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Nowadays, we keep hearing about solar energy, which is considered one of the best ways to lower carbon emissions worldwide. Solar energy is considered important in our lives mainly because it is a clean way of producing energy; it is renewable. With the help of innovative technologies, this energy can be distributed more than the average capacity consumption. The demand for solar energy is increasing daily as people require it for an uninterrupted electricity supply to boost their business, or simple homeowners require it to power their house and lower electric bills. There are various reasons why solar energy is important and how it can change lives.

Supports The Environment

Solar energy is a completely renewable method that is beneficial for the environment. Solar is the best way to produce renewable energy, whether you own a business or are a simple house owner. Such energy helps reduce carbon-based emissions generated from diesel generators or peter engines that pollute the air or water. Climate change is a serious matter since we face the worst climate due to pollution each day.

Feasibility in Electric Prices

Most utility companies increase their prices which affects the general public, and these prices are unreliable as they might fluctuate. However, solar energy has turned the tables by not only offering renewable energy but also providing a cost-effective way to help provide zero electric bills.

Building New Job Opportunities

The solar industry is booming daily since the demand has increased exponentially due to its benefits, such as offering backup energy, providing uninterrupted electricity, lowering electric bills, and much more. These opportunities create jobs for people or businesses interested in installing clean, renewable energy. The more these resources are used, the more job opportunities open.

Commercial & Private

One of the main objectives for solar-based energy is that it can be used within the commercial sector or privately within houses. It’s a one-time investment for many homeowners; the same goes for commercials, which can prove quite profitable for energy companies. Having a solar system can offer great returns over the years; however, it is quite costly; businesses have invested in getting solar energy to save the environment. Most energy companies offer solar financing to help industries, such as Gream Energy, which offers a 6% fixed markup that can be paid within a 3 to 5 years timeframe.

Local Options

Renewable energy produced by solar systems can benefit homeowners and businesses since most of the products are imported from countries like the US or Germany. Some of the products these days are locally produced. Having their own solar-based energy allows people to generate their own electricity supply instead of getting from different parts of the world.

Better Grid Safety

Solar energy is a natural resource from the sun, making it completely renewable with fewer power outages. A natural resource like solar offers the grid more safety since the environment is being protected and very few carbon-based emissions are spreading.

Using More Unutilized Land 

Once the use of solar energy expands, this will increase the demand for more land, especially lands that are not being utilized. Each country has a big chunk of land, whether within the city or in urban areas, that is just being wasted. Once renewable energy like solar systems is installed, the value of the land will increase exponentially, providing profit to many landowners.

Solar energy production is one of the most environmentally friendly & cheapest electricity methods worldwide. With the help of solar energy, people can easily avoid diesel generators or other carbon emission-based devices that can harm the environment. The solar industry has grown vastly since it is affordable, easily accessible, and an attractive option for homeowners or businesses. Currently, two types of solar systems, called on-grid & hybrid, are considered quite popular within the solar market. Both of these systems have the same purpose: producing electricity. However, they are completely different from one another.

On-Grid Solar System

On-Grid based solar energy is directly linked with the electric grid and can’t work when the grid is down. They can produce solar energy when the sun is out, and the grid is functioning. These systems are less viable than hybrid-based solar energy systems, as they can’t create power during load shedding and high blackouts. On-grid solar-based energy systems require energy storage. A surplus amount of energy can’t be stored for future utilization. Nonetheless, these systems allow net-metering, which means a great amount of power can be offered back to the grid. This system is quite affordable but unhelpful during load shedding.

Benefits of On-Grid System 

Although the on-grid system depends on the grid’s power supply, there are some perks of having such a system.

• Provides Savings Through Net Metering 

Solar panels will usually produce more electricity than what you consume. The customer can use this excess energy on the main power grid rather than storing it in batteries. Most power grid companies like to purchase the extra energy from homeowners or businesses, which benefits them since the payments get adjusted with the utility bills. Net metering is vital in this scenario, especially from a financial perspective.

• Affordable & Easy Installation

An on-grid system does not require any form of storage, so there is no need for batteries. This can help customers reduce a great amount of cost, making the system quite affordable. Installing an on-grid system is quite easy since it requires a limited amount of tools & technology, plus very little maintenance is needed.

