Price of ground mounted photovoltaic panels in Thimphu

The project included the installation of Rooftop Solar PV at Centenary Farmer's Market (CFM) and Ground Mounted Solar Panels at Dechencholing in Thimphu. The first phase of the project completed in May-June, last year.

The Dechencholing plant is expected to generate an annual electricity of 835,000 Units (kWHr) and a revenue of Nu 3.8 million. The panels cover a ground area of 1.2 acres. Soon the solar project is going to have a second phase. 500KV ground-mounted and grid-tied Solar PV project at Dechencholing Pema Dechen/Thimphu

Generally, ground-mounted solar panels will cost more to install than an equally sized roof-mounted system. This is partly due to the structure on which the solar panels are installed. A rooftop system is supported by the roof, and the building's structure, meaning erecting a supporting structure is unnecessary.

Ground-mounted solar systems are free-standing structures that support solar panels. Because they can be installed wherever conditions are best for solar power production, they're a great alternative to the traditional roof-mount solar system.

The 500kW ground-mounted project that has been done is done very nominally and has one of the lowest costs at Nu 54,000 per KW. It means that that it was very efficiently made and there was hard work put into it and the completion time of 6 months is also impressive.

The first phase of the project completed in May-June, last year. In total, there are 393 panels at CFM and 784 solar panels at Dechencholing project site, generating approximately, 380000KW hour units in the last 7 months, generating an income of roughly Nu. 2.7 million. One panel can light about 32 light bulbs (of 20watt).