Zero the electricity bill

In Pakistan, the demand for solar systems that generate electricity from sunlight is witnessing a rapid increase.

According to official data, the installation of solar panels on the roofs of houses has increased in the last one year as much as it has not happened in the previous ten years.

Till March last year, the total production of solar energy in Pakistan was 1000 MW and till March this year it has increased to more than 1800 MW.

Talking about Lahore, in the bazaar on the side of Hall Road, there were only a few solar panels shops until two years ago. But now here you will find that people in the city are only buying solar panels and related equipment.

A major reason for this increase is the reduction in the price of solar panels in the country.

Adeel Ahmed, a solar seller, says that ‘at the speed at which the price of solar is decreasing in Pakistan and people are buying, we think that soon solar panels will be sold on trolleys.’

He said that at present the price of solar panel is at the lowest level in history in Pakistan. Due to this, the cost of installing a solar system has decreased continuously in the last few months. In their opinion, there is no possibility of it going up in the coming days.

Why the sudden increase in demand for solar panels?

Solar system traders told the BBC that demand for solar has increased dramatically in the past few months due to price cuts and WAPDA’s electricity being expensive.

Muaz Nauman, a resident of Iqbal Town, Lahore, decided to install a solar system at home to avoid high electricity bills.

His father was a little hesitant. They were afraid that the cost of installing solar panels was high and if there was no benefit, the money would be wasted.

However, after almost two years now, the electricity bill of Moaz Nauman’s house has been coming to zero for the past several months. They do not have to pay a single rupee.

He says, “In our year, the bill comes only in the two months of June and July, that too is less.” Apart from this, we do not get a bill for the whole year.

He said that he distributes the electricity load in his house in such a way that the electrical appliances that use more electricity like air conditioners etc. are run on WAPDA or grid electricity while the less electricity consuming ones are run on solar.

“Our home requirement was about six kilowatts and our hybrid system was about the same. But due to line losses, the capacity of the system was saved by around four and a half kilowatts. Then I increased it to seven kilowatts. Now we are generating electricity in excess of our requirement.

Moaz Nauman told BBC that he is generating so much electricity from the solar panels on the roof of his house that he sells the excess electricity to WAPDA after meeting his needs.

Even now we have enough units on WAPDA side. Our bill is in the negative.

He said that in the last few months, solar panels are being seen on every second roof. It has come late but now people have understood about solar.

That’s what most people want to achieve, say solar entrepreneurs. That is why they have turned to solar system.

The question is, how did electricity consumers like Muaz Numan turn from electricity buyers to electricity sellers and can so much electricity be generated by installing solar on the roof and how is it sold to WAPDA?

Then the question is, if it is possible to do so, can electricity be generated in Pakistan by this process alone so cheaply that the common man gets relief from heavy electricity bills and load shedding.

How can solar electricity bill be zero?

1. Determination of power consumption

Moaz Nauman says that for this there is a need to understand the system of solar energy production and electricity purchase and sale.

According to Moaz Noman, you just have to estimate the electricity load or consumption of your house and then you have to install the system accordingly.

After that, the additional units produced will be sold by you to WAPDA. You will use these units at night.

In this way both of you will be equal. But if you are building so many units that are still left over after using them in the night, they will accumulate in your account and your bill will come in negative.

2. Net metering

After determining the load of the house comes the turn of how you will give additional units to WAPDA.

For this you will need a ‘net metering’ system. In this, your system is connected to WAPDA’s grid through a green meter and you can supply WAPDA with the surplus electricity generated by your rooftop solar system.

Adeel Ahmed, a sales executive of a solar company in Lahore, told the BBC that under this arrangement, the electricity you generate through solar panels is going to WAPDA.

As many units as you will be making, WAPDA is buying from you at a certain price. For the money units he buys from you, he will sell his electricity units to you which you will use in your home. In this way, you will reduce your electricity bill considerably.

Mohammad Anas, a solar panels business on Hall Road in Lahore, explained this while talking to the BBC. A 10 kilowatt net metering solar system has the capacity to generate 800 units of additional electricity for you in a month. The average electricity consumption of a normal house is also about the same, so the electricity bill of this house can be zero.

So how can solar get rid of load shedding?

However, the problem with this arrangement is that when WAPDA loadshedding happens, you will also not have electricity. Muhammad Anas says that to avoid load shedding, a ‘hybrid solar system’ will have to be used in which batteries are installed.

“Hybrid means that the batteries are attached to the net metering system, so the solar panels that are generating the electricity continue to charge the batteries while WAPDA is away, creating your backup. Is.’

These batteries continue to provide you power in case of load shedding or WAPDA power unavailability.

Muhammad Anas says, “The advantage of this system is that along with making a backup, you continue to sell electricity to WAPDA with this system.”

Thus, your bill also comes down and you can avoid load shedding.

Both these systems need to be connected to the WAPDA power system, but another option is the off-grid system in which you can power your home without the help of WAPDA.

Adeel Ahmed, sales executive of a solar system company, says, “Going completely off-grid is also possible, but it puts the entire load on the batteries.”

They say that they will shut down when the stored power in the battery is depleted in a few hours at night or during cloudy weather, but if your power needs are only for a few hours during the day or at night. So this off-grid system is better.