Greener Energy Issues and Challenges For Pakistan

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 2762–2780
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser
Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan—Solar energy prospective

Abdul Waheed Bhutto a , Aqeel Ahmed Bazmi b,c , Gholamreza Zahedi b,∗
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, Dawood College of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
b
Process Systems Engineering Centre (PROSPECT), Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Johor Bahru (JB),
Malaysia
c
Biomass Conversion Research Centre (BCRC), Department of Chemical Engineering, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Energy plays a pivotal role in socio-economic development by raising standard of living. It is becom-
Received 29 April 2011 ing gradually accepted that current energy systems, networks encompassing every thing from primary
Accepted 19 February 2012 energy sources to final energy services, are becoming unsustainable. Development of conventional forms
Available online 22 March 2012
of energy for meeting the growing energy needs of society at a reasonable cost is the responsibility of
the Governments. In recent years, public and political sensitivities to environmental issues and energy
Keywords:
security have led to the promotion of renewable energy resources. Diversification of fuel sources is imper-
Green energy
ative to address these issues; and limited fossil resources and environmental problems associated with
Solar energy
Sustainable development them have emphasized the need for new sustainable energy supply options that use renewable energies.
Pakistan Development and promotion of new non-conventional, alternate and renewable sources of energy such
as solar, wind and bio-energy, etc. are now getting sustained attention. Solar power is one of the hottest
areas in energy investment right now, but there is much debate about the future of solar technology and
solar energy markets. This investigates the progress and challenges for solar power in Pakistan according
to the overall concept of sustainable development, and identifies the region wise potential of solar power
in Pakistan and its current status. Barriers are examined over the whole solar energy spectrum and policy
issues and institutional roles and responsibilities are discussed.
© 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2763
2. Solar energy technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2763
2.1. Photo voltaics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2763
2.2. Concentrated solar thermal systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2765
3. Solar energy in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2766
4. Global insolation data for Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2767
5. Prospects of solar energy utilization in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2767
6. Potential applications of solar energy in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2768
6.1. Photovoltaics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2769
6.2. Solar thermal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2769
6.2.1. Solar desalination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2769
6.2.2. Solar water pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2770
6.2.3. Solar water heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2770
6.3. Solar water heating in industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2770
6.4. Solar cooker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2772
6.5. Solar dryers for agricultural products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2773
7. Solar–hydrogen hybrid electric power plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2775
8. Public Sector Organizations working to promote and disseminate renewable energies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2775
8.1. Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2775
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 7 553583; fax: +60 7 5566177.

E-mail addresses: grzahedi@cheme.utm.my, grzahedi@yahoo.com (G. Zahedi).
1364-0321/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.rser.2012.02.043
A.W. Bhutto et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 2762–2780 2763
8.2. EME College of NUST (National University of Engineering and Technology), Islamabad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777
8.3. Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777
8.4. Alternative Energy Development Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777
8.5. Manufacturers of solar geysers and solar lights in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777
8.6. Current status of renewable energy resources in Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2778
9. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2778
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2779
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2779
1. Introduction contribution of electricity to the Human Development Index is

