Thousands of solar street lights installed some seven years ago in the Kathmandu Metropolitan City are being replaced with electric lights.

According to the City office, over 1,000 solar street lights installed in the metropolis have already been replaced with ‘smart’ electric street lights and an equal number of remaining solar street lights will be replaced within the next two months.

“Replacing solar street lights with smart electric street lights is the joint project of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Nepal Electricity Authority,” said Padam Raj Poudel, an electrical engineer at the metropolis. “We will complete the installation of electric lights within the next two months.”

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development had allocated a budget to various local bodies throughout the country to install solar-powered street lights some seven years ago. Over 50,000 solar lights were installed throughout the country at the time.

Authorities concerned hoped that the solar lights would be economical in the long run, even if the initial investment for installing them costs higher, and also reduce the electricity tariff.

Officials at the Kathmandu metropolis, however, said that along with advantages, solar lights also have its drawbacks—limited brightness, limited battery life and need to clean up the panel frequently due to excessive dust during the dry season.

“Solar street lights were installed about six to seven years ago and most of them had stopped illuminating the city,” said Dhurba Kafle, an official at the metropolis. “The metropolis has to either change the battery of solar lights and keep cleaning up the panels regularly or to replace them with electric lights. We choose the second option.”

Officials say as much as Rs110 million has been allocated to replace the solar lights with electric lights in the metropolis. Electric bulbs of 90 and 120 watt capacities are being installed in the poles of solar lights. KMC officials said that the capacity of bulbs being installed depends on the width of the roads.

“At the time when solar street lights were installed, we had scarcity of electricity. But we have sufficient electricity now,” Poudel said. “We will have a central control system for smart electric street lights. We can increase and reduce the brightness of the lights, turn them on and off from the control room.”