Application of solar thermal energy to meet the

industrial energy demand in Pakistan

Group members
Muhammad Abdullah 18 MCT 30
Muhammad Asfand Hayat 18 MCT 13
Muhammad Atif Ali 18 MCT 16
Muhammad Afaq Yousef 18 MCT 05
 Objective
 Our project objective is the utilization of solar thermal applications in
industries and to fulfill the heat energy requirements of the industrial
sector by using solar energy.
 Solar thermal heaters are discussed in our paper and compared its cost with
gas heaters and found that our cost for the initial setup of the solar heater
will be back after 9 years.
 We selected the location in Nawab Shah for building the parabolic trough
here. We used 56 collector loops to generate 31.54 Mega Watt after a day.
 Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for
using solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry,
and in the residential and commercial sectors.

Why use solar thermal energy?

• Solar thermal energy is mostly used because of big efficiency
compared with other renewables.
• It is becoming cheaper than other alternatives.
• Solar thermal energy usage is environmentally friendly.
 Physics of Solar Thermal
• Portion of light that appears to come straight from the sun- direct radiation.
• On a clear day, this can approach a solar potential of 1 kilowatt per square
meter (1 kWm-2).
• Practical peak solar potential are around 900 - 1000 watts per square meter.
• the world receive 3.61 kWh/m2/day of average global radiations
• Pakistan receives 4.45 to 5.83 kWh/m2/day of the global radiation. Even this
minimum value of the average radiations 4.45 kWh/m2/day[1]

1 F. Muhammad, M. W. Raza, S. Khan, and F. Khan, "Different solar potential co-ordinates of

Pakistan," Innovative Energy & Research, vol. 6, no. 2, 2017.
History of solar thermal energy
 The history of usage of solar heaters is very old. An inventor name
Clarence Kemp in 1886 made a tank enclosed it in wooden box which
was first commercial type solar water heater [2]
 The Solar water heating technology was gradually growing and in 1920
the flat plate solar waters heaters were introducing in Florida and
south California, and were prominently used in America till 1960.
 The first-ever solar thermal power plant was established in 1968
in Italy, under Professor Giovanni Francia
 Spain became the 1st country which used the solar photovoltaics
and 2nd country for solar thermal water heating technology in
2005 and 2006 respectively [3]

[2]P. John, "Solar Evolution-The History of Solar Energy," ed: California: California Solar Center, 2002
[3] J. L. Sawin et al., "Renewables 2010-Global status report," 2010
Solar thermal energy in Pakistan.
 Pakistan has taken some good steps towards the usage of the renewable
energies source after the 2006 renewable energy policy.
 Heat demand is different for each industry. Approximately 60 percent of
the thermal energy consumed in industries in the range of 30-250°C [4].
 First ever solar panels in Pakistan were installed by Pakistan
Telecommunication Company Limited outside Karachi & then this
technology was used by SNGPL for controlling & reporting purpose.
Currently SNGPL is one of the best utilizer of solar energy in Pakistan.
 In Pakistan idea of solar thermal water heaters has been introduced for
the first time on commercial scales at one of the leather Industry
located in Lahore. The whole arrangement gives hot water up to 70 to
80℃ with 10℃ change to the inlet water. After the cost analysis it has
been found out that system have cost of fuel up to 33% annually.

