AN OVERVIEW OF PHOTOVOLATIC APPLICATIONS IN SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES AND ITS COST TREND

摘要

The South Asian region, comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, have population of above 1.3 billion, which is about twenty percent of the world's population. In the South Asian region, energy consumption is very high as compared with other developing world. The primary energy consumption of this region is increasing by 58% from 1991. The primary energy consumption per capita is about 0.45 toes, which is very low as compared with the world average of 1.68. Similarly, the per capita consumption of electrical energy is also lower than the world average. The total primary energy supply in South Asian reason is increasing by the rate of 3.6% annually. The total primary energy supply in this reason including 250.7 MTOE (million tones of oil equivalent), renewable energy is 556.5 MTOE. The total primary energy supply, including renewable energy should increase 1411 MTOE by 2010/11, which is still inadequate for the demand of energy. The solar energy resource in south Asian reason is abundant, especially in the high altitude mountainous regions. This season enjoys more than 300 sunny days in a year. The PV system that generates electricity from the energy of solar radiation has emerged as a viable option to meet electricity demand, especially in remote areas. A simple analysis based on the cost of PV system distributed over 20 years of lifetime and the annual yield shows that the cost of electricity generated by the system which is about 7.9 cent/kWh will be reduced to 4.6 cent/kWh which is already far below the grid energy cost. This long-run cost benefit encourage for PV installation in this reason.