One Saturday morning, I was walking to a nearby shop where I saw a few people waiting for the jeep that delivered milk. As they had to cool their heels for a little long, one of these men, initiated the talk on instillation of street lights. I was drawn to their conversation as I was also the one who felt the utter need of it in the locality. Three of these men were strongly advocating the instillation of solar lights and were reiterating their experiences of its utility.

Their experiences left a strong imprint in my mind. While walking home, I started pondering about the reliability and utility aspect of solar energy and decided to study its prospect. I had been underrating solar energy but the facts I came up with raised my eyebrows.

Many countries around the globe are shifting towards  renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass, wave and ocean power and other cleaner energy technologies to reduce carbon emission and dependency on fossil fuels. Bangladesh has become one of the fastest in expanding solar energy in around 3.5 million homes. Similarly, Morocco is developing as a solar super power with the world’s largest solar plant which could produce energy for more than one billion people by 2018.

Most interestingly, solar energy has been providing direct and indirect jobs by renewable energy and energy efficiency sector. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) 2016 estimates that renewable energy sector has directly and indirectly offered myriad job opportunities across the globe.

It further reveals that China leads global employment in renewable energy and has employed around 3.5 million people, exceeding the 2.6 million employed in the country’s oil and gas sector.

The news of Uganda unveiling Africa’s first solar–powered bus and India becoming the first to run Cochin International Airport by solar polar wiped my doubts regarding the reliability and credibility of solar energy.  Since then, I never dared raise any questions about the ‘solar power’.

Well, talking about Nepal, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has provided subsidy scheme on solar panel for domestic and commercial purpose to work on its use of green energy.

A few financial institutions also provide loan facilities for the installation of solar panels for household use. Prospects and rise in the use of solar energy are most beneficial in Nepal as it generates numerous employment opportunities to the rural people.