Solar investment in Georgia is attracting growing interest from businesses and project developers, according to Shine Energy founder Nino Gadelia.

Speaking to Radio Commersant, Gadelia said Georgia has strong solar resources. She also pointed to the relatively short time needed to build and connect a solar plant.

In her view, these factors can make solar projects financially attractive. She estimated that some projects may recover their investment within three to five years.

Why solar attracts investors

Solar plants can usually be built faster than large hydro, wind or thermal projects. As a result, investors may begin generating electricity and revenue sooner.

However, the economics vary from project to project. Equipment costs, financing terms, grid access and site conditions all affect the final result. The share of electricity used directly by the customer is also important.

For that reason, the payback period cited by Gadelia should be read as a market estimate. It is not a guaranteed return for every solar installation.

Net billing changes project design

Gadelia also discussed the role of Georgia’s net-metering programme. She said the programme helped distributed solar gain wider recognition among businesses and other consumers.

The later move toward net billing changed the commercial logic of many projects. Under this approach, customers gain more value when solar production closely matches their own electricity use.

Therefore, businesses need better data on when they consume power. Hourly consumption profiles can help them choose the right system size and avoid unnecessary exports to the grid.

This information may become even more useful as Georgia develops organised electricity trading. Companies that understand their load patterns will be better prepared for hourly prices and new market arrangements.

The next stage of Georgia’s distributed solar market may depend less on simple capacity growth. Better project design, consumption analysis and energy management are likely to become equally important. For EPC companies, this creates a more advisory role. They will need to analyse customer demand before recommending capacity. They may also combine solar with monitoring software, storage or other tools that improve on-site use.

The article is based on comments by Nino Gadelia, founder of Shine Energy, published by Commersant.