Are Bahrainis willing to pay the full cost of solar PV systems?

According to the cross tabulation results, majority of participants who were willing to pay the full cost of residential solar PV systems were Bachelor degree holders with the average per-capita monthly income for Bahrainis.

Is solar energy suitable for Bahrain?

Bahrain has the opportunity to use solar energy, as it receives an estimated solar radiation of 6 kWh/m²/day ( Alnaser et al., 2014 ). The country's global horizontal irradiance is 2160 kWh/m²/year, while direct normal radiation is 2050 kWh/m²/year ( IRENA, 2014 ).

Why are there no barriers to solar PV installation in Bahrain?

None of the participants mentioned any reported barriers to installation of solar PV in Bahrain. This is likely because solar panel installation is relatively new in Bahrain and the participants were not clear on the specifics involved. Effective dissemination of information is necessary, as explained later.

How much does electricity cost in Bahrain?

It is worth mentioning that the consumer electricity prices in Bahrain are highly subsidised. The actual cost of a kWh is 28 fils ($ 0.074) while the consumer pays 3 fils if their consumption is below 3000 kWh/month, 9 fils if it is below 5000 kWh/month and 16 fils if the consumption is more than 5000 kWh/month .

How much power does Bahrain need?

The peak demand is expected to reach 9.5 GW by 2030 which means that Bahrain will need to more than double the existing power generation capacity in the coming 10–15 years. Total installed power capacity of Bahrain is 4 GW, all of which depend on natural gas as the fuel for generation.