The entire Jubilee House — the seat of government — is expected to be powered with solar energy by the end of June 2020 if arrangements go according to plan.
It follows the installation of a 912-kilowatt solar panel at the Presidency which commenced yesterday.
The Minister of Energy, John Peter Amewu, made the disclosure when he paid a working visit to the Jubilee House to inspect the ongoing installation of the solar panels, a project being undertaken by Strategic Power Solutions (SPS) — a subsidiary of the Strategic Security System Limited (SSS).
This is expected to reduce dependence on electricity from the national grid by not less than 60% in fulfilment of President Akufo-Addo’s promise when he was delivering the State of the Nation Address to Parliament last year.
Speaking with journalists after the inspection, Mr. Amewu gave the contract price as US$1,494,350.00.
“Having visited the site, I am very much impressed with progress on site. This work is part of government’s agenda towards inclusion of renewable energy in our energy mix. As government, we believe in the importance of renewable energy. We have a target of 10% as a proportion of our energy mix within 2020. Already, we are behind that schedule,” he said.
In his interaction with the project contractor, the minister revealed that all the PV panels for the installations had all been delivered to site and expected them to be able to complete the project on or before the scheduled time of June 2020.
Solar energy experts explain that it is radiant light and heat from the sun that is harnessed, using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaic, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis.
It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar, depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power.
Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power and solar water heating to harness the energy.
Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the sun, selecting materials with favourable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent