$9.6M in solar powered streetlights installed at Stabroek Market Square

In the latter part of December 2017, the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) installed 12 80W solar-powered street lights around the Stabroek Market Square and 750 energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs around the eastern facade of the building.

In a statement on Monday, the Agency said the Government-funded project cost $9,611,000.

In the statement, Chief Executive Officer of the GEA, Dr. Mahender Sharma said the project is “in keeping with the Government of Guyana’s ‘Green Initiative’ which is in keeping with the Agency’s vision to provide reliable energy in an environmentally, socially and sustainable framework.”

The integrated solar-powered street lights use renewable energy from the sun to charge the batteries which provide lighting at nights using energy efficient LED lights. They are controlled by a light-sensitive circuit to switch the lights on in the evenings and turn them off at dawn.

“As part of the energy conservation features of the initiative, the technology dims the lights by 50% when motion is not detected and returns to 100% brightness when motion is detected. One advantage of the systems is that they are not powered by the utility, thereby avoiding the use of fossil-based energy from the grid and the associated costs,” the statement noted.

The lights replaced 750 13 Watts compact fluorescent lamps that outlined the eastern façade of the Market, with 7-Watts LED bulbs.

“Based on the existing Street Lights Tariff, the 12 solar powered street lights will result in annual energy savings of about 4,205 kWh, resultant annual cost savings of about G$184,170 and 2,523 kg of avoided CO2. The computed simple payback, when compared to a similar installation using utility powered 80W LED lamps, is 6 years. While the second component of the intervention will result in annual energy savings of about 19,710 kWh, resultant annual cost savings of about G$1,321,950 and 11,826 kg of avoided CO2. The computed simple payback is 1.6 years,” the GEA outlined.

The project is in keeping with the Agency’s mandate to carry out research into all sources of energy to secure more efficient utilisation of energy.