Rooftop solar programme faces financial crisis
The National Rooftop Solar Programme introduced by the government to help address the energy crisis in the country is facing financial challenges from two fronts.
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First, the Energy Commission is unable to raise GH¢533 million required to fully implement the programme to subsidise rooftop solar panels for homes and companies.
The Principal Programme Officer in charge of Renewable Energy at the Energy Commission, Mr Frederick Kenneth Appiah, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Monday.
He said the second challenge was that most people who showed interest in the programme were unable to raise the minimum amount required for installing the rooftop solar panels.
Residential homes owners were required to pay 70 per cent of the total amount which is between GH¢4,000 and GH¢6,000, while the government pays the remainder.
“Right now, the major challenge confronting the implementation of the project is funding. The Energy Commission is dependent on the Renewable Energy Fund and it is not enough to see the programme through.
“We currently need external sources of funding to address the challenges,” Mr Appiah said.
About the project
The Energy Commission began implementing the capital subsidy scheme in February last year, where solar panels with maximum capacity of 500 watts were given freely to people living in residential accommodations.
The primary objective was to take the load of lighting for residents off the national grid by the use of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology.
The first phase of the programme targeted 20,000 houses out of about 200,000 commercial, industrial residential facilities earmarked under the scheme.
According to figures from the Energy Commission, as of May this year, a total of 2,664 applications were received from residential applicants across the country.
Out of the number, 2,289 applicants which came from the Greater Accra Region alone have been given approval to engage licensed solar vendors for the supply and installation.
According to Mr Appiah, “approval has been given to 872 applicants to install 500w solar panels each, out of which 443 have been installed so far.”
He said the commission intended to roll out the full complement of the programme next year when all commercial and industrial facilities would have been added.
Remedial measures
He said the Energy Commission had gone into partnership with a number of financial institutions to grant loans to applicants who did not have the funds to meet their part of the obligation.
“Right now we have a number of banks that have already launched loan solar facilities for their customers to enable them to benefit from the programme,” he said.