The Jamaican electricity sector has seen its fair share of investment in renewable energy over the last two decades or so, to the tune of approximately US$360 million to be exact. Development to date: Jamaica has a long history of using its indigenous renewable sources of energy to generate electricity. This dates back as far as… Continue reading Jamaica’s RE Near Term Outlook
In 2013, WBR Enterprises Inc. was selected by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) via a competitive bidding process to develop a 20 Megawatts (MW) solar farm - the island's first utility-scale solar project. The project was the third lowest bid received, in response to the OUR's request to supply 115 MW of renewable generation, with a proposed price… Continue reading Jamaica’s First Utility-Scale Solar PV Farm
The St Christopher Air, Sea and Ports Authority (SCASPA) solar farm is a 1.0 megawatt (MW) farm on the beautiful Island of St.Kitts. This farm, which is located just north of the runway at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport, consist of approximately 3,500 photovoltaic panels that generates more than ample electricity for SCASPA operations, with excess energy… Continue reading REdiscover: SCASPA Solar Farm (St. Kitts)
The Worldwatch Institute in its recently published "Jamaica Sustainable Energy Roadmap - Pathways to an Affordable, Reliable, Low-Emission Electricity System" revealed that Jamaica has a tremendous solar potential with global horizontal irradiance(or GHI) ranging from 5 to 7 kWh per square meter per day (kWh/m2/day) throughout most of the country. According to the Institute some parts of Jamaica have an… Continue reading Jamaica’s Solar Potential for PV Application
In a previous article titled "Make Electricity while the Sun Shines" I gave a some insight into current PV technologies. In this article, however, I would like to look at the addition of a PV system to your home and thus a more detailed look at a solar PV energy system in its entirety. A… Continue reading Adding Solar PV to your Home – grid-tied or stand-alone?
Over the past couple of years I have listened to cries emanating from all sectors of the society to break the monopoly held by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) on the nation's electricity market. The Honorable Minister, himself, Phillip Paulwell, has echoed similar sentiments and has publicly underscored his intention to break up the monopoly -… Continue reading Solar PPA – the straw to break the supply monopoly
In one of my previous article – titled Solar Basics – I discussed briefly the enormity of the energy received from the sun globally. Jamaica receives approximately 5kWh/m2 of solar radiation per day or 1800 kWh/m2 annually and thus possesses a great potential for solar applications such as electricity generation, water heating, and crop drying.… Continue reading Jamaica’s PV market – can it strive with limited incentives?
In a recent post, titled solar basis, I gave a quick overview on solar energy and its conversion into other, more useful, forms of energy (e.g. electricity). In this article however, I will delve a little into solar electric systems. But before I jump into it, I will briefly recap from that article what I… Continue reading Make ‘Electricity’ while the Sun Shines
Solar energy technology continues to advance both in terms of efficiency and cost. The cost, however, is still outside the reach of the average hardworking middle class of our society. The need for alternative sources of energy is greater now than ever before. This worldwide drive towards alternative energy and greater efficiency is however not… Continue reading Solar Water Heating
