The utility and feasibility of thermal solar panels is not any longer a novelty in Albania. At the same time Albania has the lowest income per capita in Europe with 22 percent of the total household incomes spent on electricity bills. Corporate, technical and non-technical losses (abusive interventions in the network) account for 35 per cent of the supplies, or 56 per cent of the domestic electricity production.
Thethi village suffers greatly due to very bad electricity supply. At the present the village is supplied by a small hydroelectric power station that is in very bad technical conditions. Frequently the electricity supply is absent at all and there have been recent cases that last year when the whole village did not have electricity for about 1 month in the high tourist season. Due to the increased load in the summer season, the voltage and frequency fluctuate wildly causing damage on the electric appliances.Fire wood burning and petrol generators are used to compensate. It is our understanding that the greatest contributor to the load on the system during the summer are the electric water heaters used for showers. Solar thermal units are expected to lower the load in the system and save money to their users.
This project is parallel funded by TICOS (http://www.ticos.co.uk) and targets the tourist hosting facilities in Thethi and Llogora National Park. SGP will fund installation of solar panels in the Thethi NP, only.