VietNamNet Bridge – More and more households plan to install solar panels on their roofs to generate electricity. Once EVN completes its policy on electricity purchase, households will be able to join the electric power market.
Research shows that HCM City has an abundant source of energy from sunlight, with high radiation, about 1,581 kWh/m2/year on average. The highest radiation level of 6.3 kWh/m2/day can be obtained in February and the lowest of 3.3 KWh/m2/day in July. There are 100-300 sunny hours every month.
HCM City residents not only can use sunlight to heat water, but can also generate electricity with solar panels installed on their roofs.
Nguyen Thanh Liem, the designer of civil housing works, said that five to six years ago, when advising landlord owners to install solar cells, he would see indifference. But now, many clients ask him to design a solar power system for their new houses.
A 2 kWp system with a cost of VND70-80 million would be suitable for one family in the city.
According to Liem, 1 kWp of solar panels can generate 5 Kwh a day and 2 kWp would generate 300 kwh a month. If noting that the current retail electricity price is VND1,500-2,500, one family would save VND450,000-750,000 on an electricity bill. This means that it would get back investment capital 12-13 years after installing solar panels.
At present, the majority of solar panel suppliers commit to a 10-year warranty. However, experts say the life expectancy of solar panels could be up to 20-25 years.
The solar power generated from the panels on roofs cannot completely replace the national grid. “We advise clients to use the electricity from the source for household appliances such as lighting systems, wifi routers, refrigerators and alarm systems,” he said.
“This way of electricity generation can help protect the environment because solar panels don’t cause emissions, and people can save money,” he said.
An analyst said that people’s interest in solar power would increase in the time to come, when retail electricity prices rise. They will consider generating power with solar panels on their roofs to save money. If they have electricity in excess, they will be able to sell it to EVN.
It is estimated that to build a solar power plant, investors will have to have 1.1-2 hectares of land for every MW. This causes a problem for large cities which have been witnessing rapid urbanization in recent years.
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