Hybrid Solar System

The hybrid solar system is just like an on-grid system regarding solar energy production, yet it has the advantage of being self-sufficient from the power grid. This system works non-stop, allowing it to help store excess energy that can be used during the night or when the customer suffers from power outages. Peak hours can affect the electric bill; however, the hybrid solar system produces enough energy to assist you in avoiding such heavy costs. Installing a hybrid system can guarantee customers better savings and a great investment return. Although the hybrid system is great, it is quite expensive due to the cost of inverters and batteries.

Benefits of Hybrid Solar System

Getting a hybrid system can be expensive, but it has its benefits. It is less costly than the off-grid system & it is a part of smart solar.

• Less Costly Than Off-Grid

Off-grid systems are considered quite costly since they require a great abundance of batteries to help store the energy; however, in a hybrid system, a low quantity of batteries is necessary to store energy as a backup. In case your battery runs out of energy at night, you can use the power grid to store energy which will also be an inexpensive method.

• Smart Solar 

New innovations have been introduced due to hybrid solar systems like new inverters, which help businesses or homeowners to reap benefits from electric utility prices all day. Solar panels can produce more energy during noon just before peak hours begin. Storing energy for a limited time and later the energy can be sold whenever the electricity demand is required.

Embracing solar energy provides many residential owners with a high number of benefits. One of these benefits includes net metering, also known as net energy metering (NEM), which allows people to credit any excess amount of renewable energy generated from solar panels and offer it back to the grid. When any house generates a high amount of extra energy sold to the grid, they adjust this money within your utility bills giving you full economic value.

Solar energy’s job is to generate electricity during the day when the sun is out; however, during the middle of the day, people use a very limited amount of energy, even more than your house needs. A net metered system connected to the solar panels redirects the energy to the grid spinning your electric meter backward. The credited energy is added to your utility, giving you a real retail advantage towards your electricity account. During the evening, solar energy isn’t produced; eventually, residential owners take electricity from the grid, which can impact your electric meter. Both the credited amount of electricity and the amount you use from the grid are balanced in your bill; therefore, this process is called net metering.

Usually, in Pakistan, people come across high utility bills, especially during inflation; however, with net metering, your energy is credited, which can be carried forward from month to month, depending on your utility bills and monthly usage. Depending on the owners, this credit energy can be stored and used in the summers or winters.

Advantages of Net Metering

A net metering system has its advantages compared to other systems like off-grid or hybrid.

• Saving On Utility Bills 

One of the best advantages for residential owners is having a solar net metering system which can help them save millions of rupees on utility bills. As described earlier that net metering was designed to make adjustments to your bills or eliminate your energy usage from the grid; however, there are fixed taxes that cannot be removed from your accounts.

• Short-Term Paybacks 

Most residential owners would have a short-term payback duration compared to others since net metering offers credit energy. Owners with solar will save more costs instead of paying more, therefore recovering their investment much faster. Having net metering isn’t the only thing that will affect your solar payback. Items like inverters, wires, solar panels, installation, and other products also play a vital role in your payback.

• Lowers Pressure On The Grid

Each day the grid faces a heavy load & the best way to reduce such stress is through solar panels by generating their energy and distributing that energy to the grid. Since residential owners are not using the grid’s energy less, people are consuming the grid’s energy which means less load shedding. With net metering, the extra amount of energy being transferred to the grid can help the non-solar users meet their need for electricity, which means a high amount of pressure is reduced from the grid.

The Sun is one of the most powerful sources of energy in the world. Solar power can be harnessed to produce renewable, clean, and affordable energy that can make a drastic difference. But if you are still unsure why your factory needs a solar system, this blog is for you. Below we have explained how a solar system can prove to be beneficial for your factory or warehouse.

Here are some advantages of using a solar power system

• Solar power can help you save on bills

A solar system might require an extensive investment at the start. However, it can help in reducing the overall electricity bill in the wrong run. By installing a solar power system, you can produce your own electricity and even gain extra credit by providing the surplus energy to the traditional grid. 

