Keep the sunny side up. That was the message from Pakistans Alternative Engineering Development Board earlier this month, which launched a programme to develop and commercialize the use of solar water heating system (SWH) in the country.
The pace of renewable energy development can be gauged from the fact that this sector attracted investments worth $142 billion worldwide in the year 2008 where $17 billion was invested in solar projects alone, according to the last available statistics at the World Economic Forum. And Pakistan, it appears, can attract a healthy portion of these inflows given its potential in todays more climate-aware world. Geographically placed on the worlds Sun Belt, Pakistan is highly suitable for solar power generation as radiation falling on the countrys land surface is about 1,800 to 2,200 Kwh/square meter per year. This means that at current efficiency levels of 18 percent for solar modules, Pakistan can sufficiently produce 0.320 to 0.400 MWh of electricity per square meter per year, according to German National Meteorological Service.
In another promising development, a pilot solar heater power project, with a capacity of 80 liters, developed and installed in Pakistan, showed that over life time of 20 years, one solar heater has the potential to deliver 21.5 MWh of energy with a life time saving potential of $3506, according to studies conducted by the Gujranwala-based Rachna College of Engineering & Technology.
So, the introduction of solar water heating system in place of other conventional water heaters that run on gas and electricity will help conserve energy, as household water heating accounts for 10 to 12 percent of total domestic energy demand.
However, technical feasibility isn the only thing. What the government needs to do is send the right price signals, make efforts for market development and foster home grown human expertise to ensure that such projects are economically feasible as well.
Perhaps the NGOs and foreign donor agencies can play an important part by adapting the business models available in neighboring countries - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - where such projects have been gaining traction over the last few years.
The clean energy technology sector is seen growing into a $2.4 trillion industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Surely, Pakistan doesn want to fall behind in this race too.