Iraq Looks to Solar Energy To Help Rebuild its Economy

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/03/iraq-looks-to-solar-energy-to-help-rebuild-its-economy

Off-grid solar panels could soon be installed in Iraq in a push to supply electricity to people across the country, many of whom have no access to the national grid.

Six thousand solar-powered street lamps already light up the streets of Baghdad, where electricity from conventional sources is available on average for only two hours a day as the country struggles to recover from years of war.

Thousands more solar street lamps have been ordered this year from the German off-grid specialist company Phaesun by the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.

Matthias Kaiser of Phaesun, a company based in Memmingen that supplies components and technical know-how for off-grid photovoltaic systems, said that the Iraqi government is increasingly exploring the role solar power could play in supplying the population's future energy needs, especially in rural areas.

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