Social Security Corporation going green

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) will soon start the second phase of its photovoltaic solar system project for power generation to reduce its electricity bill, an official said Wednesday.

The project's second phase seeks to install solar panels at the corporation's general administration building after the first phase, which targeted the retirement administration building, concluded.

"The SSC floated a tender for LED energy-efficient light bulbs to replace the existing fluorescent ones, and we will start installing the solar panels in late September," SSC Media Director Musa Sbeihi told The Jordan Times.

He added that the solar system for the project's second phase, which is expected to save the corporation up to JD208,000 annually, will be ready before the end of the year with an operational life of around 25 years.

"The first phase of the project has reduced the seven-floor building's annual electricity bill by JD25,000," Sbeihi said over the phone. 

The decrease in the cost of energy for almost two years will cover the cost of the first phase, which reached JD57,000, he added. 

The official expected the cost of the second phase to reach JD300,000 since the general administration building is larger in area and has 10 floors.

The SSC has been following a "strict strategy" to reduce its energy consumption, Sbeihi said, by turning on only half of the light bulbs, and reducing the hours of air conditioning and central heating. 

"The SSC will carry on with its plan to have green buildings," he said.

All buildings owned by the corporation will be included in the project, Sbeihi added.

Project manager Mohammad Abu Khaled told The Jordan Times that the solar panels used in the first phase covered an area of 340 square metres, while the panels for the second phase will cover around 1,500 square metres.

Abu Khaled urged private and public institutions and households to install photovoltaic solar systems for power generation as part of their national duty to reduce electricity costs.

"A single square metre in Jordan receives an average of 5-7.5 kilowatt per hour," he said, which he described as a "very large" amount of solar power that must be properly utilised.

Additional solar panels can be added to the photovoltaic solar system to achieve higher efficiency, according to Abu Khaled.

Jordan has one of the highest annual daily averages of solar irradiance in the world with an estimated 330 days of sunshine per year.

The Kingdom, which imports about 96 per cent of its energy needs annually, is working to increase reliance on renewable energy to reach 10 per cent of the overall energy mix by 2020.