A Technical and Financial Analysis of the Solar Energy Harnessing in Karachi

Abstract

In this paper the technical and financial analysis was done for the extensive market survey relating to the solar energy harnessing in Karachi which is the biggest import, whole sale and retail market and follow as role model for most of other Pakistani markets. The severity of the electrical energy crises leads to the pressure on the individual user to find solutions for their long, load shedding hours. The marketing and advertisement exaggerated the Solar Photovoltaic panels as the best solutions which trigger the impulsive buying of solar modules and related accessories to produce the “free of cost” electrical energy. However, it was not proven as simple and free as it was marketed and advertised which leads to the tremendous loss of capital / investment and foreign exchange because of the major portion of solar energy related products are imported.  In this work, several markets were survey and investigated i.e. Saddar, Bolten Shareshah, Qaidabade, Gulshan and Sohrab Goth where various brands of the solar panels were investigated by means of technical, financial and environmental based in order to optimize the policies and guideline for the investment, installation,  operation and maintenance (OEM).