This letter refers to the article ‘Solar divide’ (Money Matters, May 27, 2024) by Muhammad Wali Farooqi. The writer explains that solar producers are not paying for the infrastructure costs of electric supply such as capacity charges and distribution costs. Generally, solar producers sell electricity during off-peak hours when the grid has excess capacity. During this period, the demand for power decreases due to solar electricity and its capacity remains idle.
Hence, the buy-back tariff is to be reduced to compensate for the idle capacity of the grid. Solar producers should only be allowed to sell electricity when the grid is operating at its full capacity and cannot meet the demand so that charges against idle capacity may not be imposed on solar producers.
Wasi Ahmed Siddiqi
Karachi