thebahamasweekly.com - State Minister Neymour launches solar panel pilot programme

From:TheBahamasWeekly.com

Bahamas Information Services Updates
State Minister Neymour launches solar panel pilot programme
By Gena Gibbs
Dec 14, 2011 - 4:28:13 PM

Minister of State for the Environment the Hon. Phenton Neymour addresses the audience during the launch of the government's Solar Panel Initiative. (BIS Photo / Gena Gibbs).

Nassau, Bahamas - Launching the government's solar panel initiative December 7 at the Paul Farquharson Conference Centre, State Minister for the Environment Phenton Neymour said it is another process for completing the reduction of Bahamian fossil fuel consumption. He encouraged Bahamians nationwide to protect their surroundings by using clean energy of the natural resources of sun, wind, and 100,000 square miles of deep-blue ocean.

“Today, the Ministry of the Environment is launching its solar initiative. This will be through a wrapped up public selection process, where we will be offering to the general public 100 solar water heaters and 33 solar electricity photovoltaic systems, at no capital cost to eligible participants of this pilot programme,” said Minister Neymour.

“The programme is aimed at investigating the use of solar energy in The Bahamas and will seek to expand the existing energy matrix while also allowing participants to interconnect with BEC’s electricity power grid. The cost of the systems, being provided to the selected customers is estimated to be $3,000 for the solar water heaters, and approximately $10,000 for the photovoltaic systems. Again, this capital will not be charged to the selected winners.”

The solar panel launching is open to all homeowners in government subdivisions living on all islands in The Bahamas, including Grand Bahama. However there are four basic requirements that must be met before the selection process begins.

“It must be stressed that some of the basic requirements are the following: (1) the size of the home must be below 2,000 square feet or less,

(2) the selected participant must pay for the installation by an approved installer,

(3) the participant must provide with their form a current electrical bill or account, and

(4) only one system will be provided per household,” said Mr. Neymour.

“In our quest for energy independence, we must find ways to exploit the natural resources of The Bahamas, especially the abundant energy resource that could be found in solar energy. The hot climate of The Bahamas and the many hours of sunlight make it the ideal location to use solar water heaters to replace electricity powered water heaters. Using solar water heaters provide up to 30 percent of energy savings in households whose highest demand is in the area of water heating.”

For households of normal hot water requirements, an integrated collective system (ICS) or open loop thermal cipher solar water heating system, which are totally independent of electrical heaters, could present one of the best opportunities for the reduction of energy costs while producing adequate hot water.

“The (former) Minister of Housing could attest to this as we both witnessed the testing and experienced the pleasure of finding an abundance of hot water running from the taps of homes in Ardastra Gardens and other government subdivisions, with absolutely no electricity connected to the building,” said Mr. Neymour.

“To date, the Ministry of Housing has installed 20 identical systems being offered today as part of this pilot programme. One of the things I would like to do is commend the Ministry of Housing, who has worked along with the Ministry of the Environment on this project. We have had full cooperation. We worked almost as one ministry and they were very enthusiastic and we were very successful at fully installing these solar water heaters.”