SUNSHINE

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" Actually, the practical part of the training was crucial and the most beneficial for me, because all of the theories and examples which were presented to us began to sound much better after that. "

Representative, AMG Eco Engineering, Montenegro

SUPPORT:

Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea of the Republic of Italy; Global Environment Facility

PROBLEM

The Mediterranean and Balkan regions have hot, sunny climates, and the use of solar water heaters is not uncommon for those with a substantial income. But for lower- or middle-class families, a solar water heater can cost up to four times their monthly income. Yet, if we are to meet the challenge of climate change, then people at all walks of life will need access to reliable supplies of clean energy.

SOLUTIONThe Mediterranean Investment Facility (MIF) is a joint initiative set up by UNEP and the Italian Ministry for Environment Land and Sea (IMELS). It aims to put in place financial mechanisms to support renewable energy and energy-efficiency systems, such as solar water heaters, photovoltaic systems and compact fluorescent lamps, and to ensure their sustainability by strengthening the capacity of local stakeholders. The MIF project is working in Tunisia, Egypt, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Morocco.

IMPACT

More than 200 people have been trained in the installation and maintenance of solar water and photovoltaic systems for homes, hospitals, hotels and sports centres in Egypt, Montenegro and Tunisia. In Egypt, UNEP is also encouraging hotels to install solar water heaters through subsidies, awareness-raising and training workshops.

Workshops and other training activities have allowed project managers to define and design high-quality renewable-energy initiatives. In just two projects, more than 130 square metres of solar collectors have been installed, producing 100,000 kWh of energy a year. A further 100 projects are in the pipeline.

Credit officers at national and commercial banks in Tunisia and Morocco have also received training on green loans for solar water heaters.

ZOOM IN

In Tunisia, under a long-standing MIF project called Prosol, home owners have been encouraged to switch to solar water heaters through a combination of measures, including financial grants, customs duty reductions and reduced interest rates on bank loans.

One of those measures was a system where loan repayments were added to regular electricity bills and collected by the state electricity utility, STEG. This process lowers the risk for banks, which are then willing to offer loans at reduced interest rates for solar water heaters. This was originally a temporary measure designed to help encourage the market for solar water heaters. However, thanks to training provided to bank officers, and to STEG staff in how to collect payments via electricity bills, the Government of Tunisia has made the arrangement permanent. Now, more than 80,000 square metres of solar panels are installed each year by qualified technicians trained under the Prosol programme.

As a result of UNEP’s work in Tunisia, 466,690 people in 133,340 households now have hot water that is heated by the sun. A large number of jobs have been created and more than 1000 companies have installed solar water heating systems.

In addition, UNEP’s activities have led to an important policy change by the Government of Tunisia, which has decided to make solar water heaters eligible for an energy subsidy previously only available to liquefied petroleum gas.

The success of the Prosol project has led to similar approaches in 11 other countries.