strongest for the first kilowatt-hour reflecting that the poorest are
most likely to benefit from even minimal electricity inputs [5].
Solar energy is the most abundant permanent energy resource
Rural electrification is also one of the key drivers in achieving mil-
on earth and it is available for use in its direct (solar radiation)
lennium development goals (MDGs) as it facilitates economic and
and indirect (wind, biomass, hydro, ocean, etc.) forms. This article
socio-cultural development of the target population. The problems
is limited to the direct use of solar radiation. Earth receives about
of high transmission and distribution (T&D) losses; frequent dis-
100,000 TW of solar power at its surface – enough energy every
ruption in supply of grid power, practical difficulties and financial
hour to supply humanity’s energy needs for a year. Theoretically,
un-viability of extending grid to remote and inaccessible areas, etc.
the world’s entire primary energy needs could be served by less
are plaguing the rural electrification program in Pakistan. Off grid
than a tenth of the area of the Sahara [1].
electrification have proved to be the viable solution for providing
Photovoltaic (PV) is an empowering technology that has shown
electricity in remote areas such as islands, hilly regions and similar
that it can generate electricity for the human race for a wide range of
remote areas, where grid extension is economically not feasible. In
applications, scales, climates and geographic locations. PV technol-
India large number of remote areas in the country that have been
ogy is proven and easy to use solar of energy to generate electricity.
electrified with renewable energy technologies have made a visible
It is being used globally to supply power to remote communities,
impact in the quality of life of the people inhabiting in these areas
utility peak load shaving, cathodic protection in pipelines, remotely
[6]. Research and development of solar thermal devices is being
located oil fields and gas oil separation plants (GOSPs), telecom-
undertaken by The Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Tech-
munication towers, highway telephones and billboard, off-grid
nologies (PCRET). Such systems include parabolic/concentrator and
cottage/s, resorts in desert areas, water pumping for community
box-type solar cookers, solar still for the provision of clean drinking
and irrigation, municipal park lighting, exterior home lighting and
water, and flat-collector and evacuated-tube solar water heaters.
many other usage. Standard commercial solar PV panel can convert
One particular area of success has been the introduction of solar
12–18% of the energy of sunlight into useable electricity; high-end
dryers to the agricultural areas. PCRET has designed and devel-
models come in above 20% efficiency [1]. Increasing manufacturing
oped a solar hybrid dryer for processing – on a commercial basis –
capacity and decreasing costs have led to remarkable growth in the
apricots, dates and other fruits.
industry over the past 10 years.
PV can often be installed piecemeal – house by house and busi-
ness by business. In these settings, the cost of generation has to 2. Solar energy technologies
compete with the retail price of electricity, rather than the cost
of generating it by other means, which gives solar a considerable The following sections will outline existing solar technologies
boost. The technology is also obviously well suited to off-grid gener- for understanding of each technology and its associated challenges.
ation and thus to areas without well-developed infrastructure. The
public accepts solar technology and in most places approves of it – it 2.1. Photo voltaics
is subject to less geopolitical, environmental and aesthetic concern
than nuclear, wind or hydro, although extremely large desert instal- PV is the technology that generates direct current (DC) electrical
lations might elicit protests [1]. With the policies of many countries power measured in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW) from semiconduc-
in promoting the PV solar cell industry, the industry has grown tors when they are illuminated by photons. A PV power generation
tremendously, and the global production capacity of silicon solar system are rated in peak kilowatts (kWp) which is an amount of
cell increased from 52 MWp in 2000 to 12.0 GWp in 2008 [2]. Even electrical power that a system is expected to deliver when the sun
though PV systems can offer cleaner and plentiful energy, the major is directly overhead on a clear day [7]. Fig. 1 shows the compo-
obstacle they face is that their energy cost is still too high [3]. The nents and schematic of typical Photovoltaic Installation. PV devices
most commonly used solar cell today is made from crystalline sili- are rugged and simple in design requiring very little maintenance
con, but the main trend of solar cell industry is toward the PV silicon and their biggest advantage being their construction as stand-alone
thin-film solar cell because of its potential for reducing production systems to give outputs from microwatts to megawatts. Hence
costs, low material consumption, lower energy consumption and a they are used for power source, water pumping, remote buildings,
shorter energy payback time [4]. solar home systems, communications, satellites and space vehi-
Pakistan is estimated to possess a 2.9-TW solar energy poten- cles, reverse osmosis plants, and for even mega watt scale power
tial. PV units have been installed in mosques and schools and plants. With such a vast array of applications, the demand for PVs
used for solar lanterns, solar home light systems, street and gar- is increasing every year [7,8].
den lighting and telecommunications. Country has a large number The solar cell is the elementary building block of the PV technol-
of remote villages that do not have electricity supplies. Linking ogy. Solar cells are made of semiconductor materials, such as silicon
the rural areas to national electricity grid would be very difficult which have weakly bonded electrons occupying a band of energy
because it would need a lot of time and budgetary investments. called the valence band. When energy exceeding a certain thresh-
However, solar energy technologies might be the lower cost options old, called the band gap energy, is applied to a valence electron,
in rural Pakistan’s villages, where population and load density the bonds are broken and the electron is somewhat “free” to move
are low. Serving both as an infrastructure and input, the positive around in a new energy band called the conduction band where it
2764 A.W. Bhutto et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 2762–2780
Fig. 1. Schematic of a photovoltaic installation.
can “conduct” electricity through the material. Thus, the free elec- than 90% of the solar cells currently made worldwide consist of
trons in the conduction band are separated from the valence band wafer-based silicon cells. Another important family of solar cells
by the band gap (measured in units of electron volts or eV). This is based on thin-films, which are approximately 1–2 ␮m thick and
energy needed to free the electron can be supplied by photons, therefore require significantly less active, semi conducting mate-
which are particles of light. rial. Thin-film solar cells can be manufactured at lower cost in large
In the fabrication of a PV solar cell, silicon, which has four production quantities; hence their market share will likely increase
valence electrons, is treated to increase its conductivity. On one in the future. A number of solar cells electrically connected to each
side of the cell, the impurities, which are phosphorus atoms with other and mounted in a single support structure or frame is called
five valence electrons (n-donor), donate weakly bound valence a ‘PV module’. Modules are designed to supply electricity at a cer-
electrons to the silicon material, creating excess negative charge tain voltage, such as a common 12-V system. The current produced
carriers. On the other side, atoms of boron with three valence is directly dependent on the intensity of light reaching the mod-
electrons (p-donor) create a greater affinity than silicon to attract ule. Several modules can be wired together to form an array. PV
electrons. Because the p-type silicon is in intimate contact with the modules and arrays produce direct-current electricity. They can be
n-type silicon a p–n junction is established and a diffusion of elec- connected in both series and parallel electrical arrangements to
trons occurs from the region of high electron concentration (the produce any required voltage and current combination.
n-type side) into the region of low electron concentration (p-type There are two main types of PV system. Grid connected systems
side). When the electrons diffuse across the p–n junction, they (on-grid systems) are connected to the grid and inject the elec-
recombine with holes on the p-type side. However, the diffusion tricity into the grid. For this reason, the direct current produced
of carriers does not occur indefinitely, because the imbalance of by the solar modules is converted into a grid-compatible alter-
charge immediately on either sides of the junction originates an nating current. However, solar power plants can also be operated
electric field. This electric field forms a diode that promotes cur- without the grid and are then called autonomous systems (off-grid
rent to flow in only one direction. Ohmic metal–semiconductor systems). More than 90% of PV systems worldwide are currently
contacts are made to both the n-type and p-type sides of the solar implemented as grid-connected systems [9].
cell, and the electrodes are ready to be connected to an external When the solar cell is exposed to sunlight of sufficient energy,
load. When photons of light fall on the cell, they transfer their the incident solar photons are absorbed by the atoms, breaking
energy to the charge carriers. The electric field across the junction the bonds of valence electrons and pumping them up to higher
separates photo-generated positive charge carriers (holes) from energy in the conduction band as shown in Fig. 2. There, a spe-
their negative counterpart (electrons). In this way an electrical cially made selective contact collects conduction-band electrons
current is extracted once the circuit is closed on an external load and drives these freed electrons to the external circuit. The elec-
[9]. trons lose their energy by doing work in the external circuit. They
Solar cells can be categorized into two main groups: wafer type are restored to the solar cell by the return loop of the circuit via a
(single crystalline or multi-crystalline) and thin film (a-Si, Cd–Te second selective contact, which returns them to the valence band
and CIGS). The former are made from wafers cut from a silicon ingot, with the same energy that they started with. The movement of
and the latter are made by depositing silicon directly onto a sub- these electrons in the external circuit and contacts is called the
strate such as glass or steel. Wafer-type solar cells dominated 95% electric current. Electrons are pumped by photons from the valence
of commercial PV market while the remaining 5% were mainly PV band to the conduction band, where they are extracted by a contact
silicon thin-film solar cells in 2007 [2]. Because the lack supply of selective to the conduction band (an n-doped semiconductor) at a
crystalline silicone limits the application of conventional silicone higher (free) energy and delivered to the outside world via wires,
solar cells, three major PV silicon thin film materials, including they do some useful work, then are returned to the valence band
amorphous silicon (a-Si), polycrystalline (Cd–Te), and polycrys- at a lower (free) energy by a contact selective to the valence band
talline CuIn(Ga)Se2 (CIGS), are emerging as significant players (a p-type semiconductor).
[10]. The potential reduction of manufacturing costs, low mate- Solar cells are interconnected and hermetically sealed to con-
rial consumption, and lower energy consumption accelerate the stitute a PV module. The PV modules are integrated with other
development of PV silicon thin-film solar cell [11]. However, more components such as storage batteries to constitute SPV systems
Table 1
Advantages and disadvantages of PVs.
Advantages of PVs Disadvantages of PVs
Fuel source is vast, widely accessible and essentially infinite Fuel source is diffuse (sunlight is a relatively low-density energy)
No emissions, combustion or radioactive waste (does not contribute Solar cells do not generate electricity at night, and in places with frequent and
perceptibly to global climate change or air/water pollution) extensive cloud cover, generation fluctuates unpredictably during the day
No moving parts (no wear); theoretically everlasting PV cells use rare elements that might be subject to increases in cost and
Low operating costs (no fuel) restriction in supply
Ambient temperature operation (no high-temperature corrosion or High installation costs
safety issues). High reliability of solar modules (manufacturers’ Lack of economical efficient energy and storage
guarantees over 30 years)
Modular (small or large increments)
Can be integrated into new or existing building structures
Can be very rapidly installed at nearly any point-of-use
and power plants. PV systems and power plants are highly reliable and the system design for maximum use of recycled material will
and modular in nature. reduce the energy requirement and greenhouse gas emissions [18].
PV cells have been in use in spacecraft since the 1950s [12]. The present PV market is growing at the very high rate of 35–40%
However, with the energy crisis of the early 1970s, a steadily grow- per year, and world PV production was 10.66 GW in 2009 [19,20].
ing terrestrial industry has developed. Initially, it supplied PV cells This became possible owing to technology cost reduction and
mainly for remote area applications where conventional electric- market development, reflecting the increasing awareness of the
ity is expensive. Nonetheless, the industry is now in an explosive versatility, reliability, and economy of PV electric supply systems.
period of growth where the subsidized urban-residential use of PVs Major market segments served by this industry comprise consumer
is providing the main market. applications, remote industrial systems, developing countries, and
The advantages and disadvantages of PVs are described in grid-connected systems. Of particular interest is the strong differ-
Table 1. The beauty of the PV system is that it does not involve any ential growth rate in rural applications, which now accounts for
moving parts or emissions of any kind during operation. The main nearly half of the total PV market. The second largest market is
attractiveness of the PV technology is low maintenance, and no pol- industrial applications [19]. At the present, over 80% of the world PV
lution, and has positioned PV to be the preferred power technology industry is based on c-Si (crystalline Si, or c-Si, solar cells with effi-
for many remote applications for both space and on the ground. PV ciency of 6–10%) and pc-Si (polycrystalline Si) wafer technologies.
technology is expected to be a leading technology to solve the issues The cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology is growing sufficiently
concerning the energy and the global environment due to several fast, while thin-film copper–indium–gallium–selenide (CIGS), and
advantages of the PV system [13]. Although, silicon material is most a-Si-based PV production is still in the beginning stages, despite
commonly used for generation of electricity, it also has associated the remarkable results of R&D many years ago. Most of the lead-
drawbacks, such as high material costs for silicon, costly processes ing technologies, the efficiency is already adequate, and emphasis
for purifying silicon and manufacturing wafer, additional processes should be on developing cost effective manufacturing technologies
for assembly of modules and the bulky and rigid nature of the PV that can significantly lower the module production cost [19].
panels [14]. Solar energy has low energy density and PV modules
require a large surface area for small amounts of energy generation
[15]. The primary component in grid connected PV systems is the 2.2. Concentrated solar thermal systems
inverter, it convert DC power produced by PV array into AC power
consistent with the voltage and power quality requirement of the Solar cells are not the only technology by which sunlight can
utility gird. The PV system is promising source of electricity genera- be turned into electricity. Concentrated solar thermal systems use
tion for energy resource saving and CO2 emission reduction, even if mirrors to focus the Sun’s heat, typically heating up a working
current technologies are applied [16,17]. Further the development fluid that in turn drives a turbine. Fig. 3 shows the principle of
in efficiency of solar cells, amount of material used in the solar cell (a) parabolic trough, (b) power tower, (c) parabolic dish systems,
and (d) linear Fresnel reflector. The heated heat transfer fluid (e.g.
pressurized steam, synthetic oil, and molten-salt) flows from the
collector to a heat engine where a portion of the heat (up to 30%)
is converted to electricity [21]. CSP plants consist of two parts:
one that collects solar energy and converts it to heat, and another
that converts the heat energy to electricity. The mirrors can be
set in troughs, in parabolas that track the Sun, or in arrays that
focus the heat on a central tower. All CSP technological approaches
require large areas for solar radiation collection when used to
produce electricity at commercial scale. CSP technology utilizes
four alternative technological approaches: parabolic trough, power
tower, dish/engine and linear Fresnel reflectors. The solar flux con-
centration ratios typically obtained are 30–100, 500–1000, and
1000–10,000 suns for trough, tower, and dish systems, respectively
[22].
At present, there is rapid development occurring both in the
basic technology [25] and the market strategy and prospects
for rapid growth of solar thermal power [26–29]. The attrac-
tiveness of the concentrating solar power (CSP) technology over
the standard PV technology is that it uses less semiconducting
Fig. 2. Schematic of a solar cell. material by replacing most of the PV cell area with a set of
Fig. 3. Principle of (a) parabolic trough, (b) power tower, (c) parabolic dish systems, and (d) linear Fresnel reflector [23,24].
reflectors in order to reduce the cost. Additionally, increasing the Pakistan covers 796,095 km2 of land between latitudes 24◦ and
concentration ratio will improve the performance of general PV 36◦ north and longitudes 61◦ and 76◦ east. Country is facing seri-
materials. Concentrating PV technology offers the following advan- ous energy problems. Every day, the country receives an average
tages: of about 19 MJ/m2 of solar energy [32]. This source can be utilized
• Potential for solar cell efficiencies greater than 40%.

