Iranian villages equipped with solar power systems

Feb 12, 2011 - Chris Whitmore - pv-tech.org

The village solar systems are the latest stage in the Iranian government’s programme to ensure the entire country has access to electricity

The Iranian province of Kordestan is to supply electricity to several remote villages in eastern Kurdistan by equipping them with solar power systems. The project is the latest stage in the Iranian government’s programme to ensure the entire country has access to electricity.

The portfolio of village projects is Iran’s first serious solar development since the construction of a 250kW plant in Shiraz four years ago, and, with 300 days of sunshine, an average of 2,200 kilowatt-hours of solar radiation per square meter and virtually no rainfall for nine months of the year, Iran remains a vast untapped resource in terms of solar energy.

“This is the first time that villages with less than nine households in Kurdistan province will benefit from solar power,” said Mohammad Mostafa Najafian, managing director of Kordestan’s power distribution company to Mehr News Agency.

Design and construction of the systems is to be carried out by Iranian consultants and engineers in conjunction with the Engineering Department of Shiraz University.