Daraine Luton, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Philip Paulwell (left) and Clive Mullings, minister of energy (right).

ENERGY MINISTER Clive Mullings and Opposition back-bencher Phillip Paulwell are seeing eye to eye on the issue of replacing the country's stock of street lights with solar-powered lamps.

Mullings' only worry, as his ministry prepares to head in that direction, is the possible nefarious activities of thieves. In 2001, 107 photovoltaic street lamps were installed islandwide. Thirty-three of the lamps were installed on the One Love Trail between Ocho Rios and Dunns River in St Ann. Twenty-two of these lamps were vandalised and/or stolen. Some of the remaining 11 were also damaged by attempts to steal them. The 33 solar street lamps were replaced by conventional street lamps.

In working order

The remaining 74 lamps are still in good working order and are located in various towns across the island. All except two are in operation.

Mullings is eager to get the solar project going, noting, "it is definitely something that we are looking into and hope to move forward with in short order. My only concern is to secure them given the history of what happened with those in St Ann," Mullings says.

Paulwell, a former energy minister, proposed in Parliament recently that government should explore the feasibility of using solar-powered batteries to run the over 90,000 street lights across the country.

Mullings, who also spoke of the benefits of going solar in his Sectoral Debate presentation, tells The Sunday Gleaner that he wants a replacement project to begin on a phased basis by next year. But, the absence of a director general at the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), Mullings says, is slowing down the process of making the switch. The OUR has since interviewed candidates for the job left vacant following the resignation of J. Paul Morgan.

"It is very important that the position be filled because a lot hinges on it," Mullings says.

Hefty capital outlay

According to Paulwell, switching from electricity-powered to solar-powered street lights will require a hefty capital outlay, but notes that the savings would be great.

"In addition, we can earn carbon credits from implementing such a programme," he says.

The former energy minister started the last big replacement bulb project in collaboration with the Cuban government. The programme became shrouded in controversy, including the arrest of Kern Spencer, then state minister who had direct responsibility for the project. It involved the replacement of incandescent bulbs in homes with fluorescent light bulbs. That project has been earning carbon credits for the country, and has helped in the reduction of energy consumed by households, ministry documents say.

Replacing the existing electrical panels now used across the island could cost the country nearly $160 billion. It would take about US$2,500 or $177,500 to purchase one street light. These consumed a whopping 66,000 megawatts hours of electricity in 2007.

Back-up solution

Mullings says the energy ministry is in discussions with the Jamaica Public Service about the move, and is also devising a back-up solution for traffic lights should there be power outage.

Solar-powered street lights can illuminate walking paths, parks or other areas without connection to power lines. In addition to operating totally independently of electricity-distribution systems, solar-powered street lights provide a visible demonstration of the effectiveness of solar energy in meeting energy requirements for lighting in outdoor public areas.

On the downside, solar-powered street lights have often been assembled from components that have not been optimised, matched and tested in this specific application, and sometimes no replacement parts are available.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com