Each Dominican roof should produce at least 1 KW of energy: Expert

Santo Domingo.- Business consultant Federico Castillo on Wednesdaycalled on the Dominican Republic to take advantage of the local climate’s benefits,since much of its electricity should come from the sun. "It’scounterproductive to have a climate with raw solar energy throughout the year,where we aren’t taking advantage of this condition."

He said every roof in the Dominican Republic should be ableto produce at least 1 kilowatt of clean energy. "We depend on oil forenergy. Our oil, ought to be the sun. There are other countries, such as CostaRica, where 90% of its electricity generation is based on renewable energy. Whydon’t we look to there?”

There must be a public-private agreement, Castillo noted, tospur production of solar panels to lower their price. “All technology when it’snotmassive is expensive and that’s why the government should encourage production,through effective incentives.”

"We need to have productive ceilings, is how we call thisinitiative to start motivating businesses, families that can generate solarenergy from their facilities," Castillo said interviewed on the Tribunalde la Tarde radio program

He said while today’s cheap oil has helped lower the energybill, “that can change at any time. Yes, we have cheap oil, we have PetroCaribe(Venezuela oil deal), but that can vary. As a country you must be prepared todeal with things that don’t depend on you."