Time for Malta to also think 'solar'

Although it will be a belated good idea were government to encourage the use of solar water heaters and photovoltaic cells in the next budget when so much EU funds are available, we need to think big and also look at the big picture of solar energy.

If Seville, which apart from being a sun drenched destination like Malta also has a population similar to ours, can do it, there is no reason why we should not follow suit. We need not try and reinvent the wheel. Land reclamation (where feasible) should make up for our limited land area to set up, as they did, CSP - Concentrating Solar Power which apart from forming part of the European Energy Technology Pan for 2007 has long moved from the research stage to the implementation process in many European countries following the strong support of the EU Commission in this direction.

I am equally baffled why there has been so much silence from the government authorities as to whether we have explored the possibility of engaging in the Trans Mediterranean Interconnection for Concentrating Solar Power when not only Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Croatia have already done so but also Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia and Bosnia Herzegovina are heavily engaged in this process. Malta does not seem to feature on the radar of any documentation on the subject. One need not be that surprised after all.

The government has not even responded yet to Labour's call for the establishment of solar rights for local residents that might have or are considering the installation of solar energy applications and systems.

What is the whole point of encouraging people to go solar if they might be denied the use of their solar rights?

The time is long overdue for a national plan on the use of solar energy. As in other cases holistic approaches make more sense than piecemeal solutions.