STELCO’s "Avikatha" Program Paves Way For Clean Energy

In an effort to switch the energy generation of Maldives into a renewable source, the Government of Maldives has taken the initiative to launch the “Avikatha” Program with State Electric Company (STELCO). This new green initiative introduces a unique and profound way of clean energy generation and is receiving tremendous support from the public as well.

In the “Avikatha” program STELCO will rent the roof of houses and install solar panels on them. Roofs will be assessed to determine the intensity of light that falls on them and the amount of space available to install solar panels. Once the roof passes the feasibility survey, STELCO will install the panels and all the costs incurred in the process will be borne by the company. Applications are now open to participate in the program and so far, many houses have submitted forms to take part in this eco-friendly project.

The basic requirement to participate in the program is a roof of minimum 100 square feet of space available with the capacity to support a weight of at least 150 kilo-grams. Additional requirements include easy access to sunlight along with space available to install the solar panel and accompanying gadgets.

The renting policy of STELCO published rates depending on the number of panels that are installed on roofs. For 4-20 panels the rate is at MVR20 whereas for 21-40 panels the rate stands at MVR30. Starting from 41 panels, STELCO will be paying MVR45 for each additional panel installed from there onwards. In this scheme, solar panels of dimensions 7.2x3.4 foot will be installed.

The program is open for all islands of Maldives that STELCO provides electricity. The clean energy generated from the solar panels will be directed to the main power grid of the island paving way for sustainable development.