THE Government of Guyana is aiming to bring at least 5,000 households on board in the first phase of its grid-connected solar programme, as part of efforts to advance the country’s low-carbon energy transition.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Dr Mahender Sharma, during an interview on the Starting Point podcast, said the initiative is designed to allow households to generate their own electricity while reducing reliance on the national grid.

Dr Sharma noted that it is being rolled out under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

“We do have a target. We want to get at least 5,000 homes on board,” Dr Sharma said.

He related that grid-connected solar systems enable households to generate electricity during daylight hours and use it directly within their homes.

“As the sun shines… the panels will start generating energy… the energy that is generated from the solar panels now feeds directly into your home first,” the GEA CEO said.

According to Dr Sharma, the system is designed to operate seamlessly without manual intervention.

“If your home is using more energy than the sun is providing at that time, it takes the difference from GPL and the controls and the equipment does this for you automatically,” he noted.

In instances where households generate more electricity than they consume, the excess energy is exported to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) grid.

This, he noted, is facilitated through bi-directional meters, which track energy flowing both to and from the grid.

Dr Sharma noted that “most of the meters that they’re installing now are actually bi-directional capable,” adding that where upgrades are needed, it would be done free of cost to the customer.

The programme has already gained traction, with more than 300 consumers currently feeding solar-generated electricity into the national grid.

He stated that these “prosumers,” as they are called, collectively contribute over 11 megawatts of power.

“So  this is tried, tested and established,” Dr Sharma said.

Against this backdrop, he pointed to the existing billing system, which allows customers to receive credits for excess energy supplied to GPL.

“At the end of the month, they offset, they credit your account,” he said.

However, Dr Sharma cautioned that while the government is encouraging widespread participation, there are technical limits to how much solar energy the grid can absorb within specific areas.

“There’s a limit to this too. There’s a technical limit… If you live in a particular area and there is more solar in that area than the transformers can reasonably handle, GPL will have to set a limit,” Dr Sharma said

As a result, he urged interested households to act early, noting: “The point of saying that is first-come, first-served.”

He went on to note that while the country is “far away from that” threshold, capacity constraints could eventually arise as adoption increases.