Why are Syrians using solar panels?

Cut off from the power grid and with fuel costs soaring, Syrians in a poor, embattled enclave have turned en masse to solar panels to charge their phones and light their homes and tents. Solar panels covering rooftops, some of which have been damaged in government attacks, in Binnish, Syria.

Where are solar panels located in Syria?

Solar panels, big and small, old and new, are seemingly everywhere in Idlib Province along Syria’s border with Turkey, rigged up in twos and threes on the roofs and balconies of apartment buildings, perched atop refugee tents and mounted near farms and factories on huge platforms that rotate to follow the sun across the sky.

Is there a solar revolution in Syria?

An unlikely solar revolution of sorts has taken off in an embattled, rebel-controlled pocket of northwestern Syria, where large numbers of people whose lives have been upended by the country’s 10-year-old civil war have embraced the sun’s energy simply because it is the cheapest source of electricity around.

Can solar power power crops in Hasakeh?

In his village of Al-Haddadiya in Hasakeh province, farmers are using solar energy to power irrigation systems for all kinds of crops, from vegetables to wheat, barley and cotton. The father of three said he needs a reliable power supply to pump groundwater around 60 metres deep (nearly 200 feet) now -- compared to just 30 metres a few years back.

How many solar panels are there in Al-Haddadiya?

Around 10 kilometres (six miles) from Al-Haddadiya, farmer Hamid al-Awda began using solar power six years ago. He has now installed 272 solar panels across his vast farmlands. "Most people started selling their generators and replacing them with solar energy," said Awda, 60.

How much does a barrel of fuel cost in Syria?

By the time the Islamic State lost its last patch of territory in Syria in 2019, the northwest was importing fuel from Turkey that was much purer but cost more than twice as much, now about $150 for a 58-gallon barrel of Turkish diesel, compared with $60 for a barrel from eastern Syria a few years ago.