Palestine home solar power generation system

In Palestine, the average values of specific PV power production from a reference system, described in Table 2, vary between 1700 and 1765 kWh/kWp for the selected three areas. A maximum value of energy that can be produced in Gaza and in the very southern region of the West Bank is higher than 1800 kWh/kWp.

The Palestinian territory has a high potential for solar power generation, as it receives around 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. As a result, the Palestinian Authority is looking to attract investments in the renewable energy sector. Inauguration of the solar power plant in a school in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem.

Inauguration of the solar power plant in a school in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem. The energy problem in Palestine is one of many issues that affect the social and economic conditions of the Palestinian people. The fact that most of the energy is imported at relatively high prices places more financial burdens on poor and marginalized people.

Electricity supply and demand According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the total electrical energy consumption in Palestine in 2019 was reported to be 5,929.5 GWh. This quantity is almost entirely imported from outside sources, mainly from the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Sources of Electricity in Palestine Based on Yearly Consumption (PCBS 2019). The West Bank is mainly supplied by three 161/33 kV substations: one in the south close to Hebron; another one in the central West Bank, near the town of Salfeet, close to Nablus; and a third in the northern part of Jerusalem.

On average, households spend nearly 34 percent of their income on food and around 8.5 percent on energy (electricity and liquid gas). This reflects the vulnerability of Palestinians, especially the poor and marginal segments, and limits their ability to obtain the energy they need for daily use.