sectoral economic costs and benefits of ghg mitigation - IPCC

Renewable Energy
Table 3
Examples of Photovoltaic Systems in the Caribbean
Site Peak Power (W p ) Main End-use
Kaiteur Falls airstrip, Guyana 2,000 Navigational lights
Frederiksted, St Croix 36,000 Reverse osmosis desalination
plant
Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico 35,000 Direct support for the electric
grid
Harrison’s Cave, Barbados 17,300 Lights for the cave
Main Hospital, St Croix 1,000 Emergency power
Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados 2,000 Grid-tied demonstration
Matelot school, Trinidad 1,000 Remote power
Rio Bravo, Belize 20,000 Remote power
Combermere School, Barbados 3,000 Computer lab (under
construction)
University of the West Indies, Barbados 1,100 Solar cooling
Solar Thermal Systems
One of the most economically viable uses of solar energy is for direct heating, i.e. for drying
crops and producing distilled water and hot water. The Solar Energy Program at the University of
the West Indies has been involved in the design, development and production of solar distillers
and solar crop dryers since 1969 (Headley 1997, Headley and Hinds 1999). Table 4 shows the
costs for using solar water heaters for domestic and hotel clients in various Caribbean islands.
Even without taking environmental externalities into account, solar hot water systems can repay
their capital cost in from one to five years, depending on whether the energy source normally
used for hot water supply is electricity or liquified petroleum gas (LPG). In places like Antigua
(US26¢/kWh) or the Turks and Caicos Islands (US29¢/kWh) the repayment period is the
shortest. With oil at US$30/barrel in February 2000, solar hot water looks even more attractive.
There are over 31,000 solar water heaters on homes, businesses and hotels in Barbados and since
they are manufactured by three local companies, they are a common sight. Puerto Rico has over
100,000 solar water heaters installed and about ten manufacturers produce them. Like many
other SIDS, the tourist industry in Barbados is the major foreign exchange earner and producing
hot water for tourists is therefore a significant user of fossil fuels; over 50 hotels in Barbados use
solar water heaters for this purpose, thus saving fossil fuels and reducing emission of CO 2 . Table
5 gives the relevant figures for a family of four persons and a two hundred room hotel for six
different Caribbean territories where electricity ranges in price from US14.4¢/kWh in St Lucia to
US26¢/kWh in Antigua. The government of Barbados now wishes to return the fraction of
primary energy derived from renewable sources to 40% by 2010.
Table 5 gives some characteristics of four solar crop dryers in the Caribbean with solar collector
areas varying from 30 m 2 to 149 m 2 . Solar crop dryers are economically viable so long as they do
not have to compete with cheap natural gas. Hence, even in Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados
with their indigenous natural gas resources, they are competitive if the site is not on the natural
gas grid. For individuals, small farmers and women’s groups who are involved in small scale
crop drying or food processing, the small wire basket or artisanal solar dryers are made in sizes
varying from 1 m 2 to 6 m 2 and circulate air by natural convection. Solar crop dryers with rock
bed heat storage capacity have also been built. They use rocks to store heat and continue to
operate until after midnight.
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