Thanks to snew solar panels, Myrna now has 24 hours of electricity per day instead of six with a generator that engulfedknows a good part of his salary. In her house perched on the heights of Mount Lebanon, this Beirut smiled again. At Lebanon, sales of solar panels are growing as the energy crisis lasts. While the thermal power stations of the national company only provide a few hours of electricity a day, the price of fuel oil for generators has exploded, more and more Lebanese like Myrna are trying to equip themselves with photovoltaics and demand has jumped in recent months.
For Myrna the change was radical. “With 18 hours of cut-off all day without electricity, you have to empty the refrigerator. Working at home is not possible. You cannot have internet either. Before installing the photovoltaic panels, it was really the chaos”, she says. But thanks to photovoltaics, it is a return to an almost normal life for Myrna, who also had a solar water heater installed. Not a luxury, but a necessity, she assures, to which more and more Lebanese are turning. “Since there is more demand, there is a lot of competition now in the market. As a result, the price goes down. It’s still expensive, but it was more expensive before. ‘is profitable “, Judge Myrna.
Cost effective and even common sense solution in a country that experiences 330 days of sunshine a year. This is what the founder of the SME Solar Solutions who has equipped Myrna’s house has been defending for years. “There are a lot of surfaces that we do not use and solar energy is a solution that is 100% viable for Lebanon, he assures. The only problem, he adds however, it’s the politicians. They think of solutions where they can take commissions. And when there is fuel oil, fuel oil, every day they can touch something. So the only solution for everyone is to install solar systems without spending on politicians and on commissions. “
But switching to solar energy has now become almost impossible for a majority of Lebanese. Everything is imported, everything has to be paid in dollars, as the Lebanese pound has collapsed, wages have plummeted and banks are blocking savings. “A small family needs at least 15 amps. It costs $ 3,500. Not all people can install this, recognizes the boss of Solar Solutions. But when you have a little money, someone who works elsewhere and who sends dollars too, that’s the priority. ” Myrna was able to finance her installation thanks to her brother who lives in the United States. NGOs are also starting to intervene to equip schools, hospitals or private individuals.