• No moving parts.
• No intervening heat transfer surface.
• Near-ambient temperature operation.
• No thermal mass and a fast response.
• Reduction in the cost of cells relative to optics.
• Scalability to a range of sizes.
Despite the advantages of CPV technologies, their application

has been limited by the complexity and due to the cost of focus-
ing, tracking and cooling equipment, As yet, the installed capacity
is quite small, and the technology will always remain limited to
places where there are a lot of cloud-free days – it needs direct
sun, whereas PVs can make do with more diffuse light. Some con- Fig. 4. Schematic of renewable energy options [31].
centrated solar thermal systems get around this by storing up heat
during the day for use at night (molten salt is one possible storage
medium), which is one of the reasons they might be preferred over
PVs for large installations. [1,30] carried out the techno-economic
evaluation of concentrating solar power generation in Indian con-
ditions and noted that the locations blessed with annual direct
solar radiation more than 1800 kWh/m2 are best recommended for
installation of CSP systems.
3. Solar energy in Pakistan
In view of the scarce fossil fuel reserves in the country, energy

security and climate change concerns it is expected that renew-
able energy will play a significant role in Pakistan’s future energy
mix. Fig. 4 provides an overview of the different renewable energy
sources. Renewable energy can be used for the entire spectrum of
end-uses as given in Fig. 5. Fig. 5. Energy end-users [31].
Fig. 6. Mean daily solar radiation in Pakistan (cal/cm2 /day) during: (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April, (e) May, (f) June, (g) July, (h) August, (i) September, (j)
October, (k) November and (l) December [33].
as an excellent alternative to fossil fuels especially in remote areas U.S. State University of New York at Albany. Data products from
where access to fossil fuel is very difficult and there is no access to solar maps have been output in a Geographic Information Systems
electricity. (GIS) format and incorporated into the Geospatial Toolkit (GsT).
Working within the GsT, the user can also incorporate location-
4. Global insolation data for Pakistan specific data directly into the micropower optimization model,
HOMER, to design least-cost hybrid renewable power systems to
Adequate information regarding the availability of global solar meet electric-load requirements at the village level [34].
radiation and its components at a particular location is essential
to predict the efficiency and performance of many solar thermal 5. Prospects of solar energy utilization in Pakistan
devices. For proper utilization of PV technology for energy gen-
eration, thorough and accurate knowledge of global solar radiation The prospects of solar energy utilization in Pakistan have also
variation is required. In Pakistan only five stations: Karachi, Lahore, been extensively studied by the researchers. Sukhera [35] proposed
Quetta, Multan and Peshawar record global solar radiation on a solar energy conversion processes suiting the local conditions of the
horizontal surface. Therefore for other locations in Pakistan, one
has to depend on the different empirical relationships which have
been suggested so far for estimation purposes, employing different
climatological parameters. Chaudhary [33] using Angstrom’s lin-
ear relationship developed monthly and annual mean daily values
of solar radiation for sunshine hours which are shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 7 represents the annual mean daily solar radiation in Pakistan.
The maximum amount of solar radiation in the country is received
in and around Quetta. Sind and Blochistan provinces are receiving
more than 440 cal/cm2 day, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)
province is receiving between 400 and 440 cal/cm2 day and the
northern areas and Kashmir are receiving less than 400 cal/cm2 day
[33]. This energy source is widely distributed and abundantly avail-
able in the country. A daily average of global irradiation falling on
horizontal surface is about 200–250 W/m2 . This amounts to about
6840–8280 MJ/m2 in a year.
U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has devel-
oped high-resolution (10-km) annual and seasonal wind and solar
resource maps and data resource maps of Pakistan (Figs. 8 and 9).
The high-resolution (10-km) annual and seasonal solar resource
maps were developed using weather satellite data incorporated
into a site-time specific solar mapping approach developed at the Fig. 7. Annual mean daily solar radiation in Pakistan (cal/cm2 day) [33].
NREL SUNY Solar Model Data for Pakistan indigenization of the technology and giving duty relief on import of
technology. Local generation of PV cells on a commercial scale can
Irradiance Watt-Hours/M2/Day
Latitude = 24.05 Longitude =66.05

8000 bring about a substantial decrease in the capital prices involved in
7000 PV cells production, further decreasing the levelized cost of energy.
6000 According to Khan and Latif [45] the main constraints to widespread
5000 Direct utilization of solar PV technologies are:
4000 Global
3000 Latitude Tilt • high initial cost of PV system,
2000 • inadequate renewable energy policy,
1000 • unawareness in local communities,
0 • inadequate availability of technical know how.
v
n
c
n
ct
b
ar
r
ay
Ju
Ap
No
Ju
De
Ja
Au
Se
Fe
O
M
Month Attempts have been made in Pakistan both at installing small-

