Tired of Power Cuts, Gaza Turns to Solar

This picture taken on September 6, 2022 shows a view of solar panels placed atop a bakery building used to power it, in Gaza City in the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
This picture taken on September 6, 2022 shows a view of solar panels placed atop a bakery building used to power it, in Gaza City in the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
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Tired of Power Cuts, Gaza Turns to Solar

This picture taken on September 6, 2022 shows a view of solar panels placed atop a bakery building used to power it, in Gaza City in the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
This picture taken on September 6, 2022 shows a view of solar panels placed atop a bakery building used to power it, in Gaza City in the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Palestinians living in the Israeli-blockaded enclave of Gaza have long endured an unstable and costly electricity supply, so Yasser al-Hajj found a different way: solar power.

Looking at the rows of photo-voltaic panels at his beachfront fish farm and seafood restaurant, The Sailor, he said the investment he made six years ago had more than paid off.

"Electricity is the backbone of the project," Hajj said, standing under a blazing Mediterranean sun. "We rely on it to provide oxygen for the fish, as well as to draw and pump water from the sea."

The dozens of solar panels that shade the fish ponds below have brought savings that are now paying to refurbish the business, he said, as laborers loaded sand onto a horse-drawn cart.

Hajj said he used to pay 150,000 shekels ($42,000) per month for electricity, "a huge burden," before solar power slashed his monthly bill to 50,000 shekels.

For most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, living under Hamas rule and a 15-year-old Israeli blockade, power cuts are a daily fact of life that impact everything from homes to hospital wards.

While some Gazans pay for a generator to kick in when the mains are cut -- for around half of each day, according to United Nations data -- ever more people are turning to renewables.

From the rooftops of Gaza City, solar panels now stretch out into the horizon.

Green energy advocates say it is a vision for a global future as the world faces the perils of climate change and rising energy costs.

Gaza bakery owner Bishara Shehadeh began the switch to solar this summer, by placing hundreds of gleaming panels on his rooftop.

"We have surplus electricity in the day," AFP quoted him as saying. "We sell it to the electricity company in exchange for providing us with current during the night."

Solar energy lights up the bright bulbs illuminating the bustling bakery, but the ovens still run on diesel.

"We are working on importing ovens, depending on electrical power, from Israel, to save the cost of diesel," said Shehadeh.

Both the bakery and the fish farm have relied partially on foreign donors to kick-start their switch to solar, although their owners are also investing their own cash.

But in a poverty-stricken territory where nearly 80 percent of residents rely on humanitarian assistance, according to the UN, not everyone can afford to install renewable energy.

Around a fifth of Gazans have installed solar power in their homes, according to an estimate published in April by the "Energy, Sustainability and Society" journal.

Financing options are available for Gazans with some capital, like Shehadeh, who got a four-year loan to fund his bakery project.

At a store selling solar power kits, MegaPower, engineer Shehab Hussein said prices start at around $1,000 and can be paid in instalments.

Clients included a sewing factory and a drinks producer, which see the mostly Chinese-made technology as "a worthwhile investment", he said.

Raya al-Dadah, who heads the University of Birmingham's Sustainable Energy Technology Laboratory, said her family in Gaza has been using simple solar panels that heat water for more than 15 years.

"The pipe is super rusty, the glass is broken... and I just had a shower and the water is super hot," she said during a visit to the territory.

But Dadah encountered obstacles when she tried to import a more sophisticated solar system for a community project in Gaza.

"Bringing them to the Gaza Strip has proved to be impossible," she said.

The advanced set-up includes more efficient panels and equipment that tracks the sun's path.

Such technology is being used by Israeli firms such as SolarGik, whose smart control systems factor in weather conditions and can harness up to 20 percent more energy than standard panels, chief executive Gil Kroyzer told AFP.

Across the frontier in Gaza, in the absence of such high-tech equipment, Dadah relies on the standard panels to power a women's center and surrounding homes in the strip's northern Jabalia area.

Despite the challenges, Dadah said solar energy remains a "brilliant" option for Gaza, with its copious sunlight: "It is really a very promising energy source, and it's available everywhere".



UK Court to Rule on Prince Harry Security Appeal

Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
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UK Court to Rule on Prince Harry Security Appeal

Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Prince Harry will learn Friday whether his bid to restore his UK police protection has been upheld, in an appeals court verdict that could determine how often the estranged royal visits Britain.

King Charles III's youngest son has been embroiled in the years-long legal saga -- one of many -- since the UK government downgraded his security when he stepped down from royal life and left to live abroad with his wife, Meghan, AFP said.

Since moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have had a second child, Lilibet, a sister to Archie born in 2019, and rarely engage with the British royals.

But the prince says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK and bring his family with him.

The government committee which handles protection for royals and public figures in 2020 decided he would not receive the "same degree" of publicly funded protection when in Britain.

After initially losing a case in the High Court challenging the decision last year, the Duke of Sussex, as he is formally known, was allowed to launch an appeal against the interior ministry.

His lawyers argue Harry was "singled out" for "unjustified and inferior treatment", and that the committee did not fully assess the security threats when downgrading his protection.

Harry, whose older brother is heir-to-the-throne Prince William, has long been haunted by the 1997 death of his mother Princess Diana in a high-speed car crash as she tried to escape paparazzi photographers.

The prince has blamed the press for the tragedy, and cited intense media scrutiny as one of the reasons he and Meghan took a step back five years ago.

Fraught ties

In the two-day appeal hearing last month, Harry's lawyers said the Sussexes had been threatened by al-Qaeda and involved in a "dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi" in New York City, as an example of the security dangers he faces.

"There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake," the prince's lawyer Shaheed Fatima said in concluding statements.

In a 2023 High Court hearing, Harry, a former British army captain who served in Afghanistan, said it was too dangerous to bring his family to the UK without bolstered security.

"The UK is my home," he said. "The UK is central to the heritage of my children. That cannot happen if it's not possible to keep them safe."

However, the High Court concluded that the government had acted lawfully in its decision.

In the appeal hearing, government lawyers said Harry's security was meant to be "bespoke" to his "revised circumstances", adding it was a result of his decision to spend less time in the UK.

Harry's fraught ties with his family have worsened after various public allegations he and Meghan made against the royals.

Harry and his brother William are barely on speaking terms, according to UK media.

He has also hardly seen his father King Charles -- who has been receiving treatment for an unspecified type of cancer -- for over a year.

While Harry has maintained a relatively low-profile since 2020, Meghan has been boosting her online presence this year, having already launched a podcast and Netflix series as well as making a return to social media.