Gaza (AFP) - Nahed Abu Assi's farm has been bombed in each of the three Gaza wars since 2008 and like in the rest of the Palestinian enclave, he receives only a paltry amount of electricity each day. With his chickens dying and the cost of using generators high, Assi now hopes to do as others have done in Gaza -- if he can find a loan to pay for it: install solar panels.
"The electricity is cut for hours every day," the balding 52-year-old said. "You have to connect to generators that cost a lot to fuel and that need regular repairs to keep the lamps and the livestock fans running around the clock."
A growing number of Gazans fed up with their erratic electricity supply are turning to solar power in an area where the sun shines for the vast majority of the year. Grey and black solar panels are increasingly visible on rooftops. Stores and adverts promoting such technology have also expanded, and authorities in the enclave running by the Islamist movement Hamas are also turning to solar power.
"Schools, hospitals and public institutions have been equipped with solar panels and other projects have been launched to at least try to partially resolve the electricity crisis," said Raid Abu al-Hajj, head of the solar energy unit in the strip's energy authority.
Some 10,000 homes could soon be equipped with photovoltaic panels. The option is not cheap. Assi expects to fork out between 4,500 and 5,400 euros ($5,000 to $6,000) for panels, but he says the investment will pay off over time.
Gaza and its population of 1.9 million people has only one electricity plant and it has been damaged by wars with Israel, the most devastating of which was fought in the summer of 2014. It imports electricity from Israel and Egypt, but those supplies are not nearly enough.
Electricity demand is estimated at 450 megawatts, but only 250 are available: 27 percent from Israel, 22 percent provided by Gaza's own plant and six percent by Egypt.