scale PV power generators and at creating an indigenous PV
Fig. 8. NREL sunny solar model data for Pakistan [34]. fabrication capability. The indigenous fabrication facility exists
only at PCRET whose capabilities remain at pilot scale. Water and
Power Development Authority (WAPDA) ventured into installing
Cholistan desert area. Hasanain and Gibbs [36] discussed the signif-
imported PV panels for small-scale power generation, but failed to
icance of renewable resources for the development of remote areas
sustain it. Imported solar modules are available in the open mar-
in Pakistan. Mukhtar [37] analyzed the economic feasibility of solar
ket in Pakistan, but at exorbitant prices. Clearly then, the PV solar
air conditioning, Lutfi and Vezirogla [38] proposed and analyzed a
energy technology in Pakistan could neither be sustained at the user
solar-hydrogen system for Pakistan. Iftikhar et al. [39] described the
level, nor has it been attractive to prospective investors. It would
achievements of the institutional level Research and Development
therefore be interesting to find ways that could make solar energy
efforts of Pakistan, in the fields of solar thermal and PV system up to
technology marketable in the country. Among the host of factors
1996 and a later outlook was presented by Mirza et al. [40] conclud-
that form an answer to this question, one is the economic viability
ing that the existing infrastructure remained unable to advance the
[44]
status of solar energy in Pakistan. However a comparative picture
of the countries in the region painted by Roy [41] gives an encour-
aging outlook for Pakistan. More recently Sahira and Qureshi [42] 6. Potential applications of solar energy in Pakistan
discussed that the present status of solar energy technologies and
they were of the opinion that lack of policy instruments to integrate The best way to utilize solar energy is through PVs, which con-
the techno-economic and socio-political behaviors and actions, and vert the sun energy directly into electricity – undoubtedly the
inconsistencies of the government policies present the major barri- most convenient form of energy. PV technology is particularly suit-
ers to the significant utilization of the solar energy. Mirza, et al. [43] able for small power requirements and remote area applications.
suggested for adopting least cost planning in resource acquisition In the early 1980s, 18 PV stations were set up by the govern-
to ensure proper evaluation of available renewable energy options. ment in different parts of the country for village electrification,
They also suggested for indigenization of renewable energy tech- with an installed capacity of nearly 440 kW. However, because of
nologies to reduce the investment costs significantly. According lack of technical know-how and follow up, these systems have
to Shinwar et al. [44] the cost of electricity from solar PV tech- not performed as required [40,46]. Currently PV technology is
nology can come down by initiative from government such as being used in Pakistan for stand-alone rural telephone exchanges,
Fig. 9. Pakistan direct normal solar radiation map of Pakistan developed by NREL [34].
Fig. 10. End-uses and technologies for use of solar energy [31].
repeater stations, highway emergency telephones, cathodic protec- seeking the alternate electricity supplies because of big load shed-
tion, refrigeration systems for vaccine and medicines in hospitals, ding problem which last for 4–6 h in urban areas and 8–12 h in rural
etc. Some initiatives are taken for use of solar energy street lamp, areas.
solar energy lawn lamp, solar energy traffic signal lamp and solar
energy sight lighting. Siemens Pakistan is also actively involved in 6.2. Solar thermal
Photovoltaic business for more than 10 years. They have installed
complete solar systems in all parts of the country, mainly for house There are a large number of applications in which solar energy
electrification, telecommunication (microwave links, optical fiber can be utilized directly by exploiting its heat characteristics. Fig. 10
and digital exchanges), water pumping, navigation, highway com- shows the classification of solar thermal systems based on the
munication, oil and gas fields and street lighting further details are working fluid temperatures achieved and the end-uses.
available at their website [47]. Solar thermal technologies are comparatively simple, relatively
low cost and easy to adopt. The potential applications solar thermal
6.1. Photovoltaics technologies in Pakistan includes cooking, heating and cooling of
buildings, generation of high temperature steam, heating water for
Blochistan, the largest province of Pakistan area-wise, has a domestic and industrial applications, and drying agricultural prod-
population density of just 21 persons/km2 , with 77% of popula- ucts under controlled temperatures. A brief description of these
tion living in rural areas. About 90% of the villages are yet to be applications in Pakistan is provided here.
electrified. These villages are separated by large distances with
absolutely no approach roads. The houses are mostly ‘kacha’ hut 6.2.1. Solar desalination
type with walls and roofs made with a combination of mud and One of the major problems in Cholistan and Thar deserts is the
straw. Light is the only requirement for these houses. Most of the scarcity of fresh water. Peoples are forced to consume brackish to
houses consist of only one room. The electric requirement for each saline groundwater. Except for a few places, the subsoil water is
house varies from 50 to maximum 100 W [46]. Transmission lines brackish and is not fit for human or animal consumption [35]. Fur-
are very expensive to build in these areas and there is only a remote ther, along the coastline in Balochistan, seawater is abundant but
possibility of grid connection in the near future. Also, the exten- potable water is not available. Solar desalination has wide applica-
sion of grid lines for such small power requirements is very costly. tion for the populations living in rural areas of southern Punjab and
For such communities local power generation is the only possible Sindh and coastal areas of Balochistan [49].
solution to these problems. While considering diesel generators, Solar energy desalination is a method by which the sun’s energy
transportation of fuel to such remote areas and maintenance are is used to desalinate brackish or seawater to produce fresh drink-
again a costly proposition. Solar PV can be a very useful technology able water. There are two methods for using solar energy: directly
to deliver electricity in remote applications where grid connectivity by heating and evaporating the brackish or seawater in a solar still
is impractical. For example, in far-off villages of Balochistan, Cholis- (this method is called solar distillation) and indirectly by captur-
tan and Thar deserts, solar PV can be a more convenient and value ing solar energy using one of the techniques that transform solar
engineered solution to provide electricity for basic needs [40,46]. radiation into thermal or electrical energy to drive a conventional
Solar PV technology has been proven to be a viable option because desalination method (the indirect method is called solar-assisted
of its modular size, small weight, and ease of installation. Also, or solar driven desalination) [50].
adverse physical characteristics of rural areas do not hinder much Arjunan et al. [51] has discussed the types and working of solar
the dissemination of solar PV systems [48]. The need of electricity distillation plant. They have also provided the lay out of solar distil-
is not only for rural areas, but the grid connected locations are also lation plant installed at Village Awania, India and analysis of design
aspects in detail. Authors concluded that solar distillation is the 6.2.3. Solar water heaters
best solution for remote areas and small communities in arid and Solar water heating, one of the oldest and the most success-
semi-arid regions with lack of water. ful applications of solar thermal technologies, utilizes solar energy
The simplest form of water still in use basically consists of a to heat water without producing harmful emissions into environ-
shallow tray filled with salt or brackish water and covered by a ment. It is also one of the fastest growing renewable technologies
sloping glass cover plate. The solar radiation heats the water in the in the world [54]. According to Asif [54], solar water heating, one of
tray and evaporates it. When the vapor comes in contact with the the fastest growing renewable technologies in the world exhibits
colder surface of the glass, it condenses, forming fresh water which a healthy potential in Pakistan with a reported pay back period of
runs down the inner surface in the form of droplets and can be less than 3 years.
collected in a trough at the lower edge. Under good radiation con- Solar water heating technology is quite mature but its use in
ditions an output of about 4 kg/m2 of fresh water can be obtained Pakistan has been quite limited so far mainly because of higher
daily. capital cost of solar water heater as compared with conventional
Two plants consisting of 240 stills each with a capacity to clean ones operating on natural gas. A number of public sector organi-
6000 gallons of seawater per day have been installed in Gawadar in zations are actively working on the development of low cost solar
Balochistan. A number of such schemes are under active consider- water heaters that have now started gaining popularity particu-
ation by local governments in Balochistan and Thar Desert region of larly in the northern mountainous regions due to cold weather and
Punjab and Sindh [49]. The solar desalination technology is simple, limited and difficult supply of natural gas in these areas. With the
low cost and low-tech, and therefore, it can easily be adopted by electricity and natural gas prices registering sharp increases, the
local rural people [49]. An optimized glass cover single basin solar use of solar water heaters is bound to increase. The production and
still fabricated by Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied commercialization of such heaters has already been started in the
Sciences (PIEAS) was calculated as 30.56% efficient which is com- private sector [55]. Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB)
parable with stills being used worldwide. The cost effective design recently launched a Consumer Confidence Building Program for the
is expected to provide the rural communities an efficient way to promotion of Solar Water Heaters in the country. The program was
convert the brackish water into potable water [49,52] has recently designed to create awareness of solar water heating technology and
illustrated six alternate for low temperature, low-pressure desali- to build the consumer confidence on the product through a number
nation systems that has the potential to be driven by low grade heat of incentives to buyers that includes money back guarantee. AEDB
sources such as waste heat and/or solar energy. The cost effective is also working for the deployment of 20,000 solar water hearers in
design of desalination solar is expected to provide the rural com- Gilgit Baltistan [56].
munities an efficient way to convert the brackish water into potable Evaluation by Han et al. [57] reveals that using solar water
water. heaters instead of conventional (gas and electric) water heaters has
great economic benefits (saving fuel costs), environmental bene-
fits (reducing fossil fuel consumption and pollutants emission) and
6.2.2. Solar water pump social benefits (cheaper, cleaner and safer hot water for daily life).
The Cholistan desert in Pakistan is characterized by low and spo-
radic annual rainfalls, low values of relative humidity, high rate of 6.3. Solar water heating in industry
evaporation, high degrees of solar radiation and strong summer
winds. The only source of water supply for human and livestock Solar water heating, besides its domestic role, has a wide array
in part of Sindh and large parts of Punjab Province is rainwa- of applications within commercial (such as swimming pools, laun-
ter accumulated in low-lying areas which get dry mainly through dries, hotels and restaurants) and industrial sectors (such as food
evaporation during hot summer. The people living there have to and beverages, process, and textile industries). While in the indus-
face many problems including the scarcity of water and vegeta- trial sector, water heating may account for a significantly higher
tion with the result that they follow a nomadic way of life, moving share of energy. In the textile sector water heating can account for
about with their flocks and herds and continually seeking pastures. as much as 65% of the total energy used during process such as
Quality of life of these people is very poor and they make little dyeing, finishing, drying and curing [58]. Solar thermal systems are
contribution to the national growth. It is of utmost importance for particularly effective in industries that require water temperatures
our national growth, balanced regional development and attain- in the range 40–80 ◦ C [59]. The most important industrial processes
ment of a reasonably good standard of living for the people that we using heat at a mean temperature level are: sterilizing, pasteuriz-
should develop the arid zones and make them as productive as pos- ing, drying, hydrolyzing, distillation and evaporation, washing and
sible. Underground water can also be lifted by using PVs and direct cleaning, and polymerization. Some of the most important pro-
conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. At certain places cesses and the range of the temperatures required for each are
where the subsoil water is potable, irrigation is carded on in a very outlined in Table 2. Table 3 gives a rough overview over the pro-
slow and ineffective way by using bullock power. To pump water cesses suited for solar heat and the industrial sectors where they
from wells, an inexpensive engine of 1 or 2 hp could be quite effec- might typically occur.
tive. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission designed a solar water In a solar process heat system, interfacing of the collectors with
pump which utilizes a 21 ft diameter paraboloid fitted with flat mir- conventional energy supplies must be done in a way compatible
rors, boiler and a steam engine. It provides 2 hp to the pump [35]. with the process. Fig. 11 shows the possibility of combining the
Imported PV pumps have also been tried in Pakistan by farmers. solar system with the existing heat supply.
These pumps were given to them by the Agricultural Development In Pakistan textile industry is a major sector in which solar
Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) for field trials in different parts of the coun- energy can be practically utilized. Pakistan is the world’s fourth
try. The main bottleneck in the introduction of these pumps for largest producer and consumer of cotton. Pakistani textile indus-
irrigational purposes is their high initial investment. In China, the try is facing a tough challenge in the form of global environmental
irrigation object area of solar water pump in 2010 is more than standards. The textile industry is a key sector of Pakistan’s econ-
392,000 ha, and the need of PV for solar water pump is more than omy but also one of the most energy intensive industries. High
261 MW [53]. Pakistan can take benefit from the Chinese experi- energy prices and the widening gap between demand and supply
ence in solar water pumping to improve pumping groundwater for have a negative impact on the productivity and competitiveness
both drinking purpose and for irrigation in Balochistan Province. of the country’s industry. Energy efficiency is a crucial issue in a
Table 2
Temperature ranges for different industrial processes [60].
Wood and
products
Industry Process Temperature (◦ C)
wood
Dairy Pressurisation 60–80
X
x
Sterilisation 100–120
Drying 120–180
Concentrates 60–80
Paint
Boiler feed water 60–90
X
X
X
Tinned food Sterilization 110–120
Pasteurization 60–80
Cooking 60–90
Tanning
Bleaching 60–90
Textile Bleaching, dyeing 60–90
X
x
x
Drying, degreasing 100–130
Dyeing 70–90
Fixing 160–180
Automobile
Pressing 80–100
supply
Paper Cooking, drying 60–80
Boiler feed water 60–90
X
x
x
x
Bleaching 130–150
Chemical Soaps 200–260
Paper
Synthetic rubber 150–200
Processing heat 120–180
x
Pre-heating water 60–90
Services
Beverages Washing, sterilization 60–80
Pasteurization 60–70
X
X
X
x
Timber by-products Thermo diffusion beams 80–100
Drying 60–100
Pre-heating water 60–90
Pharmaceutical
Preparation pulp 120–170
biochemical
Bricks and blocks Curing 60–140
Plastics Preparation 120–140
and
Distillation 140–150
X
X
X
X
X
X
x
x
x
Separation 200–220
Extension 140–160
Drying 180–200
chemicals
Blending 120–140
Fine
x
x
x
x
x
x
Operations and processes in some important industrial sectors (x – important, X – very important).
electroplating
global market where productivity and competitiveness are major

