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  Business Times 16 May 07
Solar energy can power chunk of S'pore's needs
By Matthew Phan

Straits Times Forum 15 May 07
The sun rises on S'pore's solar industry
Landmark buildings may go solar; NUS in talks on research, teaching centre
By Jessica Cheam

THE solar industry is shaping up as a sunrise one. Landmark buildings - and there are so many on this sun-drenched island - may soon sport solar panels that do double duty as roofs.

Solar-energy architects here are pushing for more than just solar panels slapped atop buildings to turn sunlight into electricity: They want to make what are called photovoltaic panels an intrinsic part of the structure and design of buildings like MRT stations.

The architecture department of the National University of Singapore (NUS) is now in talks with the Economic Development Board (EDB) to set up a research and teaching centre to promote the concept.

Details of the Building Integrated PhotoVoltaics (BIPV) Centre have not been finalised, but it is likely to be the first architecture-driven BIPV centre in Asia, said Assistant Professor Stephen Wittkopf of NUS.

The Straits Times understands that the centre, likely to be run by NUS, will also offer specialised programmes for students and eventually, for professionals, to get a qualification in BIPV.

BIPV could be the next big thing here, given that National Research Foundation chairman Tony Tan recently declared clean energy - and especially solar energy - as a likely major engine of Singapore's growth by 2015.

Singapore's thrust into clean energy received an infusion of $170 million from the Government recently as part of a larger $350 million fund set aside for the Republic's green-energy drive.

Prof Wittkopf said that, with Singapore buildings being chock-a-block and the island's location on the sun belt, it made sense to explore this technology.

Research on 'solar architecture' is already under way. NUS' architecture department has been looking into how feasible it will be to apply this technology to selected buildings like Ang Mo Kio MRT station, the Environment Building in Scotts Road and the Poh Ern Shih Temple in Pasir Panjang.

How efficient is BIPV? It is estimated that a system comprising 2,900 sq m of solar panels - the size of almost half a football field - can generate enough electricity to power about 100 three-room Housing Board flats. This is the reckoning of Ms Huang Yi Xiang, 25, who is working towards a master's degree in architecture at NUS.

She designed a 280 kilowatt-peak system for the Ang Mo Kio MRT station. A kilowatt-peak is a measure of the amount of electricity produced under defined conditions.

Developing manpower and expertise in the technology is crucial if it is to take off here, stressed Prof Wittkopf. He hopes the BIPV centre will do its bit to groom local talent for the solar industry.

He said: 'Seeing is believing. If people see these panels around them, it creates public awareness and acceptance, which will help create a future demand, and bring prices down to a competitive level.'

Price is a major dampener on the adoption of solar technology, and this is where the Government can step in, suggested Mr Christophe Inglin, who chairs the Renewable Energy Committee of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore.

He added that BIPV was especially appropriate in Singapore, which cannot spare land for solar plants.

EDB said it was unable to comment further on the BIPV Centre but confirmed that it was 'in talks with NUS to raise the level of R&D in the area of clean energy'.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) also confirmed that it was in discussion with EDB and NUS and would release more details on the showcase project soon. jcheam@sph.com.sg


Business Times 16 May 07
Solar energy can power chunk of S'pore's needs
By Matthew Phan

THERE is enough roof-space in Singapore to house several gigawatts worth of solar cell capacity, creating enough electrical power to supply much of the country's energy, say proponents of this alternative energy source.

They estimate that there are 100 sq km of suitable space for photovoltaics, which could turn out 10 gigawatts of electricity. At present, Singapore produces less than 200 kilowatts using this system.

Ten gigawatts is equivalent to more than a third of the electricity used in Singapore in 2005, Christophe Inglin, managing director of Asia-Pacific for solar system integrator Phoenix Solar, said yesterday at a symposium of Singaporean and German renewable energy firms.

Others in the industry back him up.

In a separate interview, Jorg Walberer, regional managing director of SolarWorld, a solar cell manufacturer, said that HDB apartment blocks alone could provide more than 400 megawatts of solar power capacity, given that there are more than 8,000 buildings each with about 500 sq m of available roof space, enough for some 50 KW of capacity.

Having solar modules installed on every block of flats may sound rather far-fetched, but with the recent announcement of Treetops@Punggol, the first HDB precinct dedicated to using 'green' architecture, the government has already started to test out such technology on public buildings.

One North, a high-tech commercial development near Buona Vista, will have a smart micro-grid to facilitate test-bedding without disruption to the main electricity grid, said Goh Chee Kiong, head of the Clean Energy unit at the Economic Development Board.

Another site is the planned Gardens by the Bay at Marina Bay - Singapore's equivalent of New York's Central Park, said Mr Goh - where the National Parks Board plans to allow clean energy projects like solar modules or wind turbines to be set up.

Universities, polytechnics and research institutes are other obvious choices for test-bedding.

Much research still has to be done, especially in the area of energy storage, said Mr Inglin. Use of solar modules can reduce the amount of conventional energy needed at peak hours during the daytime.

But after accounting for this, energy use still peaks in the evening, during which the sun sets and people get home from work. Widespread use of batteries that store energy during the night for use during day-time peak periods could even out energy demand, and reduce the capacity needed at traditional power generators, Mr Inglin said.

But industry development will not come cheap. The supply of sunlight might be free, but it costs a lot to install and maintain the equipment to harness its power.

Mr Walberer said that in Korea, for example, the government has promised to pay solar generators over 70 US cents per KWh (kilowatt hour) to feed electricity to the grid, in order to achieve its target of 1.3 GW worth of solar capacity installed by 2011, up from less than 50 MW today.

The Singapore government is also discussing the use of compensation, said Mr Walberer, who noted that industry incentives could cost billions of dollars over a few years.

In the largest subsidy programme of its kind in Europe, Germany has budgeted about 213 million euros (S$438 million) this year as incentives for renewable energy, including wind, solar, biomass and geothermal sources.

Yet despite Germany being the world's largest market for solar energy, the sun provided only 3 per cent of its renewable energy in 2006, or 5.4 terawatt hours worth of power. Biomass accounted for the largest proportion by far, or 130 TWh, followed by wind and hydropower.
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