Want to have free electricity? Well, we can not promise you that but we sure can introduce you to the world of Solar Energy! It is also free, but you have to pay a big amount first then it’s free.
What is Solar Energy?
Well, Solar Energy is when we use the power of sunlight and convert it into electrical power to power our homes. Solar energy is one of the few ways that you can produce your own electricity.
Solar Energy in Pakistan
Solar energy technology is recently getting very popular in Pakistan. As we should save resources Solar is a great way to do this. Not only do we save electricity, but we also save a lot of other resources such as carbon & trees.
How does it work?
Getting a Solar plant installed at your place is no big deal there are loads of companies out there who will do it for you, but here are some basics you need to know.
First is that a Solar plant consists of 3 elements.
Solar Plates
a Solar Inverter
& some batteries
First, the Solar Plates will be fixed to the highest point in your building after measuring the correct angle of the sunrise and dawn.
Second, an inverter will be fixed in your house & it converts the DC power to AC power and then supply it to your whole building.
Your Batteries will also be connected to the inverter as most of the inverters are built to be smart enough to calculate the load and the production of the energy & supply it while the batteries act as a backup to use at night when there is no sun out. And the whole installation process can be done within 2 or 3 days!
Pros & Cons of Solar Energy
Cons
Let’s talk about the cons of getting a Solar Plant installed.
- You have to give a huge amount of cash at once.
- You have to keep an eye out for the usage of power that it stays under the limit
- On a rainy day, you can’t use heavy appliances like AC or heater
Pros
Now, let’s come to the positive side
- You have free electricity for almost the next 10 years of your life (It is free forever but after 10 years you may need to get maintenance)
- You have no load shedding! Yes even when the whole city is on a power breakdown you can enjoy your electricity.
- You will not have to worry about voltage outages and your precious expensive appliances being burned.
- You get up to 10 years of replacement warranty from some companies on parts
Myths
As with everything we have some myths roaming around regarding solar power too, and as it is a complete guide we are here to address those too.
- Solar stops working on a cloudy/rainy day
No, it does not stop working, yes the efficiency and production of power get reduced but it still works. The efficiency drops to 60% so you can’t run heavy appliances but it still works just like regular days and most of your light appliances will work like Refregiraton, clothing iron, fans, PC, etc. - You need to have Solar compatible appliances
Some people say that you need to especially buy appliances that are designed to work with Solar Energy, but this is just a marketing tactic to sell more. All of your current appliances will work just fine.
Load Calculation
This part is going to get a little nerdy because we will take a look at the details;
We calculate the load through a very simple method, we just take a total load of your appliances and work accordingly.
For Example; a 1.5-ton split AirCon uses around 1800w of power and a Refrigerator uses 300w of power.
Now we see that 1 Solar Plate produces 400w of power (depends on the company of choice, some do less) so we will need 6 plates to produce enough power for those 2 things to run.
This was just an example the overall depends on the customer’s demand.
and as for the batteries, it’s totally up to you how many you want.
Cost
This is totally based on the place or city as every city has different prices, here are the costs which are not 100% perfect you may find differences depending on your location, just take this as an example so you get an idea.
Solar Plate – Around 17,000 PKR
Solar Inverter – Around 100,000 PKR
Battery – Around 35,000 PKR
and still, many rates like, installation and frame building are yet to be added so do your own research before committing.
What are your thoughts on this?
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