Galvanizing,
performance indicators. Water heating system as required for dying

process is one of the major energy consuming areas in fossil fuel-
run Pakistani textile industry. In textile wet processing, water is
X
x
x
used mainly for two purposes; firstly, as a solvent for processing
chemicals and secondly as a washing and rinsing medium. Apart
from this, some water is consumed in ion exchange, boiler, cool-
material
Building
ing water, steam drying and cleaning. The typical hot water usage
within a medium-sized textile mill is 500 tons raised to 40 ◦ C (for
x
x
x
x
washing and cleaning of cotton loom), 300 tons raised to 60 ◦ C (for

cotton dyeing and production of viscose) and 200 tons raised to
Textile
80 ◦ C (for production of synthetic, polyester material). Thus the

total hot water consumption is 1000 tons/day [61]. Solar water
X
X
X
X
x
heating is a potential candidate to replace the conventional energy

sources in textile industry and can be an economical choice. Adopt-
Food
ing this technology can also substantially reduce the environmental

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
x
impacts. Muneer et al. [62] estimated the payback period for solar
water heating incorporated within textile industries in Pakistan to
Boiler feed water preheating
be 6 years. In same work they have presented work proposes the

Evaporation and distillation
Heating of production halls
introduction of built-in-storage water heaters for Pakistani textile

Solar absorption cooling
General process heating
Process industry sector
industry due to its low cost and simple construction as compared to

thermosyphon heaters. Muneer et al. [61] has discussed Prospects
for solar water heating within Turkish textile industry and esti-
Pasteurisation
Sterilization
mated the payback period for solar water heating incorporated

Cleaning
Cooking
within textile industries in Turkey to be 5.6 years while life cycle

