Photovoltaic systems in Seychelles-The new solar-energy way to go? |19 August 2011

Albeit quite a mouthful to pronounce, photovoltaic is showing signs of becoming the new trend where solar energy is concerned.

Photovoltaics or PV is the process which generates electricity by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity. This is done by using semiconductors that give out the photovoltaic effect.

Photovoltaic power generation uses solar panels – a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material. (Materials presently used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide/sulfide.)

Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, the manufacturing of solar cells and photovoltaic arrays has advanced considerably in recent years. Over 100 countries are now using PV, with installations either being ground-mounted (and sometimes integrated with farming and grazing) or built into the roof or walls of a building (building-integrated photovoltaics), the latter being the available option in Seychelles.

Given that Seychelles is a tropical country receiving large amounts of sunshine – an average 6.9 hours of sunshine per day, and seven hours on average per year, according to the local meteorological office – there is great potential to replace at least some of the current oil-generated (and polluting) electricity with solar energy systems.

There is currently a pilot project to install PV systems and connect it to the national grid financed by a $1,160,000 grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), which supplies almost all of the electricity to the country, can very much support the feeding of PV-generated power into the grid, although a well-defined feed-in tariff system is not yet in place.

At present, the only active grid-connected PV system in the entire country is a 600-watt (4-panel) PV system installed by the PUC.

A few organisations and companies are, however, investigating opportunities for alternatives to oil-generated electricity, in some cases including PV systems, while companies such as Vetiver Tech, are already established importers of PV systems.

So if you think a PV system would do your house (and wallet) a world of good, watch out for details of how much one costs and how to get one installed in another upcoming issue of the Nation’s Science and Technology page!

By Ivan Hollanda