under the sun

ZURICH – FEEDING excess electricity generated from the sun back into Singapore’s power grid will soon be allowed – and bring financial compensation to boot.

In an about-turn from the current rules, companies in Singapore which produce more solar power than they can use can sell their surplus back to the national grid.

It is one of a number of policy changes and perks that the Economic Development Board (EDB) will be rolling out over the next few months, said Mr Kenneth Tan, who heads the board’s team overseeing the growth of Singapore’s clean energy sector.

More details will be available soon. The move is a double bonus: It encourages the use of solar energy, and fans market demand for it. Power harnessed from the sun will spearhead the Government’s push for clean energy.

This new direction is why National Research Foundation chairman Tony Tan has spent the last week leading a 20-man delegation on a study trip to Europe.

During the trip, the team dropped in on leading institutions in the water technology and clean-energy industries.

Seven organisations, five cities and three countries later, Dr Tan sounded optimistic about Singapore’s prospects in these two areas.

Giving reporters a roundup of the trip at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue overlooking Lake Zurich, Dr Tan also announced plans to tap Swiss expertise in clean energy.

This may be done with the setting up of a research institute in Singapore.

A formal proposal for a global environmental sustainability research institute will be submitted this June by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, one of the agencies the Singapore delegation visited.

Dr Tan said: ‘A centre like this will show the world that we are making a serious commitment to excelling in this field.’

Asked what key lesson he picked up on the trip, he named the need to address Singapore’s shortage of skilled manpower for the clean-energy industry.

Having enough such workers was core to attracting overseas investments, he said.

On the cards, therefore, are plans to set up training centres where workers can relearn skills relevant to the industry, such the production of solar panels.

Dr Tan added: ‘The industry is not just for researchers and engineers.

‘We need skilled technicians and workers too.’

The green industry was also where high wages were paid, he said, so ‘Singaporeans should take advantage of that’.

Identified as one of the key pillars of Singapore’s economic development, the combined water and clean-energy industries are expected to contribute $3.4 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product and provide 18,000 jobs by 2015.

With a $500 million purse from the National Research Foundation, Dr Tan said he would be surprised if those targets were not surpassed.

Singapore, with its expertise in wafer fabrication, chemical engineering and manufacturing, had a solid foundation, he noted.

‘We have the ingredients to make this sector a big success. I think we are in for a golden age.’

 The landscape in the Bukit Timah green belt has developed a shiny spot.

Sunny Singapore is now looking into tapping solar energy to power our supply and it is working with the notoriously environmentally-conscious Germans to do it.

Covering the roof of the German European School Singapore at Bukit Tinggi Road, the large flat sheets are expected to harness enough solar energy per annum to power about nine HDB households for a year.

The Solar Roof Project Singapore involved coordination between the private and public sectors of both countries. It is a pilot initiative, in which 100 solar panels are generating 19,000 kWh annually. The electricity is being fed back into the electricity grid and distributed to other users when the school is not using it.

The technology, called Grid Connecting Systems, connects a solar photovoltaic system to the building to harness energy from the sun’s radiation. The energy is channelled into Singapore’s total power supply and distributed to other users when the school is not utilising it.

The project is an important contributor to exploring into potential and new renewable energy sources.

“This project will help us to assess the feasibility of grid-connected systems in Singapore, the impact on the energy market, the laws governing the use and sale of solar energy, and the positive environmental outcomes it will bring,” said Assoc Prof Koo Tsai Kee, Senior Parliament Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, at the launch of the Solar Roof Project Singapore.

This project was financed by a public-private partnership between the German Federal Energy Agency which aims to promote German solar technology and a German solar technology company, Sunset Energietechnik Gmbh.

references: http://www.nea.gov.sg/ar06/02SideSun.html

Zhao Chen