Drying
Table 3
assessment show that the embodied energy and carbon payback

period for both of the heaters is 2.3 and 0.8 years, respectively.
Fig. 11. Possibilities of combining the solar system with the existing heat supply [60].
6.4. Solar cooker medium. In type C, a parabolic reflector concentrates the sunlight
on the cooking pot. Similarly to type B, type D uses a heat-transfer
Among the different energy end uses, energy for cooking is one medium, as shown in Fig. 12. The parabolic reflector works correctly
of the basic and dominant end uses in developing countries. As most only when it is tracks the sun rays, whereas a flat plate collector may
items cooked have high water content, cooking requires tempera- be installed in a fixed position. Indirect systems can use large sur-
tures only in the order of 90–100 ◦ C (except for frying). Lof [63] has face to collect the solar energy efficiently and they do not have any
described the principles of cooking. As per his principle, the energy principle limitations of the size. The use of a thermal storage and
requirement is at maximum during the sensible heating period. integration of the cooking place in a house are possible [65].
Heat required for physical and chemical changes involved in cook- Muthusivagami et al. [64] has carried out the review study of all
ing is less. The energy required for a specific cooking operation is not the research and development work carried out in the field of stor-
always well defined and can vary widely with the cooking methods age type solar cookers. They have also discussed the classification,
used. During cooking, 20% of heat is spent in bringing food to boiling design and construction and working of solar cookers in details. In
temperature, 35% of heat is spent in vaporization of water and 45% order to have a more complete view of solar cookers, in addition
of heat is spent in convection losses from cooking utensils. Insulat- to thermal performance other friendliness and handling character-
ing the sides of the vessel and keeping the vessel covered with a istics are necessary. These characteristics are safety of operation
lid can considerably reduce the heat losses. So, once the contents to avoid burning and other risks; easiness of transportation and
of the vessel have been sensibly heated up to the cooking temper- assembly; tracking requirements and procedures; pot access and
ature, the speed of the cooking is practically independent of the easiness of stirring; mechanical stability; robustness and life time.
heat rate, as long as thermal losses are supplied. Thus, differences All these characteristics are to be considered when installing a
in the time required to cook equal quantities of food are mainly due cooker in community [64].
to different sensible heating periods [64]. Higher temperatures of In Pakistan a number of public sector organizations have worked
course, have the advantage of reducing the cooking time. in the past and are still working on the development of low cost
The use of solar cookers is much needed in regions with good and efficient designs of both box and concentrator type solar cook-
solar radiation intensity. The reasons are economical, as the price of ers. Non-governmental organizations are also active in this field
fuel for cooking is no longer affordable by many families; ecological, and have supplied a number of such cookers to camps of Afghan
as in many regions deforestation is also associated with the use of refugees. The Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies
wood as an energy source; and social, as the money used to buy fuel (PCRET), which is later described in this paper, routinely organizes
could be used to buy food, medications and other needs to improve training workshops on the use and maintenance of such devices
the quality of life. [55]. The number of solar cookers in use in Hindu Kush-Himalayan
Solar cookers without storage are classified into direct and indi- (HKH) is more than 2000, but it is still far less than that being used
rect solar cookers depending upon the heat transfer mechanism in similar regions in China (60,000) and India (about 14,500) [40].
to the cooking pot. Direct type solar cookers use solar radiation Pakistan needs to popularize solar cooker use in the HKH region in
directly in the cooking process while the indirect cookers use a heat order to reduce the use of precious forest resources as fuel wood.
transfer fluid to transfer the heat from the collector to the cooking Recently PCRET submitted a PC-1 to (PSDP) Public Sector Devel-
unit. Commercially successful direct type cookers are box type and opment Programme, Govt of Pakistan for dissemination of 10,000
concentrating type cookers [64]. parabolic solar cookers in remote of Sindh Province.
Four types of solar cookers are presented in Fig. 12 and they are All Pakistani dishes including parathas and chappati can be pre-
defined as [65]: pared on concentrated type cooker in the same time interval as
taken by a conventional single stove gas cooker. The method of
(a) Flat plate collector with direct use – type A; cooking is also similar to that of conventional cooker. The cooker
(b) Flat plate collector with indirect use – type B; emits no harmful smoke to harm eyes and lungs of the cook. The
(c) Parabolic reflector with direct use – type C; cooking can be done on this cooker from 9:00 am to 3:00 p.m. on
(d) Parabolic reflector with indirect use – type D. all sunny days of the year [66].
The main hurdle in dissemination of solar cooker are resistance
In flat plate collector (type A), the cooking pot is placed directly to acceptance as it is a new technology, intermittent nature of sun-
in the collector. In the indirect system (type B), the energy is trans- shine, limited space availability in urban areas, higher initial costs
ported from the collector to the cooking place by a heat-transfer and convenience issues. The growing urban lifestyle also warrants
Fig. 12. (a–d) General types of solar cookers [65].
faster cooking possible in future [64]. Hence a lot of research ini- thrive in moist conditions, render those unusable [67]. Drying by
tiatives and promotional schemes are required for the successful solar radiation can be divided into two main categories:
commercialization of solar cookers as a substitute for conventional
cooking devices. (a) Direct, or open-air sun drying, the direct exposure to the sun.
The use of solar ovens cannot completely replace conventional (b) Indirect solar drying or convective solar drying.
fuels. But to the extent that solar ovens can be used, they will greatly
reduce deforestation, air pollution, and family health problems, and Food materials and crops are very sensitive to the drying con-
will conserve conventional fuels. Box type direct solar cookers are ditions, therefore drying must be performed in a way that does
well suited to the farmers for their noon meal cooking. It is suc- not affect seriously their color, flavor, texture or nutritional value.
cessfully commercialized in many parts of India. The large-scale Thus the selection of drying conditions, as temperature, is of major
utilization of this form of energy is possible only if the effective importance. Many products need pretreatment, similar to pretreat-
technology for its storage can be developed with acceptable capi- ment applied to conventional drying systems. For solar drying some
tal and running costs [64]. Suitable indoor cooking unit for all time products are pretreated to facilitate drying or to keep their flavor
cooking similar to the conventional mode is yet to be developed, and texture. Outdoor sun-air heating suits to fruits. Their high sugar
however, Muthusivagami et al. [64] has provided the designing of and acid content makes the direct sun drying safe. In the contrary
modular indoor kitchen for commercial and residential application vegetables have low sugar and acid content increasing the risk of
is reported. spoilage during sun- and open-air drying [68].
Various solar dryers have been developed in the past for the
6.5. Solar dryers for agricultural products efficient utilization of solar energy. Fudholi et al. [67] reviewed
of these types of solar dryers with aspect to the product being
Traditionally all the agricultural crops were dried in the sun. dried, technical and economical aspects. The technical directions in
Drying is one of an important post handling process of agricultural the development of solar-assisted drying systems for agricultural
produce. It can extend shelf life of the harvested products, improve produce are compact collector design, high efficiency, integrated
quality, improve the bargaining position of the farmer to maintain storage, and long-life drying system. Fudholi et al. [67] also given
relatively constant price of his products and reduces post harvest the systematic classification of available solar dryers for agricul-
losses and lower transportation costs since most of the water are tural products, based on the design of system components and
taken out from the product during the drying process. Direct sun mode of utilization of solar energy. Belessiotis and Delyannis [68]
drying requires large open space area, and very much dependent on have also described various direct and indirect solar drying applica-
the availability of sunshine, susceptible to contamination with for- tions and some of the numerous solar dryers. A very short historical
eign materials such as dusts, litters and are exposed to birds, insect description of solar drying through the centuries is also given. Some
and rodents. Hence, most agricultural produce that is intended to drying phenomena, independently of the type of energy used, and
be stored must be dried first. Otherwise insects and fungi, which the general laws that govern drying methods by convection are
Fig. 13. Natural solar drying of fruits and agricultural product in Pakistan: (a) Pakistan – Hunza women sort freshly picked apricots and arrange them on circular mats for
sun drying. (b) A villager dries freshly harvested fruits and grains on the rooftop in Altit, Gojal, Pakistan. (c) Dates drying in Sukkur, Pakistan. (d) Round chillies drying in the
sun in Nagarparkar, Sindh, Pakistan.
shortly analyzed in order to easily understand the details of the Agricultural products are hygroscopic and thus drying rate is of
solar drying procedure. According to Belessiotis and Delyannis [68], main importance.
the main reasons for selecting solar energy for drying may be two: In many countries the use of solar thermal systems in the
agricultural area to conserve vegetables, fruits, coffee and other
• Energy saving. This is achieved in the cases where in the drying crops has shown to be practical, economical and the responsi-
system, energy fraction is higher than auxiliary energy. ble approach environmentally [72]. Solar heating systems to dry
• The lack of availability of conventional energy sources to remote food and other crops can improve the quality of the product, while
and rural areas, or the high cost of transportation of fuel to those reducing wasted produce and traditional fuels – thus improving
areas. the quality of life. Solar food dryers are available in a range of size
and design and are used for drying various food products. It is found
Many studied have been reported on solar drying of agricul- that various types of driers are available to suit the needs of farmers.
tural products [69,70]. Numerous types of solar dryers have been Therefore, selection of dryers for a particular application is largely a
designed and developed in various parts of the world, yielding vary- decision based on what is available and the types of dryers currently
ing degrees of technical performance. Basically, there are four types used widely [72]. Solar dryer technology can be used in small-scale
of solar dryers, direct solar dryers, indirect solar dryers, mixed- food processing industries to produce hygienic, good quality food
mode dryers and hybrid solar dryers [71]. products. At the same time, this can be used to promote renewable
The energy requirement for agricultural products can be deter- energy sources as an income-generating option.
mined from the initial and final moisture content of each product. In Pakistan overproduction of fruits and vegetables lead to
Products have different drying rate and maximum allowable tem- waste, depressed prices and lower returns to farmers. Substantial
peratures are given in work of [67]. The larger portion of energy quantity of country’s grain and fruit production is wasted because
consumed during drying is for transforming liquid water into its of inadequate and improper storage facilities. Open air natural
vapor (2258 kJ/kg at 101.3 kPa). Water may be contained in var- solar drying the most common method of drying agro-commodities
ious forms, e.g. as free water, bound water, etc. which is related (Fig. 13) which result in large spoilage and quality deterioration.
directly to the drying rate. Free or loose held water is regarded as Traditional sun drying methods often yield poor quality, since the
unbound and the product is non hygroscopic. Bound moisture is product is not protected against dust, rain and wind, or even against
trapped in closed capillaries and the material is called then hygro- insects, birds, rodents and domestic animals while drying. Soiling
scopic. A very important quantity is the drying rate, determined contamination with microorganism, of mycotoxins, and infection
by the temperature and moisture content of the product as well as with disease-causing germs are the result. Use of solar energy for
the temperature, relative humidity and velocity of the drying air. drying in industries can also offer advantages like better quality of
Table 4
National actors on renewable energy: public sector.
Institution Location Institution Location
1. Pakistan Council of Renewable 25, H-9, Islamabad 2. Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of House No. 77, St. 45, F-10/4, Islamabad
Energy Technologies (PCRET) Science and Technology (GIKI)
3. National Energy Conservation Center G-5/2, ENERCON Building, Islamabad 4. Planning & Development Division Chughtai Plaza, Blue Area, Islamabad
(ENERCON)
5. Alternative Energy Development Islamabad 6. Agriculture Technology ADBP Head Office, Islamabad
Board
7. PCSIR Laboratories Complex 16, H-9, Islamabad 8. Department of Physics University of Karachi
Karachi
9. COMSATS G-5/2, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad 10. Institute of Plant and Islamabad
Environmental Protection (IPEP)
11. Pakistan Institute of Engineering Nilore, Rawalpindi 12. Hydrocarbon Development 230, Nazimuddin Road, F-7/4, Islamabad
and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) Institute of Pakistan
13. COMSTECH G-5/2, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad 14. Mechanical Engineering Karachi
Department, NED University of
Engineering & Technology
the product, less pollution and freedom from unreliable supply of is no regular supply of fruits and vegetables throughout the year
fossil fuel or electricity. Solar energy can be utilized very effectively [73].
in drying agriculture products using solar dryers, and good quality
products can be obtained at much less cost due to savings in cost 7. Solar–hydrogen hybrid electric power plants
of electricity or other heating fuels that would have been used oth-
erwise for the same purpose. Due to the lack of logistics and basic In central and southern Pakistan (between 24◦ N and 32◦ N)
infrastructure in the northern mountainous regions like Gilgit and generation of electricity through solar–hydrogen hybrid electric
Sakarduthousand of tons of fruit like apricots are wasted annually. power plants directly with solar-induced updraft wind energy is
Solar dryers can be employed to dry large quantities of such fruit highly feasible [75]. Solar–hydrogen hybrid electric power plants
and transport and sell them later in the urban market, resulting consist of a solar updraft tower power plant, also called “solar chim-
in a positive effect on the economy of this area. Different Non Gov- ney”, that utilizes a combination of solar air collector and central
ernmental Organizations (NGOs) are actively working to popularize updraft tube to generate a solar energy-induced convective flow,
the use of such dryers. Solar dryers could be equally effectively used which drives pressure staged turbines to generate electricity and
in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh to dry agriculture products for hydrogen. During solar-active periods, along with direct genera-
better market value and generating local employment [55]. tion of electricity, hydrogen can be produced by photo electrolysis
In Pakistan Hussain et al. [73] fabricated direct and indirect natu- of river water and can be stored for use as a raw material for fertil-
rally thermo convectional dehydrators in the combined mode using izer production, petroleum-refining, and as a future transport fuel.
indigenous materials to assess their efficacy in drying fruits and Although initially such plants are somewhat more expensive than
vegetables at pilot scale. A variety of agricultural products were pollution-loaded oil/coal-fired power plants, nonetheless the costs
dried to test their practical usefulness. While testing the working are expected to become comparable, with low recurrent expen-
of the dehydrators in this study, the parameters of monitored were ditures, and clean energy is the output. The technology is simple,
collector plate temperature; inner space temperature of the drying reliable and accessible to the less industrialized countries [75].
chamber; ambient temperature; time spent in dehydration for dif-
ferent food items; percentage of water removed from the solid flesh
of the item and quality of the end dried product obtained. Results 8. Public Sector Organizations working to promote and
clearly indicated that all the food items to be dried in the direct disseminate renewable energies
dehydrator took about 6 h whereas the indirect dehydrator took
almost less than 4 h hence they found later more efficient than the In Pakistan most of the research, development, promotion and
former throughout the experimental period. The reason of its high dissemination work in the field of renewable energy is carried out
efficiency lied in collection of more heat in the drying chamber and by Public Sector Organizations. Information about the public sector
the uniform and refined air circulation control, which immediately national actors on renewable energy is given in Table 4.
removed moisture collected in the drying chamber [74]. The drying A number of solar thermal appliances including solar cookers,
