Solar PV has reached Grid Parity in Pakistan

Solar PV has been reaching the grid parity levels in several countries around the globe including Pakistan. Tariff for a PV plant is decreasing day by day and it is comparable with conventional power technologies. Several factors are contributing to lower the solar power tariff and making PV technology the most economical and viable option. Firstly, Pakistan is home to excellent solar resources. Pakistan achieves yearly irradiation of around 2000 kWh/m2 that is similar to Middle Eastern Countries and doubles that of Europe. Secondly, the sunny belts are in the low-density areas of the country. Thus, the lands are available at lower costs. Moreover, there is low vegetation in these sunny areas which consequently helps in eradicating the shading losses. Fourthly, the low labor costs and tax discounts on green energy are also attracting investors. Most importantly, the PV modules’ prices decrease day by day due to the continuous research in this area, which is contributing to the production of cheap and durable PV technologies. This modules’ cost is approximately half of the total investment cost which is halved in the last few years. 

To recapitulate, PV plants have achieved the grid parity in the users’ end in numerous areas around the world as compared to coal, oil, or gas-powered systems. It is expected that the innovation in technologies would make the modules’ costs decline further. Higher irradiations, low labor costs, and tax rates are the key elements to achieve grid parity. Solar power cost has currently declined to 0.03 US Dollar per kWh in Pakistan which is quite lower than that of 0.05 US Dollar per kWh for Coal-fired power plants [1]. More than 20% growth has been recorded in PV installations and it would grow more in the future.  In the case of a stand-alone small PV system in Pakistan, per kWh cost of electricity is calculated to be 0.199 US Dollars which is more than six times as compared to a COE/kWh via On-Grid Commercial PV Plant but it is still affordable for the remote communities[2]. 

PV modules' strings configuration to extract optimal power under partially shaded conditions