‘Malpractices, quality issues hurdle to renewable energy transition’

Islamabad : Quality issues in solar panels, procedural malpractices in integration methods, inadequacy in solar product imports and lack of technical inspection for solar installations amid net-metering are hampering the transition towards renewable energy in the country, a research study has found.

Titled ‘Assessment of Net-Metering based Solar Systems Installed at Iesco & Lesco’, the study was carried out by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) with the support of GIZ Pakistan and Alternative Energy Development Board and active participation of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Lahore Electric Supply Company, Renewable Energy Association of Pakistan, Solar Quality Foundation and several solar vendors.

The research analysis is based on the assessment of 40 solar photovoltaic systems located at different locations in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Lahore.

The study showed that there is a significant number of solar PV systems being installed which are non-compliant with the defined regulations and procedures of quality assurance, technical integration and international codes.

According to it, there is evidence of overlooking of technical quality aspects for regulated solar PV installations, including quality compromises on solar panel installations, inadequacy in the interconnection methods, the issues in the mounting structure, and malpractices with the regulations which could bring the imperfection in technical integration methods based on overall market dynamics of solar accessories and even cause serious accidents, which may prove to be very fatal and costly for the solar prosumers. Also, a mechanism of technical inspection and quality check-up based on necessary parameterisation is lacking in the services of distribution companies.

The study found out that about 22 per cent of the solar systems are equipped with solar panels non-compliant with the quality parameters, where hotspots, snail trail contamination, and delamination demonstrate the compromise of mandatory manufacturing standards, which are imported despite the existence of procedures for qualification of the quality-assured products.

It added that the solar installations with inadequate interconnection methods are found to be 15 per cent, with the percentage ratio of 10 per cent of solar systems which have improper mounting structure and locality which can drastically reduce the longevity of the net-metering.

The study said the year 2021 witnessed a mushroom growth in the adoption of net-metering facilities, where the concentration has been increased by more than 100 per cent compared with the previous years, with the cumulative added capacity of more than 300MW.

With the high profitability of businesses associated with solar systems, the indication of malpractices and overlooking of regulations appeared to increase manifold threatening an ambitious transition towards renewable energy at the grass-root level of the society in Pakistan.

It also pointed out an unchecked tendency of the people towards low-cost yet quality-compromised solar systems and called for inspection of those systems by regulators before interconnection. The study said resources and manpower available with DISCOs were insufficient causing malpractices and corruption.

It recommended technical inspection by third-party companies, the revival of solar quality passport, digitalisation of the application process, enhancement of capacity building of DISCOs and solar vendors, and transition towards smart metering infrastructure based on the internet of things, to ensure that solar system installations are done in line with standardised procedures and predefined guidelines.