time of both the dehydrators and drying process could be conve- solar water heaters, solar fruit and vegetable dryers, solar desalina-
niently completed within a limited time during clear and sunny day. tion stills and solar space heating system have been indigenously
Based on the performance and quality of dried products, Hussain developed and locally fabricated by PCRET and sections of Pakistan
et al. [73] recommended use of indirect dehydrator for domestic Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), National Uni-
and commercial drying of agriculture products. This hydrator is low versity of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Commission on Science
cost, simple in design, simple in use, easily fabricate able from the and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COM-
indigenous material at nominal cost. SATS), Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Science and Technology
Such dehydrators can dry fruits, vegetable, gains, peeled corn, (GIKI) and different departments of Engineering Universities etc.
legumes, paddy and any sort of commonly available agricultural Many NGOs are popularizing these devices in the country.
products available at affordable costs in their peak season and
needed to be used for certain processing like paddy to process into 8.1. Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET)
rice or off season use. These dehydrators can be conveniently used
in remote and rural areas like northern areas of Pakistan where PCRET is research and development organization in Pakistan
abundant fruits like apricot, pomegranate, figs, raisins are available working in the field of Renewable Energy Technologies. PCRET
that can be marketed to big cities at later times or in off season. Their has developed the know-how and processing technologies in the
practical importance is even greater for the villages, where there field of solar cells, modules and systems (Fig. 14). Its research
Fig. 14. Solar cells, modules and systems developed by PCRET [76]: (a) Solar powered system at Jalalabad Park Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. (b) Solar powered garden lights At
Muzafarabad, Azad Kashmir Pakistan. (c) 400 W solar lighting system installed at school of remote area of Pakistan. (d) A mosque lit by 200 W solar powered system at the
Kettibander Island of Pakistan. (e) 200 W solar powered system at a mosque in Thar area. (f) Parabolic type solar cooker developed by PCRET (reflecting material: aluminium
foil, dish material: fibreglass and cement, stand made of angle iron). (g) Solar dryer for drying of fruits and vegetable 500 kg capacity. (h) Solar water heating system for space
heating. (i) Solar box type cooker developed by PCRET (body: wooden, and iron sheet, reflecting material: ordinary glass and transparent glass, heat retaining material: glass
or rock wool). (j) Solar powered tube well. (k) Solar panels being used for water extraction in Rarkou village in Nagarparkar, Sindh. (l) Desalination solar still at PCRET.
laboratories are equipped with facilities of growing silicon mono- developed/fabricated by PCRET for domestic and commercial pur-
crystalline ingots, slicing the ingots into wafers, fabrication of solar poses. Recently PCRET has designed and developed a solar hybrid
cells and devices and lamination of cells into PV modules. As a dryer for dehydration of apricot on commercial basis. Under PSDP
result, a number of products are being fabricated on a limited scale project PCRET designed, developed and installed 10 solar dryers
in the Council’s laboratories. These include silicon wafers, Solar having 500 kg capacities for drying of dates in Punjab. More than
cells, PV modules, PV systems, such as solar lantern/torch, home 500 solar cookers and 50 solar stills designed, locally fabricated
light systems, street lights/park lights, solar fountain, solar mobile and handed over to NGOs for dissemination and popularization.
charger, etc. A number of such systems have been designed and Research and Development work in the field of other solar ther-
installed for applications of lighting, fencing, water pumping and mal devices is in progress. PCRET has also designed and locally
telecommunication. PCRET is up-grading its laboratory facilities fabricated solar room heating systems installed at PCRET building
under a PSDP project by constructing new laboratories, equipped [76].
with new state-of-the-art facilities which will enhance its solar PCRET designed and installed 10 community size solar dryers of
module production capacity up to 80 kW annually extendable to 500 kg capacity in the date growing remote areas of Punjab (District
over 1 MW. In the next PSDP project the solar cell production Jhang, Multan, Muzaffargarh and D.G. Khan), Sindh (Sukkur and
capacity will further be enhanced to 500 kW annually to meet the Khairpur), Balochistan (Turbat, Panjgoor), KPK (Dera Ismail Khan)
growing demand of solar energy in the remote/rural area. The coun- for demonstration purpose. The dryers were fabricated from the
cil is also establishing renewable Testing Laboratories at par with local market. The project was based on community participation
international standards through Government PSDP projects. These and cost sharing, basis. The community nominated two suitable
laboratories will test renewable energy based commercial products persons who remained associated from the beginning to the end
in line with ISO/IEC standards. During the last 3 years, 134 PV sys- of the project for the purpose of on job training. Twenty-five tones
tem of 26.5 kW capacity have been installed by PCRET electrifying of quality dates per year are produced from the project, generating
124 houses, schools and community centers. 3000 solar lanterns Rs. 3.5 million revenue. The normal operation and maintenance, is
have been designed, developed and fabricated by PCRET, which are the responsibility of the beneficiaries. However, PCRET technical
being disseminated to rural areas for popularization [66,76]. assistance team is monitoring the performance of the community
A number of solar thermal appliances including, solar water dryers, which are working satisfactorily [76]. The target set by the
heaters, solar fruit and vegetable dryers, solar water distillation PCRET 2011–2020 for promotion and dissimilation of solar energy
stills, solar room heating system, and solar cookers have been in country are given in Table 5.
Table 5
Target set by PCRET from 2011 to 2020.
Type Present status Target 2011–2015 Target 2016–2020
Solar water heaters manufacturing Designed and developed 05 different 10,000 units (125–260 l 25,000 units
through private sector with PCRET models of SWH for commercialization each) 125–260 l/day
technical services
Solar dryers manufacturing through Designed and developed 03 different 50,000 units 100,000 units
private sector with PCRET technical models of 20,100 and 500 kg capacities
services
Solar cooker manufacturing through Designed and developed box and dish 100,000 units 200,000 units
private sector with PCRET technical type solar cookers for
services commercialization
PV modules production manufacturing Developed solar cell production 5 MW 20 MW
through private sector with PCRET capacities up to pilot scale
technical services
Wind turbines 100% subsidy 155 units of 0.5–10 kW capacity 1000 units 10 MW 1000 nos. 10 MW
electrifying 1600 houses electrifying 50,000 electrifying 50,000
houses houses
Table 6
Details and location of manufacturers of solar geysers and solar lights in Pakistan.
Manufacturer Location and other details Manufacturer Location and other details
1. Adaptive Technologies Suit #3, 4th Floor, Dean Arcade, Block 8, Clifton 2. Solar Tec. 283, Gulshan Block, Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore
Karachi Price: Rs. 20,000 (capacity 100 l)
Price: Rs. 25,000 (capacity 135 l)
3. Asjid Energy Systems 6 Fazl-e-Qadir Road, Sialkot Cantt 4. White Bear Solar F-8, Islamabad
Price: Rs. 20,000 (capacity 90 l) Energy Price: Rs. 20,000 (capacity 100 l)
5. Attock Refinery Limited Morgah, Rawalpindi 6. NDI Corporation 1st Floor, Suite 7, Marble Plaza, Opp (Gas Ways
Price: Rs. 45,000 (capacity 300 l) CNG). I-9 Markaz, Islamabad
7. Ghulam Sabir & Co. (Solar Azharabad, GT Road, Turnol, Islamabad. 8. Consultronix (Pvt.) House No. 255, F-11/2, Margalla Road,
Geysers) Price: Rs. 20,000 (capacity 135 l minimum) Ltd. Islamabad
9. Integrated Sustainable Plot No. 33, Street No. 10, I-9/2, Islamabad 10. Control Systems 180/B, Ahmed Block, New Garden Town,
Technology (Firex Solar) Price: Rs. 40,000 (capacity 200 l) Engineering Lahore
11. MEFT Private Limited 65, Gomal Road, E-7, Islamabad 12. High noon 134 Hali Road, Westridge-I, Peshawar Road
Price: Rs. 25,000 (capacity 150 l) International (Pvt.) Ltd. Rawalpindi;
Lahore Office: 11-Ross Residencia, 1-New,
Campus Road, Canal Bank, Lahore
13. Renewable Energy Sources Apartment No. 8, Yasmeen Plaza, G-8 Markaz, 14. THRUST (SMC PVT) Office #4, 1st Floor, Capital Trade Center, F-10
& Technologies (REST) Islamabad Limited Markaz, Islamabad
15. Rockwell Solar Industries House No. 9, Block No. T, Gulburg II, Lahore. 16. Sun Techniques B-25, Tatari Villas, Bath Island, Karachi
17. GET Technologies E-149, Qazi Plaza Walton Road, Lahore
8.2. EME College of NUST (National University of Engineering and 1. Allah Baksh Bazar Dandar, District Kech, Balochistan.
Technology), Islamabad 2. Bharo Mal, District Thar, Sindh.
3. Janak, District Kohat, KPK.
EME College is working on the research and developments 4. Lakhi Bher, Distrcit D.G. Khan, Punjab.
of Renewable Energy Technologies. It has installed a solar water
heater of 40-ton/day capacities at an industrial unit at Lahore, Each of the 100 households in each village has been provided
solar water pumping system and solar house electrifications of 450 with 88-W Solar Panels, 4 LED lights, a 12-V DC fan and a TV socket.
villages in FATA has been initiated from May 2009. Similarly, 50 In addition, a Solar Disinfecting Unit and a Solar Cooker have also
units of solar/wind hybrid water pumping system and house elec- been provided to each household. The project is aimed to serve the
trifications in Kharan District of Balochistan province are under following purposes [77]:
progress. Twelve solar cookers and two solar dryers having capacity
of 50 kg each at Bagh Azad Kashmir have been installed. The current a) To increase awareness in the use of renewable energy.
research emphases are being made on bio-diesel extraction, energy b) To provide basic necessities of lighting to remote locations.
efficient building designs and waste heat recovery in the foundries c) To establish a model project in order to ascertain maintainability
[76]. and sustainability parameters.
d) To develop a commercial model to encourage the private sector
8.3. Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) for replication.
e) To develop a solar technological base.
Physics Department of CIIT, Islamabad is working on Quantum
dot solar cells, research is in the initial stage [76]. 8.5. Manufacturers of solar geysers and solar lights in Pakistan
8.4. Alternative Energy Development Board Private are playing their roles in the popularization and upgrad-
ing of PV activities in the country. More than 16 vendors are
AEDB has executed and implemented solar energy demonstra- currently importing solar water heaters and marketing them all
tion project “100 Solar Homes per Province” in following villages over the country, Details and location of manufacturers of solar
[77]. geysers and solar lights in Pakistan given in Table 6 [56]. A number
Table 7
Potential and status of renewable energy in Pakistan [79].
Resource Potential Status (2006)
Hydro The total hydroelectric potential in the country has not Pakistan has an installed hydroelectric capacity of
been fully investigated, but conservatively estimated 5928 MW of large (>250 MW), 437 MW of medium
to be 45,000 MW. This consists of all sizes of (>50 MW and <250 MW), and 253 MW of small to
hydropower plants, including storage-based and micro (<50 MW) plants, mostly in the northern parts of
high-head schemes on mountainous streams in the the country. This amounts to 6608 MW of total
north and low-head, run-of-the-river plants on rivers capacity, or less than 15% of the identified potential.
and canals in the southern plains.
Wind Commercially exploitable wind resources exist in No commercial wind farms in operation. Some
many parts, especially in southern Sindh and coastal micro-wind turbines pilot tested for community use.
Balochistan, with monthly average wind speeds
exceeding 7–8 m/s at some sites along the Keti
Bandar-Gharo corridor.
Solar: Photovoltaic (PV) and Much of Pakistan, especially Balochistan, Sindh, and Negligible use in niche applications. No significant
thermal southern Punjab, receives abundant solar irradiation marketing of rooftop PV or household and commercial
on the order of over 2 MWh/m2 and 3000 h of sunshine thermal systems.
a year, which is at the highest end of global insolation
averages.
Biomass: Bagasse, rice husk, Pakistan’s large agricultural and livestock sector Sugar mills in the country use bagasse for cogeneration
straw, dung, municipal solid produces copious amounts of biomass in the form of purposes and have recently been allowed to sell
waste, etc. crop residues and animal waste, such as much of surplus power to the grid up to a combined limit of
which is currently collected and used outside the 700 MW. No other significant commercial
commercial economy as unprocessed fuel for cooking biomass-based technology is presently employed for
and household heating. In addition, municipal solid energy production/use in the country beyond
waste produced by a large urban population is experimental deployment of biogas digesters,
presently openly dumped, which could instead be improved cookstoves, and other small-scale end-use
disposed of in proper landfills or incinerated to applications. Use of biogas digesters in rural
produce useable methane gas or electricity. households, after a promising start, has stagnated due
to withdrawal of external subsidies.
of companies are not only involved in trading PV products and practically utilized. The textile industry is a key sector of Pakistan’s
appliances, but also in manufacturing different components of PV economy but also one of the most energy intensive industries. High
systems. They are selling PV modules, batteries, regulators, inver- energy prices and the widening gap between demand and supply
tors, as well as practical low power gadgets for load shedding have a negative impact on the productivity and competitiveness of
including PV lamps, battery chargers, garden lights, etc. [40,78]. the country’s industry. Water heating system as required for dying
Only GET technologies is marketing solar lights in Pakistan. process is one of the major energy consuming areas in fossil fuel-
run Pakistan’s textile industry. Solar water heating technology is
8.6. Current status of renewable energy resources in Pakistan quite mature in Pakistan but its use has been quite limited so far
mainly because of higher capital cost of solar water heater as com-
A brief summary of the available renewable energy potential in pared with conventional ones operating on natural gas. With the
Pakistan is given in Table 7, which also describes the current status electricity and natural gas prices registering sharp increases, the
of its development in the country. use of solar water heaters is bound to increase. The production and
commercialization of such heaters has already been started in the
9. Conclusion private sector.
Likewise, the cost effective design of desalination solar can
Solar PV power is a commercially available and reliable tech- provide the rural communities an efficient way to convert the
nology with a significant potential for long-term growth in nearly brackish water into potable water. Pakistan can take benefit from
all world regions. At present, there is rapid development occurring the Chinese experience in solar water pumping to improve pump-
both in the basic technology and the market strategy and prospects ing groundwater for both drinking purpose and for irrigation in arid
for rapid growth of solar power. This vast potential can also be zones.
exploited to produce electricity specifically for off-grid commu- A number of solar thermal appliances including solar cookers,
nities. In Pakistan, cheap labor and high levels of solar radiations solar water heaters, solar fruit and vegetable dryers, solar desalina-
country receives throughout the year make condition favorable for tion stills and solar space heating system have been indigenously
development and promotion of solar energy. Both conventional PV developed and locally fabricated by PCRET and sections of Pakistan
and concentrated solar thermal technologies have clear room for Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), National Uni-
development in the country. The main attractiveness of the PV tech- versity of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Commission on Science
nology is low maintenance, and no pollution, which has positioned and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COM-
PV to be the preferred power technology for many remote appli- SATS), Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Science and Technology
cations. At present the largest market for PV in Pakistan has been (GIKI) and different departments of Engineering Universities, etc.
for applications such as telecom power, railway network, cathodic Many NGOs are popularizing these devices in the country. Private
protection of pipelines, and defense services. The potential appli- are playing their roles in the popularization and upgrading of PV
cations solar thermal technologies in Pakistan includes cooking, activities in the country.
heating and cooling of buildings, generation of high temperature However further efforts are required for the development of
steam, heating water for domestic and industrial applications, and indigenous technology to reduces the cost on local production of
drying agricultural products under controlled temperatures. silicon and other advancements that increase the energy genera-
Solar thermal systems are particularly effective in industries tion per gram of silicon over the lifetime of devices while improving
that require water temperatures in the range 40–80 ◦ C. In Pakistan the performance and durability of PV modules. Likewise low-cost
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Greener Energy Issues and Challenges For Pakistan

