1. NOVEMBER2015 19
business
T
he Colombian capital is subject
to intense seasonal showers and
frequent cloudy skies. But this is
no obstacle for a renewable energy source
to gain a foothold with 8 million inhabit-
ants. “Bogotá is Colombia’s pioneering
city for solar energy,” states Marcos Páez
of Panasonic Colombia.
In recent years, malls and big-box
storeshaveputtheirwideroofstousewith
newsolarprojects.TheseincludePlazalas
Americas shopping mall and Alkosto on
the Carrera 68 in Bogotá. A system at an
Éxito store in Barranquilla became Co-
lombia’s biggest when it entered service
in November 2014. And last year in the
neighborhood of La Macarena, the Cole-
gio Ramón Jimeno became Bogotá’s first
high school with photovoltaic panels.
Although on average there is not as
much solar energy available per unit of
area in Bogotá as there is in sunnier re-
gions like La Guajira, the capital’s tem-
perate climate is an important advantage:
photovoltaic solar panels generally con-
vert sunlight to electricity at higher effi-
ciencies in cooler temperatures.
Mr.Páez doesn’t generalize about the
suitability of Bogotá’s climate for solar
energy. He explains that Bogotá’s topog-
raphy affects wind and weather patterns,
creating varying microclimates through-
out the city. For example, cloudy sites
such as those in central Bogotá may jus-
tify high-end solar panels that perform
better in cloudy conditions. Just a few
kilometers north, project designs must
consider the area’s high humidity, which
can corrode system components or cause
electrical problems. On the other hand,
“the south of Bogotá has a great micro-
climate for solar power,” he says.
In Colombia, while two thirds of
electricity comes from another renewable
energy source—hydropower—most of the
remaining third comes from traditional
coal, oil, and natural gas power plants.
In order to reduce national carbon emis-
sions and expand access to electricity, es-
pecially in areas the national grid does
not reach, the government is out looking
to build local expertise on new energy
sources, including solar.
Solar can help to diversify Colom-
bia’s generation mix to avoid electricity
shortages due to drought, especially in
light of forecasts from Colombia’s Insti-
tute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and En-
vironmental Studies (IDEAM) that Co-
lombia’s network of hydropower plants
will produce less energy in the future as
climate change reduces Colombia’s aver-
age annual rainfall.
In May 2014, the Colombian Con-
gress passed Law 1715 and an important
act in promoting new sources of renew-
able energy. The law promotes clean en-
ergy projects by creating tax and account-
ing benefits, removing import duties on
related equipment, calling for new tech-
nical standards, and making it possible
to sell excess electricity back to the grid.
This summer, the Mining and En-
ergy Planning Unit (UPME, an agency
of the Ministry of Mining and Energy)
released a report on the “Integration of
unconventional renewable energy in Co-
lombia,” that reinforced the importance
of Law 1715 for renewable energy in Co-
lombia. The report’s recommendations
advocated easy access to the incentives
that will come from Law 1715, and for
higher prices for the excess electricity that
the grid will buy from small generators.
The new incentives and standards
called for by Law 1715 were supposed to
be finalized within a year after the law
passed, but nearly a year and a half later
the final version has not been issued.
Can solar really shine?
While many countries
are adapting to the
growing popularity
of making electricity
at home, Colombians
have yet to potentialize
their solar power writes
Spencer Almen.
CREATIVECOMMONS
Among renewable energy propo-
nents, the delay has been frustrating. In
September, Senator José David Name,
author of Law 1715, sent an open letter
to the Attorney General (Procurador
General de la Nación) and Secretary of
the Treasury (Contralor General de la
República) requesting an investigation
into the ongoing delay of the release of
the final regulations. “Not regulating
Law 1715 causes enormous harm to Co-
lombia…” he wrote.
There are other obstacles for solar
energy in Colombia. Most photovoltaic
solar equipment is imported, and the
devaluation of the Colombian Peso has
madeequipmentmoreexpensiveforbuy-
ers in Colombia. UPME’s new study also
points out that the forecasted demand
for electricity during the next five years
most likely will be met by hydropower
projects under construction.
Time will tell how quickly solar
power grows in Colombia and how large
a role it will play in providing the nation
with electricity. The final rules for Law
1715, continued government promotion
and long-term planning for the technolo-
gy, and whether or not the current trend
of falling solar prices continues, will all
be critical factors. Mr.Páez, however, is
optimistic of consumer demand for re-
newable energy. “Our clients are very
proud of their solar projects.”
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