March 15, 2019
The Islamic Republic has begun installing solar panels on the tents of nomads to bring electricity to their encampments.
The Khorasan South Provincial Nomadic Affairs Organization says 30 panels have already been provided to 80 nomadic families in the province. Another 370 families are due to be provided with solar panels by Now Ruz.
Hossain Hossainpur of the Nomadic Organization told the state news agency, “Installing each panel on nomadic tents costs $500 of which $425 is paid by the Energy Ministry.” He said the panels generate enough power so families can have lights inside their tents, watch TV and charge their cellphones.
Nomads were once a huge part of the country’s population, encompassing perhaps as much as one-quarter of residents just a century ago. After decades of efforts to encourage or force settlement, nomads only amount to about 2 percent of the population today.
The government has been emphasizing solar power for isolated communities, calculating that solar power for a small village—and now for nomads—in the middle of nowhere is much cheaper than stringing electrical lines.