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 2762–2780

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan—Solar energy prospective

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 7 553583; fax: +60 7 5566177.

1. Introduction contribution of electricity to the Human Development Index is

Fig. 1. Schematic of a photovoltaic installation.

Advantages of PVs Disadvantages of PVs

• Potential for solar cell efficiencies greater than 40%.

Despite the advantages of CPV technologies, their application

3. Solar energy in Pakistan

In view of the scarce fossil fuel reserves in the country, energy

Latitude = 24.05 Longitude =66.05

Month Attempts have been made in Pakistan both at installing small-

Textile Bleaching, dyeing 60–90

Chemical Soaps 200–260

Plastics Preparation 120–140

global market where productivity and competitiveness are major

performance indicators. Water heating system as required for dying

washing and cleaning of cotton loom), 300 tons raised to 60 ◦ C (for

80 ◦ C (for production of synthetic, polyester material). Thus the

heating is a potential candidate to replace the conventional energy

ing this technology can also substantially reduce the environmental

be 6 years. In same work they have presented work proposes the

Heating of production halls

introduction of built-in-storage water heaters for Pakistani textile

industry due to its low cost and simple construction as compared to

mated the payback period for solar water heating incorporated

within textile industries in Turkey to be 5.6 years while life cycle

assessment show that the embodied energy and carbon payback

Fig. 12. (a–d) General types of solar cookers [65].

Institution Location Institution Location

Type Present status Target 2011–2015 Target 2016–2020

Resource Potential Status (2006)

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