Vietnam’s Ho chi Minh city turns up the heat on Solar Energy
Source: Vietnam News / 24 march 2007
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=03ECO240307
HCM CITY — Solar power in HCM City’s rural districts has been an integral part of the rural electrification scheme over the last 10 years, said an energy official. Trinh Quang Dung, head of HCM City Physics Institute’s Solarlab, said solar power had been used in lamps, refrigerators, surgery lamps, telephones and electrical appliances such as water heaters, fans and calculators. Several hundred households in the suburban districts of Binh Chanh, Cu Chi and Can Gio used electricity generated from solar power networks for local household usage in the early 1990s.
In 1990, solar power stations with a capacity of 300 Watt peak were installed at the Cultural House Tam Thon Hiep in Can Gio District. Dung said a good example of using solar power sources was the Thieng Lieng-Can Gao island commune in Can Gio District where up to 50 per cent of local rural households use solar energy.
The project, Development of Solar Power for Use in Can Gio Protective Forest, worth US$120,000, from 2000 to 2004 supplied electricity for homes in forested areas. The project has installed 155 household solar energy networks and 14 public networks with a capacity of 150 Wp to ensure continued contacts with forest protection units.
The city’s power sector has also established a solar power network that fully uses available energy sources to supply electricity to local areas. The network is seen as an excellent solution to provide electricity for remote rural areas and national defence units stationed on islands. — VNS