Solar power costs remain high in Vietnam

Solar power costs remain high in Vietnam

Many people in the country have saved money by using solar energy.

A solar energy system with capacity of 1 KW was installed on the terrace of
Redsun's building in district 5, HCMC in 2010. Since then, the system has
been operating well, allowing activities at the buildings to run properly
even when the electricity from the national grid is cut. The company doesn't
have to run electricity generators which produce noise and dust.

Hiep, of district 6, HCMC installed a 1 KW solar power system on the roof,
worth VND80 million. The electricity provided by the system, about 4-5 KW,
is used to light four 40W fluorescent lamps, run four electric fans and one
TV.

Vietnam's renewable energy production costs remain higher than other
countries as the country still does not have a competitive solar energy
market.
With the 2 KW solar power system, VH in Ham Tan district of Binh Thuan
province can save two-thirds of expenses on electricity.

The outstanding feature of the system is that it allows him to automatically
use the electricity from the national grid when the system cannot provide
enough electricity.

If the system provides more than enough electricity, the redundant capacity
will be automatically transferred to the national grid.

However, the problem is that he has to pay for electricity from the national
grid he uses, but does not receive money from Electricity of Vietnam (EVN)
if his system provides electricity to the national grid.

H said if EVN applies a flexible exchange, he would be willing to install a
system with double or triple the capacity. And if other people also install
such systems, this will help settle the electricity shortage and ease
pollution.

Businesses and households which want to install private solar electricity
systems still have to wait for the Ministry of Industry and Trade's guidance
on electricity pricing. Therefore, they now can only use solar power under
the 'self-sufficient' mode by installing solar panels on the roofs.

Scientists say that Vietnam has great potential in developing solar energy.
According to the Energy Institute, there are about 2,500 sunny hours a year,
while the average annual radiation volume is 230-250 kcal/cm2.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Science & Technology, the Sun
'sends' 3-4.5 kwh/m2 of electricity to Vietnam every hour in winter and
4.5-6.5 kwh/m2 in summer.

Experts estimated that in HCMC, solar panels can be installed on at least
300,000 roofs. If two panels are installed on each roof, with the capacity
of 260W (enough for lighting, TV and fans), the city will have 78 MW in
solar power capacity, which is equal to the Can Don Hydropower Plant in Binh
Phuoc Province which can generate 105 million KWh a year.

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Link to Original Article:
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/science-it/175646/solar-power-costs-remain-
high-in-vietnam.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com