 [4] C. Vannoni, R. Battisti, S. Drigo et al., “Potential for solar heat in industrial
processes,” IEA SHC Task, vol. 33, p. 174, 2008.
Solar thermal energy in Pakistan.
• Using solar energy for heating of water is a solar thermal
technology considered to be pretty established, but its utilization is
quite limited
• This is because of the market incompetency of such tools as they
are pretty much expensive than the existing water heating systems
& other combustion applications.
• In the northern regions of the country where the energy sources are
limited & people use wood for burning & heating purposes. Such
applications are very much useful in areas where wood is found to
be very much scarce.
• Many of the industries in different areas of Pakistan are using heat
from the sun for preheating of water. Many of the leather industries
has recently installed solar power heaters including Siddique
Leather Works Lahore, Panjab. Major Solar.
Major Solar. Power generation is described as follow.
1. Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park
 Location: Bahawalpur
 Status: 100MW Completed
 Site Area: 6500 Acres
 Annual Net Output: 1530GWh.
2. Sanjwal Power Plant
 Location: POF Sanjwal
 Status: 5MW Completed
 Annual Net Output: 7.408GWh
 Site Area: 23 Acre
Solar Thermal Applications is
Pakistan
1. Solar water heating
• It is a technique to heat water with the help of solar energy .
• It has been found that 15 to 20 % of total domestic energy is used to heat water.
• Pakistan uses 10 % of its domestic energy to heat water.
• The textile industry consumes 65 %of its energy to heat water for different purpose.
• SWHs are beneficial because they do not emit Carbon unlike fossils fuel.
• Solar water heaters, which are easy to build and install, can pay back the total cost within 5 years
and afterwards can provide free hot water for decades
• SWHs is inserted in Siddique leather works Lahore.
• It heats 90k litres water per day
• Other industries can also use this technique to heat the water without any environment hazards .[6]

[6] Asif M 2009 Sustainable energy options for Pakistan Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
Volume)
2. Solar cookers
Solar cookers are one of the best option for cooking in countries like Pakistan.
They reduce wood utilization for cooking purpose. Thus this process reduce the deforestation .
About 60 thousand solar cookers are used in China and 14500 are used in india Pakistan has just adopt
this technique and only 5k+ cookers are presents in country.
3. Solar dryers
Pakistan is an agricultural which produces lot of products like vegetables and fruits.solar dryers are a
suitable option for drying and preserving of fruits and vegetables.
solar dryers were installed in Khairpur Mirs, Peshawar, Swat, Skardu, Gilgit and different areas of
Balochistan. These will be mainly used for drying dates, apricots, grapes, bitter gourd and onions,
besides other fruits and vegetables
In gilgit Baltistan the apricot drying tunnel is build by ASF.
In Sindh,80 dryers of 500 kg each are distributed which are playing vital in food industry.
4.Solar desalination
 It uses solar energy for desalination of hard water.
 The Karachi port trust (KPT ) Manora water desalination plant purifies
200,000 to 250, 000 gallons of water per day.
 The cost of this project was 140 million
 Two plants in Gwadar are installed which purify 6000 gallons of waters
per day.
 In 2015, the Desalination Complex in Mithi in Tharparkar was inagurated.
It is the Asia’s largest solar desalination plant complex completed by the
energy department of the provincial government. The plant will provide
8 million litres per day of drinking water in addition to producing one
mega watt of electricity, benefitting the people of Mithi city besides
other 100 villages.
 Other projects are in progress in thar and Balochistan and soon will be
completed.
5.solar water pump
 These are used to pump water by using 1 to 2 hp engine.
 Agricultural development bank of Pakistan distributed solar pumps to the
farmers.
 Balochistan can proved to be a huge beneficiary of the solar pump technology
if Pakistan learns from China.
Advantages of Solar Thermal in
Pakistan
• Solar thermal technology has got some remarkable advantages. This
technology does not require resources other than solar energy. It is not
dependent on resources which are going to deplete unlike conventional
systems which generate electricity using non-renewable fossil fuels. These
fossil fuels are rapidly depleting thus, there is an increasing need for
alternate resources to generate power.
• Environmental pollution has also become a major concern in recent times
which requires regulation of greenhouse gases. Burning fossil fuels leads to
emission of greenhouse gases (GHG).
• These gases are quite harmful for the environment and people . The
emission of gases due to burning of fossil fuels is one of the main causes for
many diseases. These diseases include neurological problems, heart issues,
cancer and diseases associated with breathing. GHG emissions are quite low
in the case of solar energy when compared to coal and natural gas.