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Lebanon Sees Rising Demand for Solar Energy Panels to Compensate Power Shortage

Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in the dark on July 27, 2020, due to widespread electricity blackouts caused by fuel shortages in the midst of a dire economic crisis. (Getty Images)
Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in the dark on July 27, 2020, due to widespread electricity blackouts caused by fuel shortages in the midst of a dire economic crisis. (Getty Images)
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Lebanon Sees Rising Demand for Solar Energy Panels to Compensate Power Shortage

Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in the dark on July 27, 2020, due to widespread electricity blackouts caused by fuel shortages in the midst of a dire economic crisis. (Getty Images)
Lebanon's capital, Beirut, in the dark on July 27, 2020, due to widespread electricity blackouts caused by fuel shortages in the midst of a dire economic crisis. (Getty Images)

Lebanon has witnessed a rising demand for solar panels for electricity production, in light of the continuing problems in the state’s electricity supply and the exorbitant tariffs of private generator subscriptions.

Last summer, Lebanon witnessed a severe electricity crisis, which lasted for more than a month, during which the state’s electricity was rationed for 20 hours per day, even in the capital Beirut. Vital sectors were threatened by the power cuts, such as communications and hospitals.

The cost of installing a 5-amp solar energy unit starts at USD 3,000 but the price varies according to the raw materials used and the hours of power required.

Jessica Obeid, a consultant on energy policies, said recent years have witnessed a demand for solar energy by factories and companies in particular, with the aim of reducing the cost of electricity.

But this demand has remarkably increased among individuals and companies alike, in anticipation of the fuel crisis and the rise of prices of diesel and fuel, especially if Lebanon’s Central Bank (BDL), lifted its subsidies on fuel with the depletion of its foreign currency reserves.

Obeid stressed the need to support such projects, because they would alleviate the citizens’ burden amid the stifling economic and financial crisis. She added that increasing the percentage of dependence on solar energy would reduce the demand on the state electricity network, which would decrease electricity production costs and fuel imports.

The parliament approved on Monday a loan of $200 million to pay for fuel for the state electricity company after a warning by the energy ministry that cash had run out for electricity generation beyond the end of the month.

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Lebanon's Public Schools Reopen amid War and Displacement

Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
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Lebanon's Public Schools Reopen amid War and Displacement

Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)

In the quiet seaside town of Amchit, 45 minutes north of Beirut, public schools are finally in session again, alongside tens of thousands of internally displaced people who have made some of them a makeshift shelter.

As Israeli strikes on Lebanon escalated in September, hundreds of schools in Lebanon were either destroyed or closed due to damage or security concerns, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Of around 1,250 public schools in Lebanon, 505 schools have also been turned into temporary shelters for some of the 840,000 people internally displaced by the conflict, according to the Lebanese education ministry.

Last month, the ministry started a phased reopening, allowing 175,000 students - 38,000 of whom are displaced - to return to a learning environment that is still far from normal, Reuters reported.

At Amchit Secondary Public School, which now has 300 enrolled students and expects more as displaced families keep arriving, the once-familiar spaces have transformed to accommodate new realities.

Two-and-a-half months ago, the school was chosen as a shelter, school director Antoine Abdallah Zakhia said.

Today, laundry hangs from classroom windows, cars fill the playground that was once a bustling area, and hallways that used to echo with laughter now serve as resting areas for families seeking refuge.

Fadia Yahfoufi, a displaced woman living temporarily at the school, expressed gratitude mixed with longing.

"Of course, we wish to go back to our homes. No one feels comfortable except at home," she said.

Zeina Shukr, another displaced mother, voiced her concerns for her children's education.

"This year has been unfair. Some children are studying while others aren't. Either everyone studies, or the school year should be postponed," she said.

- EDUCATION WON'T STOP

OCHA said the phased plan to resume classes will enrol 175,000 students, including 38,000 displaced children, across 350 public schools not used as shelters.

"The educational process is one of the aspects of resistance to the aggression Lebanon is facing," Education Minister Abbas Halabi told Reuters

Halabi said the decision to resume the academic year was difficult as many displaced students and teachers were not psychologically prepared to return to school.

In an adjacent building at Amchit Secondary Public School, teachers and students are adjusting to a compressed three-day week, with seven class periods each day to maximize learning time.

Nour Kozhaya, a 16-year-old Amchit resident, remains optimistic. "Lebanon is at war, but education won't stop. We will continue to pursue our dreams," she said.

Teachers are adapting to the challenging conditions.

"Everyone is mentally exhausted ... after all this war is on all of us," Patrick Sakr, a 38-year-old physics teacher, said.

For Ahmad Ali Hajj Hassan, a displaced 17-year-old from the Bekaa region, the three-day school week presents a challenge, but not a deterrent.

"These are the conditions. We can study despite them," he said.