witnessing a demand for the manufacture of solar panels in Lebanon? 

 

For his part, the Director-General of the Ministry of Industry, Danny Gideon, points out that solar panels are classified as an assembly industry in Lebanon, and not an original industry that starts from zero; There is a movement in the framework of the demand for these systems, but the problem is that their cost is still high. When electricity was cheap in Lebanon, people did not tend to adopt these systems as an option, but it is very possible that this sector will revitalize in light of the fuel crisis and its high prices. 

 

The other problem, according to Gideon, is that if importers want to increase their import of these systems, they face difficulties in not being able to dispose of their bank accounts, despite the fact that it is a good opportunity to strengthen the local industry. However, the industry can recover, he added, adding that the demand for licenses to manufacture these panels is limited.  

 

The Ministry of Industry encouraged and encouraged the adoption of solar energy in investments, especially in factories in the beginning, where agreements were signed to adopt alternative energy and green industry, in addition to supporting those who rely on alternative energy in investments through incentives with other projects.