In these five districts, almost half the population uses solar energy
22 Aug 2017 - Priti Oli
With the huge urban-rural disparity in use of electricity, solar based lighting has been beneficial in rural areas where infrastructure for electricity has not yet been developed.The data from nepalmap.org shows that 67% of people use electricity for lighting whereas while 18% people are dependent upon kerosene and 7% rely on solar energy. Browsing through data on nepalmap.org the following five district relies mostly on solar energy for lighting purposes:
Check out this interactive map to see how many people in your district uses solar energy. Based on the data collected by the Government of Nepal, there has been an exponential rise in the number of installation of solar home system in Nepal over the last 15 years. Use of solar in those places where there is no electricity is popular because of portability and low-cost. This has not only helped in lighting households but also has helped to raise living standard in many cases.
For instance, students can have more study time on proper light at night, people can have access to tv, radio and hence get informed. The perspective of solar based technology not only serves for lighting but also for thermal generation. Though not hugely practiced, there is a huge prospect of using solar thermal technology for cooking also.
As an initiative, Nepal government has introduced more than 40% subsidiary scheme to promote Solar Thermal System, which could be used as an alternative for firewood for cooking purposes, Institutional cooker or dryer.This can promote solar based cooking in those areas too.Thus, reducing strain on forests and vegetation for firewood.
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