Factories and warehouses usually have to spend a lot in paying for the electricity every month. However, a solar power system can reduce dependence upon the traditional grid that mostly overcharges. In this way, the solar system that might have a lot of cost in the start can help in recovering the investment by saving up on the electricity bills.

• A solar system can increase the property value

By installing solar panels on a factory’s roof, you can increase its overall value in the market. In this way, owners who eventually decide to sell their commercial, multi-unit, or industrial property can get more in return.

• You don’t have to worry about power shortages

Pakistan experiences a lot of load shedding, which makes it extremely difficult for factories to continue their operations. However, with a solar panel, factory owners can reduce their reliance on the traditional grid and start producing their own energy. In this way, their plants or factories won’t be affected by power shortages in the city.

Most importantly, Pakistan gets abundant sunlight all the year around. In this way, factory owners can make use of the solar power to produce electricity yearly. 

• Factories’ roofs are ideal for solar systems

Manufacturing companies or factories are ideal for installation of solar systems because they have big roofs where various solar panels can be stored. Factories and plants are also located far away from residential buildings and skyscrapers. In this way, these buildings do not loom over solar panels or create a shade. Hence, factories are able to get more sunlight and generate a larger amount of electricity. 

Even parking lots and other carports are great areas in a factory for installing a solar panel because they get unimpeded sunlight. The energy produced by these solar panels can be used for lighting the parking lot and lower floors of the building. 

In Conclusion

Solar power is one of the best renewable energies out there that can help you to produce undisrupted electricity and run your factories without any problem. So if you haven’t installed a solar system yet in your factory, it’s time to get one.

Solar energy is finally getting the recognition it deserves in Pakistan. However, many people are still unsure of installing a solar system in their offices and homes because of the high upfront costs associated with them. And this leads us to the question: are solar panels even worth the investment? 

The answer is yes. The rising costs of electricity in the country and the constant power failure make the solar system a very lucrative investment. 

Why does the solar system cost too much?

Solar energy is very capital intensive, which is the main cost of a solar system that basically arises upon buying the equipment, with the solar module being the largest expense. Other equipment such as an inverter, metering equipment, and other components like wiring gear and cables also have a lot of costs. 

You may also want to buy battery storage or a net metering facility. Accordingly, the equipment of a solar system can cost a lot. In Pakistan, the price of a solar system can easily be more than Rs. 10,000. 

Besides installation costs, solar panels may also include costs for operating and maintaining the system, together with regular cleaning of the panels and replacing batteries after some years of use.

So why is the solar system worth investing money in?

Even though a solar system might have a high installation cost, it usually has a higher return on investment. In other words, a solar panel system can pay for itself over time. 

Solar panels create substantial electricity for the entire house. In this way, you won’t have to pay a high electricity bill to your local electricity provider. Instead, you will be able to produce electricity on your own and even provide the excess energy to the national grid. 

Solar systems that produce excess energy can add electricity to the national grid through the policy of net metering. In return, owners can either earn credit depending upon the energy provided or get their electricity bills reduced. 

Pakistan also experiences long summers, which means that the country receives a lot of sunlight throughout the year. In this way, solar systems get enough exposure all around the year to produce energy. 

There are many solar providers in Pakistan who also offer financing support through installment opportunities, making it easier for people to get a solar system of their own without paying a high-cost upfront. 

When is a solar system not worth the investment? 

A good solar system requires maximum exposure to the sun. If your facility, be it office or home, does not get enough sun exposure, let’s say because of its direction, then it might be difficult to produce sufficient electricity using the system. 

Many solar companies also offer incentives to their customers. However, if you are ineligible for the incentives, let’s say because of poor credit history, then it can be difficult to get financing support and install a solar panel. 

In Conclusion

A solar system is really worth the investment if you want to cut down your electricity bills and produce your own energy. In Pakistan especially, solar energy is becoming a popular method of producing electricity. 

Net Metering is an effective way for solar panels owners to earn credit for the electricity they add to the grid. In this way, if your solar panels also produce extra energy that you don’t need, you can redirect it to the national grid and either reduce your electricity bill to zero or a negative value. 

How does net metering work?

Net Metering is an effective policy for those who produce energy using solar power, and their system generates electricity more energy than what is required. With Net Metering, the nearest electric utility provides a bidirectional meter to the consumer, so they can record the excess energy they are adding to the national grid and earn credit for it. 

