New era in renewable energy

SOLAR ROOF: Domestic roof solar systems and large-scale industrial solar systems are expected to be the main two systems that will contribute heavily to the Surya Bala Sangramaya (SBS), a public power-generating program launched last month by President Maithripala Sirisena.

The SBS program targets to add 200 MW to the national grid by 2020, and another 1000 MW by 2025, which will be 20 percent of the total projected power needs of the country by this time.

Consumers can join the SBS program with the existing Net Metering, where consumers only pay for the net amount of electricity they consume, and are given the option of bringing forward any excess units to consume the following month. No additional fee is paid for the excess units generated.

Private sector companies are now taking initiatives to expand the solar power generation projects by offering various solutions which go along with the

SBS program; Net Accounting and Net Plus are two solutions offered by JLanka Technologies, a leading solar solution provider in Sri Lanka.

With Net Accounting, customers can produce solar power in their homes, and trade extra power units to the national grid and Ceylon Electricity Board at Rs. 22 per unit during the first seven years, and at Rs. 15.50 from the eighth year onwards, the company says.

JLanka has introduced Laksolar – a 1.2KW Home Kit that is tailor-made for medium-to-low-income homeowners. “The unit is pre-assembled to enable a simple plug and play installation. It is tested for Sri Lankan conditions, with an extendable warranty of 5 years. This unit produces 130 units per month, and requires 8 m2 of open roof area for installation,” a company press release said. “The SBS program was conceived not only to assist the development of the country, but to also result in improved living standards of a million families and their communities by having direct access to renewable energy, to enhance their livelihoods,” Srinath Dolage, Marketing Manager of JLanka said.