Photovoltaic energy

The use of solar water heaters is relatively new in Malta and certainly far from extensive. Cyprus, by contrast, has made extensive use of this energy since the 1970s, and is some 30 years ahead of us. They manufacture solar water heaters, which are sold for some Lm300. They also export them.

The island is now opening its first photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing plant, which will allow households to generate their own electricity using solar panels.

According to Alex Mita, writing in The Cyprus Mail, planned government subsidies will reduce installation costs to under £5,000 per house, while surplus electricity production fed back into the national grid will be bought from households by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).

The plant, a joint venture between the Cypriot company Enfoton Ltd and GSS Gebäude-Solarsysteme GmbH of Germany, aims to cover the solar energy needs of the Eastern Mediterranean region and Cyprus.

According to the latest European Union directives, each member state and EU accession candidate will have to generate 12 per cent of its total energy consumption from renewable energy sources by the year 2010.

The Cypriot government is implementing a law under which the local utility provider (EAC) will have to compensate renewable energy producers for the electricity generated and fed back into the public electricity grid.

The cost of installing a grid-connected photovoltaic system for a typical 200 square metres would amount to £7,300, but with the government subsidy expected to be around 40 per cent, the cost would fall to £4,380.

And with the EAC buy-back scheme for solar energy fed into the public grid (10 cents per kilowatt over 20 years), users of photovoltaic systems could receive up to £400 per annum.

If Malta is to get its act together, it will need to ensure not just uninterrupted electricity supplies, which cost businesses dearly quite apart from the unacceptable inconvenience they cause fee paying customers. It will also need to make provision for the generation of 12 per cent by renewable energy sources in seven years' time.

There has been much resistance by local experts to the use of energy saving devices. I remember reading a report commissioned some 12 years ago from a university-based engineer who concluded that the introduction of solar water heating would not be viable for Malta! Situations and conditions change, but many of us would like to see a more proactive policy from Enemalta and the government which will be translated into action, rather than their tilting at their imaginary windmills trying to convince us that they are actually doing something.