Ensuring adequate implementation of solar energy for providing environment-friendly energy to the household sector, which can considerably abate pollutants in the environment and make power industry structure sustainable, is necessary for developing countries. Comparison in terms of environmental and cost impacts of renewable energy (hybrid solar system) with non-renewable energy sources, water and planning development authority (WAPDA), and diesel generators (DGs) has been examined in the household sector of Pakistan. Primary data of hybrid solar systems have been obtained from 10 different households segregated them into two categories according to their income as medium-income households (MIHs) and lower income households (LIHs) containing 5 kW and 3 kW of hybrid solar energy systems, respectively. While operating with a hybrid solar energy system instead of a non-renewable energy system, in terms of average generated power and average running load, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be reduced up to 8,446.6 kg CO2 and 6,131.725 kg CO2, respectively, in the next 25 years. Comparison of costs indicated that renewable energy has a comparatively low cost per electric unit. It can pay back its total installation cost in just 8 years and can save a sum of $4,936.4375, along with many more ecological, economic, and societal benefits. Pakistan can efficiently utilize solar energy to relegate CO2 emissions and general costs as it has distinct geographical features to access sunlight in most days of the year.
Keywords: CO2 emissions; Cost analysis; Energy efficiency; Household comparison; Hybrid solar; Renewable energy.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.