Where can we buy alternative energy devices? - OPINION

People in countries such as Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Spain prefer to use alternative energy rather than electricity in their daily life. In Azerbaijan, this practice is not so widespread. Citizens seem to have no information about the importance of this type of energy, the rules of its utilization, and the availability of necessary equipment to generate alternative power.

Azerbaijan accounts for companies engaged in the production, sale, and installation of alternative energy facilities. We have contacted these companies to learn about the demand for this field and how to get these devices in our country.

Orkhan Guluzade, Business Manager at Helind LLC, a company selling and installing alternative energy devices, told Report that such devices are mainly purchased by state bodies: "We are engaged in both the installation of a system producing alternative energy and the sale of its parts. Alike a simple solar panel, the system, which we install, can follow the sun. It is updated every 15 minutes, and the movement is regulated within this period, which increases efficiency. We have many products, including ten ranges of controllers. We also export our devices. However, we cannot ship the system because we have to install it at the customer's address. We have no such service.

"The alternative energy system has five components. Panels, wind, and water turbines are the sides generating energy. The controller takes energy from here, regulates, and converts it in an invertor accumulator into the energy we use in the household. We don't produce accumulators and panels, but we produce controllers. We'll provide some types of invertor in the future. We produce nearly 25% of the system. The solar panel is purchased from a local firm.

"Our office, storehouse, and production area are located in one place. Orders usually come from the state institutions, since individuals do not know much about it. Therefore, we carry out some PR projects to raise awareness among people. Sometimes we cannot disclose our participation in state projects. We can advertise only services available for individuals who use these devices at farms and in mountainous areas. In cities, our products are usually used at villas. There is no serious demand for these devices in urban areas."

The advantage of the controller is that we can modify our product. At the same time, we can control any problem in the system. For example, if we offer a monitoring service for AZN 500, a foreign company provides this service for $5,000. The advantage of a local product is not only about price. It is also about the availability of the service. There may be specific problems in any imported product after a while. Its repair requires spare parts, which can be delivered in 20 to 30 days. No such problems are encountered with local products. If a customer applies to us for any question, we can immediately react and interfere. Although people complain about prices, companies in Azerbaijan operate at probably the lowest margin. Because Azerbaijan is an oil-rich country, and the electricity is cheaper than the world standards. As a result, we cannot compete with traditional power. Therefore, we sell our products at a low price, set a small margin, and arrange some campaigns."

Head of the Oil Research Center Ilham Shaban said that we have stores selling high-quality panels:

Head of Oil Research Center Ilham Shaban:

"The benefit of alternative energy is that people use it for themselves and sell residual volumes to distributor companies."

"Azerbaijan is working on a bill on the use of alternative energy. The benefit of alternative energy is that people use it for themselves and sell residual volumes to distributor companies. We don't have any legislation in this regard yet. On the other hand, there is no prohibition for people to use it. People can use these devices individually.

"There is a 'Solar' shop in Sadarak Trade Center. It imports China-made panels with the performance rate higher than those produced in Sumgayit. I took an interest in them, as an expert. A number of business facilities, motels, entertainment centers are equipped with such devices. However, they are too expensive. I also wanted to buy one, but I was told that it takes AZN 12,000-15,000 to supply energy to a garden."