“There
is no reason why we should not be moving to establish an industry, whether
assembling or manufacturing solar panels, not just for Jamaica, but for the
entire Caribbean. Energy is big business”
Minister Phillip
Paulwell at the opening ceremony for the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID)-funded Analysis and Investigation for Low Emission (AILEG)
project symposium, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday July 9th 2013
It
seems that Jamaica, when it comes to it
relationship with Cuba, is up to more than just swapping light bulbs for CFL
(Compact Fluorescent Lights) as stated in my blog
article entitled “Minister
Paulwell revives Cuban Light Bulb Program - How to Ban Incandescent Bulbs and
focus on production of LED Bulbs in Jamaica”.
This
as the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) has now taken up my suggestion and has gone
ahead with a partnership with the Cuban Government to make Solar Panels in
Jamaica with assistance from Cuba as stated in “Jamaica,
Cuba to join forces in building cheap solar panels locally”,
Published Sunday July 7, 2013 12:03 pm, The Jamaica Gleaner
and “Cuba to Provide Expertise in Manufacture of
Solar Panels”, Published Friday July 5, 2013 3:18
pm, The Jamaica Gleaner.
This
was echoed in the opening speech on Tuesday July 9th 2013 by
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell at the
opening ceremony for the USAID (United States Agency for International
Development)-funded AILEG (Analysis and Investigation for Low Emission) project
symposium, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. In that speech he exhorted the brethren
in the Manufacturing and Private Sector to get into the business of Making
Solar Panels as stated in “Paulwell
urges REP, JPS collaboration to increase use of solar systems”, published
Wednesday, July 10, 2013, The
Jamaica Observer.
He
stated that the remaining 3% of Jamaican still not on the JPS Co Power Grid
would have to be connected this way, quote: “Those three per cent that now
remain are in areas that are so far from the grid, it is too expensive (to
provide), and we are going to be deploying photovoltaic systems in these areas”
.
Apparently,
this decision was previously announced by Minister of Science, Technology,
Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell at the ceremonial switching on of lights in
New Forest/Plumwood, Manchester on Wednesday, July 3rd 2013 as part
of the newly rebranded REP (Rural Electrification Project) now going by the
fancy moniker JESL (Jamaica Energy Solutions Limited). These lucky 50
residents of 50 residents of New Forest/Plumwood got jacked into the system to
the tune of JA$3 million and ate not part of the 80,000 the REP has assisted
since 1975.
The Official Press Release came in my Gmail
from the GOJ mouthpiece, the Jamaica Information Service, to which I’m a
subscriber in the article “Cuba to Provide
Expertise in Manufacture of Solar Panels”, published Friday, 05
July 2013 09:32 by Douglas McIntosh, The
Jamaica Information Service.
For
those who think this is a waste of GOJ’s resources one only needs to take a
look at our Caribbean neighbours Suriname which only Friday May 17th
2013 announced its intentions to use Solar Panels as a means of bringing
electricity to Remote Village communities far from the Local Power Grid as
stated in the article “Suriname
looks into solar energy for remote communities”,
published Friday, May 17, 2013, The
Jamaica Observer.
The
rest of the Caribbean has also advanced their Alternative Energy agenda since
2010 as well. Trinidad and Tobago has plans since October 2010 to make Solar
Panels as stated in “Trini
Govt looking into glass, solar panel plant”, published Friday, October 01,
2010, The Jamaica
Observer and Barbados is contemplating powering all
Government Buildings using Solar Power as stated in “Barbados
gov't buildings to get solar panels”, published Monday,
November 12, 2012 9:15 PM, The
Jamaica Observer.
The
need for the rebranding of the REP is easy to figure out; their mandate is now
changing from getting people connected to JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service
Company) Power Grid to getting the remaining 3% of Jamaicans electricity by
whatever means possible.
This
Last 3% without electricity shares the same problems with the Telecoms World in
that there are some part of Jamaica that, despite the best of their efforts,
are inaccessible to traditional Wired Internet Access as well as Wireless
Internet Access or the cost to getting Telecommunications Services is
inexplicable and unavoidably costly to the point of being impractical.
This
problem, the so-called Last Mile in Telecoms, is being tackled by a variety of
strategies relating to improving the cost-effectiveness of Telecom Deployments
namely:
1. Shared
Wireless Broadband Solutions e.g. MiFi as described in my Geezam blog
article entitled “Crouching
LIME Huawei E586 Mi-Fi – Hidden Dekal Wireless Dragon”
2. Shared
broadband solutions such as FTTH (Fiber to The Home) as stated in my blog
article entitled “LIME
goes FTTH like Verizon's FiOS - Free ADSL after FTTH Mass Adoption”
3. Low
cost broadband Providers such as Municipal Wi-Fi as stated in my Geezam blog
article entitled “Dekal
Wireless: Broadband for the Masses”. Dekal Wireless in my community of Milk
River, Clarendon easily comes to mind.
