Field progress briefing

Bhutan school PV visits show strong potential, with roof condition and hot-water demand becoming the key design signals.

Around half of the 40 schools have now been visited. The team is prioritizing fieldwork before rain and road disruption, so the written data trail is lagging behind site observations.

20 schools visited so far

20 schools still remaining

4.6 MWp gross potential reported so far

2.6 MWp after excluding N / NE / NW roofs

Field Progress

Western route complete

Visit completion is roughly halfway through the school list.

20 schools done 20 remaining

Data entry is behind because field visits are currently the operational priority before monsoon rain and road access issues.

Completed western Dzongkhags

Current update confirms completion of the western Dzongkhag cluster.

Chhukha

Thimphu

Haa

Samtse

Fieldwork ahead of forms Eastern schools more dispersed

PV Potential

Strong overall signal

Interim capacity signal

4,600 kWp reported potential so far

2,600 kWp after excluding north-facing roof planes

Gross reported

4.6 MWp

Usable orientation filter

2.6 MWp

Planning allowance

~70%

Planning interpretation

Phubtsho suggests applying roughly 70% to each school-level total solar potential as a practical planning factor.

PV potential looks good overall across the visited schools.
North, north-east, and north-west roof planes should be excluded from the near-term technical estimate.
The final technical estimate should wait for data-entry reconciliation, roof orientation checks, and structural screening.

Building Suitability

Roof readiness is the main constraint

Building group	Likely PV readiness	Design implication
Very old or small buildings	Generally not usable for PV mounting.	Exclude from school-level installable area unless there is a special case with confirmed structural condition.
Medium-age buildings	Often plausible, especially early 2000s buildings, but not installation-ready by default.	Carry as conditional PV candidates pending roof-sheet and support checks.
Humidity-affected timber structures	Potentially vulnerable where purlins, rafters, or timber members are degraded.	Flag for structural confirmation and possible timber replacement before PV installation.

Roof sheet replacement

Common requirement before PV mounting on otherwise promising buildings.

Purlin / rafter support

Medium-age buildings may need support strengthening to carry PV safely.

Timber replacement

Humidity damage can move a building from suitable to conditional or excluded.

Repeated Demand: Solar Water Heating

Schools are asking beyond PV generation

Where schools want hot water

Kitchens cooking and meal preparation demand

Hostels showers and student accommodation

Current systems appear inefficient or unreliable

Large three-phase cookers with high electricity use.
Slow heating that does not match operational needs.
Some schools still rely on firewood for hot water or cooking-related heat.

Thermal load signal May require scope decision

Scope Signals To Track

Useful, but partly outside baseline

PV + battery backup

Schools are asking for night lighting and backup. Treat as a separate option unless the baseline scope is expanded.

Campus / street lighting

Repeated demand exists, but it should be clearly distinguished from rooftop PV system sizing.

Data-entry lag

The narrative update is strong enough for briefing, but final numbers should be locked only after field sheets are entered.