It was September 2015 when NEPRA first issued its net-metering regulations by which consumers with three-phase connections to the national grid can get a net-metering facility for renewable energy installations, ranging from 1kW to 1MW.

How can you avail net metering facility in Pakistan? 

One of the reasons why net Metering has become quite prevalent in Pakistan is because it is extremely easy to get the policy. The first step of moving towards net Metering is to install a solar system that is compliant with net Metering. Secondly, consumers need to fill out an application in order to apply for the license. 

As part of the application process, the electric company will inspect the system, and once satisfied, it will issue the NOC. The consumer will then have to sign the agreement, after which the generation license will be given, and the net meter will start operating. 

Consumers adding electricity to the national grid are compensated in the following ways:

• Their utility bills are reduced
• They get a payment for the extra energy added to the national grid 

The compensation depends upon the rules as laid down by NEPRA. The fee for the application depends upon the size of the facility. For example, if your solar system produces 0 to 20 kilowatt of energy, you won’t have to pay any application fees. But if it produces 20 to 50 kilowatt, you will have to pay Rs. 500 and upwards, as the amount of energy further increases. Anyone can opt for this program as long as they comply with the conditions as specified by NEPRA. 

Benefits of Net Metering in Pakistan 

As already discussed, net Metering allows consumers to reduce their own utility bills or get a payment for the energy they provide. At the same time, they make good use of the extra energy their system produces because the energy they provide is given to the people in the nearby areas. 

Accordingly, consumers that are conscious about the environment can help in reducing pressure on the national grid and also benefit other people while having their power meter run backward. However, for consumers that do not go for Net Metering, all the excess energy that their solar plants produce will be wasted. 

In Conclusion

Net Metering is definitely a very prospective policy for all those whose energy systems produce an excess amount of energy. If you also own a solar panel that produces extra energy, net Metering might be the perfect policy for you.

Solar energy has become an imperative source of power all across the world. Homeowners and businessmen from America to Asia have started to invest in solar systems rapidly. After all, solar energy is renewable, cost-effective, and beneficial for the environment. Here are some reasons why investing in a solar system might be a good decision for you as well:

1. Solar Power can help cut your electricity bills

The rising costs of electricity in the country are becoming a hassle for many. Electricity makes a major chunk of monthly expenses in many households and companies. However, by using a solar system, you can generate your own electricity and cut down your electricity bills to a minimum or even zero. 

2. Solar energy is a reliable source of power.

Load shedding is one of the biggest problems that people experience in Pakistan. Due to constant load shedding, many factories are unable to run their operations effectively and have to rely on expensive UPS or generators. 

However, solar energy can help you free yourself from these problems. Solar energy provides a reliable and steady supply of electricity. Since Pakistan receives abundant sunlight for the majority of the months across the year, solar panels can capture an ample amount of solar energy, store it, and provide electricity all day long. 

3. A solar system can help in long-term savings

The initial cost of a solar system is generally high. However, you can find easy financing solutions in the market and pay for the solar system, usually in easy installments. Besides, a solar system only costs high at the start. The maintenance cost of this technology is quite minimal.

Plus, there are ways to generate a profit using solar systems as well. Through net metering policy in Pakistan, people can provide excess electricity, which their solar systems produce, to on-grid systems. Based on the amount of electricity provided, credit is provided to the owners of the solar system by which either their electricity reduces to zero or a negative value. 

4. It is good for the environment

As a renewable source of energy, solar systems are quite useful for the environment. By investing in solar energy, your business can become more eco-friendly and show the customers that it cares about the environment. You can help reduce your company’s carbon footprint and make Pakistan a greener place.

5. A solar system can increase the value of your property

Properties that come with a solar system installed are already sold at a high price in the market. This is because solar systems have a high installation cost, which is usually included in the total price of the home. This means that if you install a solar system on your property and eventually decide to sell it, you can recover the initial investment you made in the technology.

Final Takeaway

Solar energy is one of the most effective ways to reduce your electricity bills and make your company more socially responsible. In other words, it’s time for your business to invest in solar systems as well.