4. Powerline
Broadband as was suggested by Minister Paulwell and which now technically
possible despite my blog
article entitled “Senator
Phillip Paulwell and PowerLine Broadband - Ice Station Zebra”.
For more info read my Geezam
blog
article “How
to expand and secure your Wi-Fi Network with Power-Line Adaptors”
5. FLORA
(Fiberless Optical Receiver Array) Technology as described in my blog
article entitled “EPSRC
and University of Strathclyde researches FLORA based Li-Fi for developement in
the next four years - Selena Gomez’s Come and Get It FLORA Li-Fi for Last Mile
Internet to be Downloaded”
6. Satellite
Broadband for Rural Communities in Jamaica as stated in my blog
article entitled “Telecom
Providers and Satellite Broadband - Quantum of Solace and The Tourist”
7. Even
balloons with Municipal Wi-Fi as is currently being tested by Google via its
Project Loon as described in “Meet
Google's 'Project Loon': Balloon-powered Net access”,
published June 14, 2013 8:39 PM PDT by Eric Mack, CNET News
In
the Electricity Generation and Distribution World, this is being tackled by the
deregulation of Monopoly Rights of PUC (Power Utility Companies) via the
introduction of competition. This forces the Local PUC’s to innovate to
competed with the new entrants coming into their Space by 2016 as stated in “It's
August 2016: New date for 115MW renewable energy plant!”
published Sunday June 9, 2013 by Arthur Hall, Senior News Editor, The Jamaica Gleaner
and “OUR
gets 28 bids for renewable energy”, published Wednesday,
June 05, 2013, The
Jamaica Observer.
These
wannabe investors in Jamaica’s Renewable Energy Sector to supply some 115MW of
power will be competing with bigger installations to be built by US-based Green
RG Management LLC (Green RG) and Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corp as
explained in my blog
article entitled “Solamon
Energy Corp & Green RG invest in Jamaica's Alternative Energy Future - Let
the Cheaper Energy Hunger Games for Latin America Begin”. Assuming that
this ruling from the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) holds, of course.
A
good example of this locally is JPS Co’s (Jamaica Public Service Company) introduction
of Digital Meters for Remote Billing Purposes with the intention to introduce
Prepaid Power and a host of other power Services as noted in my blog
article entitled “JPS
Co to introduce Prepaid Power and other Services by 2013 - Twilight Saga
Breaking Dawn 2 Signals Coming Competition from Alternative Energy”.
JPS Co knows competition is coming and is thus modernizing itself to meet it
head on as surmised in my Geezam
blog
article entitled “JPS
Co Analog Meter upgrade heralds Remote Billing Revolution”.
As
it relates to investors in Solar Power, US FDI (Foreign direct investor) Green Energy
RG and their contract to upgrade the Streetlights to Solar powered LED (Light
Emitting Diode) Street lights in a bid to reduce the GOJ’s lighting bill also
comes readily to mind as chronicled in my blog
article entitled “Green
Energy RG installing 5000 Solar Powered LED Streetlights in Jamaica - Local
Government's the Gangster Squad from West of Memphis towards a more Energy
Efficient GOJ” is yet another example.
Investment
thus spurs Innovative solutions to the problem of Electrification of residential
communities of any country who are outside of the National Grid. In most cases,
if not all, it involves the use of Alternative Energy. Thus this GOJ-Cuban initiative is long overdue
and should have been the thrust of the Cuban Light Bulb Program from inception.
But
it ain’t too late folks!
The
rebranding of the REP to the JESL and now expansion of Cuban co-operation to
include the development of Solar Panels in Jamaica is furtherance of the
Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining aim to connect the last 3%
of Jamaicans to the Power Grid. In the long run, the production of Solar Panels
here in Jamaica will reduce the price of Solar Power and thus reduce the cost
of Electricity via mass production and economy-of-scale driven by export, as
Trinidad and Tobago intends to do.
It’ll
help the WWFL (Wigton Wind Farms Limited) to reduce our dependence on Fossil
Fuels for Power and increase our usage of Alternative Energy to at least 12.5%
by 2015 in accordance with the National Energy Policy as part of Vision 2030 as
stated in “Wigton
to add 62% more wind power”, published Wednesday, April 17,
2013 By Shamille
Scott Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
Hopefully
in the process not only will it spur production of Solar Panels but also the Computer
Electronics Manufacturing Industry for such things as simple as Computer
Cooling Fans or even Cooling Pads to LED (Light Emitting Diodes) which can be
manufactured right here in Jamaica as opined by Green Energy RG in the article
“Cutting
energy bills - Company tells how”, Published Saturday
June 19, 2010 by Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Jamaica
Alternative Energy The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) has begun……Stay tuned
for more news on this development.
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