Currently, however, the development of solar power is hampered
in
Thailand because the government provides huge subsidies
for extending
the national electricity grid.
Despite Thailand's abundant sunshine, photovoltaic cells
which
convert sunlight into electricity without creating pollution
produced only about 2.5 megawatts (MW) of power by the
end of 1996, according
to Prof Krissanapong Kirtikara, dean of industrial engineering
at the
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology in Thonburi. By
comparison,
Thailand's total energy demand during peak hours last
year was more
than 13,300 MW.
Other countries such as Japan, Germany, Switzerland and
the United
States are already subsidising the use of photovoltaic
panels in
individual homes for environmental reasons, added Chaya
Jivacate,
head of research and development for the Electricity Generating
Authority
of Thailand.
Both Chaya and Krissanapong called on the National Energy
Policy
Office to provide similar incentives in Thailand by providing
loans
for capital costs and allowing the purchase of energy
from rooftop
solar cells for the national electricity grid.
Krissanapong estimated that it will be another 10 years
or so before
photovoltaic cells can directly compete on price terms
with other
electricity sources no matter the location, but in remote
areas,
where it is expensive to hook houses up to the national
electricity grid,
solar power is already cheaper than power attained from
diesel
generators.
''At today's investment cost of Bt200 to Bt300 per watt,
photovoltaics [are] already competitive with diesel generating
systems for most
small applications in remote areas," said Chaya, who spoke
at a
seminar on the use of solar energy in the Mekong region.
Photovoltaic cells cost as little as US$3 (Bt78) per watt
in the US,
he said, but import duties make them expensive in Thailand,
where
there are three local assemblers.
Even at a cost of Bt300/watt, however, Chaya showed analysis
which
indicated that solar power will generally be cheaper than
diesel
power for any village which uses 8,000 kilowatt-hours
per year or less
roughly equal to the electricity used by about 20 houses
without air
conditioning.
Accordingly, said Krissanapong, state agencies such as
the Department
of Public Works, the Department of Energy Development
and Promotion
and the Telephone Organisation of Thailand have used solar
cells to
run water pumps, battery-charging stations and telephone
outlets in
remote villages.
By the end of last year, he said, residents of more than
800 villages
half of them in the Northeast could charge up their
batteries at
photovoltaic stations, and another 619 villages
90 per cent of them
in the Northeast had solar-powered water pumps.
The Royal Forestry
Department has also built solar arrays in Tarutao National
Park and
on Phu Kradung, Krissanapong said.
The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation,
a
Japanese non-governmental organisation which sponsored
yesterday's
seminar, wants to expand on solar power's cost advantages
in rural
areas by promoting ''zero-emission villages", not just
in Thailand
but around the world. But such projects are typically
hampered by
government subsidies for conventional power sources.
''The Thai government has a long-standing policy to heavily
subsidise
rural electrification by extending the national electricity
grid,"
explained Chaya, ''so the Provincial Electricity Authority
prefers to
connect villages to the grid, which makes the use of photovoltaic
cells uncompetitive."
Krissanapong argued that it is time for solar power to
move away from
public funding sources and move towards private consumer
use for
instance, establishing a system of rooftop photovoltaic
cells
connected to the grid.
The government would still have to provide some kind of
economic
incentive: Krissanapong suggested that the government
agree to
purchase electricity from rooftop solar cells at peak
hours during
the day. This policy would help reduce pollution, boost
the production of
solar cells thus bringing down costs, and provide training
for the
time when solar power becomes genuinely cost-effective,
and thus more
widespread.
He estimated that electricity during peak hours in Thailand
costs
about Bt5 to Bt6 per unit, while photovoltaic cells, amortised
over
20 years, would provide electricity at a cost of about
Bt8 to Bt9 per unit.
''The government could pay for 50 per cent of the investment
cost of
installing rooftop photovoltaic cells, and buy back the
electricity
at a good price," suggested Chaya. ''Japan, Germany
and Switzerland have
programmes like this for environmental reasons. Thailand
should do
the same."