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

Welcometo the website of the first grid-connected photovoltaic system of Singapore

On March 24, 2006 the first grid-connected system of Singapore was inaugurated in line with a celebratory opening ceremony under attendance of numerous national and foreign VIPs. Crowned through a student featured supporting programme, this grid-connected system, on the roof of the german-european school, started operating.

With a peak capacity of 14.48 kWp and an estimated annual yield of 19,000 kWh, the solar system will serve as a flagship initiative for the sunshine-rich region south-east-asia.

“Singapore is an important stepping stone for innovative technologys and market developments” is what Olaf Fleck, managing director of SUNSET Energietechnik said. “With our solar roof we will show the potential user in the region, what solar energy made in Germany can achieve”.

Singapore is on the way to the solar age. The solar roof is another big move to it.

This system has arisen as joint-venture of SUNSET Energietechnik with the german energy-agency (dena), in line with the solar roof program for the foreign market development.

Grid-connected system technical details

Thermal hot water system

 from: http://www.solarroof-singapore.com/en/index.html

Solar energy takes on a new shine in Singapore

By Jessica CheamMORE than a decade ago, a business consultant suggested that the street lights, walkways, parks and common areas in Housing Board estates be powered by solar energy. For the bold ‘green’ idea he submitted for a contest, Mr Joseph Wee, 31, won $1,000. Petrol company BP, intrigued by his vision, dangled $40,000 before the universities for scientists to research ways of making it a reality.

But the hype fizzled out.

In the years that followed, Singapore’s potential as a base for a thriving solar industry was brought up in public debate time and again, only to be dismissed each time. ‘Too much cloud cover’ and ‘too expensive’ were cited as reasons.

But today, the word ‘solar’ has taken on a new shine. The Government has given it a stamp of approval, and has pumped money – to the tune of $170 million – into research and development, specifically on solar technology.

The big-picture goal now goes far beyond just being ‘green’: By growing a whole new solar energy sector, Singapore will be able to attract global talent and technology here to help power a $1.7 billion clean-energy industry by 2015 – and create 7,000 new jobs along the way.

The bright prospects stem from the tumbling costs of solar technology in recent years.

Mr Christophe Inglin, managing director of solar systems integrator Phoenix Solar’s Asia-Pacific office, said the explosion in German solar technology – the country is among the world leaders in the field – has brought this about.

National Research Foundation chairman Tony Tan’s recent trip to leading clean-energy institutions in Europe was a clear signal of how seriously the Government was viewing the potential of the solar-energy industry.

Dr Tan noted at the close of his trip that the industry was achieving ‘grid-parity’ – meaning that it would soon be as cost-efficient to generate electricity from the sun as it is from the conventional way of burning fossil fuels.

Falling costs of solar technology aside, another factor hastening the development of this industry here is the high cost of oil, which, together with gas, are Singapore’s main sources of energy.

Burning expensive fossil fuels like these becomes even more unattractive when one considers that it raises global levels of carbon emissions, the devil behind global warming and climate change.

Singapore recently set a target to reduce its carbon intensity – the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per GDP dollar – by 25 per cent by 2012 compared to 1990 levels.

The final lure of solar energy lies in the money to be made.

Leading US research firm Clean Edge has reported quick growth in the global clean energy market, with annual revenues climbing from $40 billion in 2005 to $55 billion last year. This is projected to hit $226 billion by 2016.

The market for solar photovoltaics – the science of converting sunlight into electricity – is projected to grow from last year’s $15.6 billion to $69.3 billion by 2016.

Another good reason for going into solar energy is that consumers are ready for it.

Mr Joseph Wee may have been a man ahead of his time, but an eco-friendly conscience is catching on now.

And people are now more able to afford clean technologies, with prices being driven down by competition. A 1 sq m solar panel capable of generating 100 to 140W of power now costs between $750 and $1,100, with the cost depending on how it is installed – a big drop from the past. But this will fall further, said Mr Amiram Roth-Deblon, business development manager for German solar firm Suntechnics’ Asia Pacific office.

Regionally, the market is growing. Even as Germany, the United States and Japan pull ahead in solar technology, Malaysia has attracted US-based solar firm First Solar to its shores. A 200-megawatt capacity solar-module manufacturing plant, to be completed by this year, will help lower prices in Asia. In Seoul, the world’s largest solar power plant, which will be able to generate enough power for 6,000 households in a year, will be completed by next year.

Does Singapore have what it takes to succeed? About 20 home-grown and foreign solar firms are already based here, not including many others in the more specialised field of solar thermal systems, which use the sun to heat up water.

The managing director of local R&D firm Solar2D, Mr Derek Djeu, believes that as a research test-bed and regional base, the Republic remains an attractive destination. Mr Djeu, who is developing a solar-power efficiency booster – which maximises the amount of sunlight a solar module can absorb – said he has received strong support from the Economic Development Board and local educational institutes.

But the real challenge for Singapore is not just in attracting talent for research, but in creating a local market.

Phoenix Solar’s Mr Inglin said: ‘Local companies must develop the expertise needed in installing solar systems. Without local business opportunities, we will not attract enough talent.’

It will not do to leave this to the private sector alone. Government incentives and policy changes will be necessary, say those in the field.

Germany’s phenomenal growth in the field, for example, was primarily powered by a government programme of subsidies to encourage the adoption of solar systems.

Besides incentives, legislative changes can also help. Changes can be made to building codes, or laws can be enacted to make solar hot water systems mandatory, suggested Mr Roth-Deblon.

The Singapore Government is now considering a policy that pays users of solar energy for feeding their surplus power back to the grid.

Changes like this take time. Mr K. E. Raghunathan, an Indian national who recently set up a solar module manufacturing plant in Tuas, said: ‘Public awareness only comes if people can see, feel and touch the technology.’

Surprised by the lack of solar products in the market here, Mr Raghunathan, chairman of Eco-Solar Technologies, has given himself the job of ‘bringing solar to the people’.

It will not be long before Singaporeans will be able to buy Eco-Solar’s solar-powered fans, light fixtures, sign boards, torch lights, and even mobile phone chargers at petrol kiosks.

‘There is great potential here. And we have the advantage of knowing what has worked, and what has not, in other countries,’ he said. Mr Inglin agreed: ‘Singapore does not have to start from scratch. We can catch up by adopting the more successful strategies.’

Singapore’s attitude towards solar power may have had a tentative start, but the consensus now is that it will dig in. Mr Inglin said: ‘Let’s just hope it will not take another 10 years to see some results.’

 Straits Times 6 Jun 07

 April 21, 2007
S’pore Grid To Buy Surplus Solar Power
Policy change one of several planned to boost clean energy sector
By Tania Tan
Straits Times

Zhao Chen