Solar energy-report

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Solar Energy


Group Member:
Hong Sang Won [0314661]
Ken Wong Chun Thim [0315534]
Kelvin Yong Chen Yin [0316050]
Course:
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture
Subject:
Environmental Sustainable Design [BLD60203]
Project:
Nature & Us (Report and Poster)

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Contents

Content Page
Number
Introduction 3
1. Renewable Energy - Solar Energy 4
2. Technology of Solar Energy 5
3. Global statistics of solar energy use 5
4. Solar Energy in Germany 6 - 7
5. Potential of Solar energy in Malaysia 8
6. Issues of Solar energy in Malaysia and the Government’s initiatives 10
7. Case Study 12
8. Impact and benefits to Malaysia 13
9. How to improve solar energy usage in Malaysia 13
10. Conclusion 14
11. Reference 15

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Introduction
This research essay covers the overall topic of solar energy as a renewable energy. We will
first introduce what is solar energy and the technologies that revolve around this renewable
energy. Next, the global context is set by showing statistics of solar energy used in other
countries to show how solar energy is on the rise and investigate how they succeeded in
increasing solar energy generation in their country. We will then investigate the potential of solar
energy in Malaysia, initiatives by the government and private sectors, the reason why solar
energy is still not widely used in our country and the possible impacts and benefits of it in our
country. As solar energy is highly related to sustainable built environment, we will tie it back to
architecture as well.

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1. Renewable Energy - Solar Energy
Solar energy simply can be defined as energy provided by the sun’s radiation where the sun is a
very powerful source of energy. It is very important for us to harness and increase the usage of
the solar energy because it is practically emission free while generating electricity so it is an
excellent alternative for traditional energy the fossil fuel like coal and petroleum. Furthermore,
with solar energy the danger of further damage to the environment is minimized as it does not
pollute the environment and it also reduces the pollution of the noise because it does not
produce any noise. Moreover, sunlight can be used to directly generate electricity by the use of
photovoltaic technology and the use of solar cells or photovoltaic arrays is getting more and
more acceptable as an alternative and cost efficient means of generating power.
The advantages of using solar energy are it is clean and is renewable energy which it does not
cause any pollution such as air, land, water, noise and any other pollution that can be named. It
can also be produced free of charge once solar panel is installed and less maintenance needed
to keep solar cells running. Lastly, it greatly reduces the energy expenditures.
The disadvantages of using solar energy is that it is very expensive to buy and install as it costs
twice as much as coal, oil and any other non-renewable energies. The usage of this depends on
the exposure of the sunlight by country and it cannot be produced during the night.



http://egov.eletsonline.com/2012/11/india-malaysia-sign-mou-for-renewable-energy/

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2. Technology of Solar Energy
There are two main types of technology in solar energy which are photovoltaic (PV) and solar
thermal. The photovoltaic is a technology that produces electricity directly from the sun radiation
and it is easily found and operates mainly on residential appliances, commercial equipment,
lighting and air conditioning for all types of building. It can be installed mounting on the ground,
rooftop of a building and it is designed into building materials. Whereas for solar thermal
technology, it uses the energy from the sun to generate heat and from there the electricity is
generated.

3. Global statistics of using solar energy
Table 1.0 Top 10 countries around the world using solar energy in 2010
Table 1.1 Top 10 countries around the world using solar energy in 2014

The above table (1.0 and 1.1) shows the list of top10 countries using solar power in the world
accordance to installed photovoltaic solar (PV) energy capacity. As shown in the table, the
country where it uses the most solar power in the world is Germany with producing 35.5GW
solar energy annually followed by China with 18.3GW, Italy with 17.6GW and more.
Country Amount of Energy(Annual)
1) Germany 9.8 GW
2) Spain 3.4 GW
3) Japan 2.6 GW
4) United States 1.6 GW
5) Italy 1.2 GW
6) Belgium 0.363 GW
7) China 0.305 GW
8) France 0.272 GW
9) Australia 0.125 GW
10) United Kingdom 0.027 GW
Country Amount of Energy(Annual)
1) Germany 35.5 GW (+25.7)
2) China 18.3 GW (+17.995)
3) Italy 17.6 GW (+16.4)
4) Japan 13.6 GW (+11)
5) United States 12.0 GW (+10.4)
6) Spain 5.6 GW (+2.2)
7) France 4.6 GW (+4.328)
8) Australia 3.3 GW (+3.175)
9) Belgium 3 GW (+2.637)
10) United Kingdom 2.9 GW (+2.873)

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4. Solar Energy in Germany
Table 2.0

Table 2.1

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Germany where it uses the most solar energy has been the world’s top photovoltaic installer
and uses the most solar energy in the world (table 2.0), the reason to this by the German is to
create demand that would drive down the cost of solar energy to make them mainstream as an
affordable option which 85 per cent of photovoltaic is on rooftops in Germany now. Because of
this, the German farmers have been enormously benefited providing up to 25 percent of their
income from generating and selling renewable energy to the grid.
Furthermore they have converted 30 percent of their electric grid to renewable energy which are
mostly photovoltaic solar energy with feed-in-tariff. And as to give a boost to the Chinese solar
panel industries because the price of solar panel in china is cheaper compared to the other
countries like US, they have created huge market on solar energy and has increased in
photovoltaic solar panel productivity and lead to dramatic decrease in price (table2.1).
The result of using solar power in Germany, 80 percent of the price for solar has dropped and
zero carbon energy is now compatible with fossil fuel like coal and petroleum. This leads to a
world saving achievement. Other than that as price fall in solar power the subsidies for new
installation have also dropped and it also create more jobs for people to work in the renewable
energy industries than conventional energy industries because Germany’s renewable industries
are getting bigger and bigger each year. The bigger the industry, the more workers needed
(table 2.2).
Table 2.2

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5. Potential of Solar energy in Malaysia










Malaysia is suitable for generating solar energy as it has a suitable places mainly from northern
states in Malaysia to generate solar energy such as Kedah, Penang, Kelantan and Sabah
where it receive the most amount of solar radiation whereas in southern states like Johor and
Sarawak receive the least (table3.1-3.2). The annual average value of solar irradiation in
Malaysia is around 1500 kwH/m^2 which is quite high. To put into perspective, Germany has a
annual solar irradiation of 1055 kwH/m^2. It goes to show how Malaysia can tap into this
resource and if used properly can provide a major benefit to the country. If solar is implemented
in domestic homes, it could be capable of reducing the electricity used by fossil fuel by 19%.

Table 3.1 Table 3.2

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Average Solar Cell Efficiency Calculation
This table shows an example of the potential energy that can be generated from solar panels
and their return from investment with the FiT system.
Region/City

Bayan Lepas Kuching
Solar Radiation of Area
(kWh/m^2)


1,809

1,470
Max amount of energy that can
be taken advantage of by panel
(Efficiency of 15%)

(Solar Radiation of Area x 15%)


271.35 kWh/m^2
(1,809 x 0.15%)


220.50 kWh/m^2
(1,470 x 0.15%)

Sun Hours in a day (hours)
5


5
PV area (m^2)
10


10

Amount of energy produced daily
(kWh/day)

(Energy produced by panel in an
hour every meter square x Sun
hours in a day x PV area)


13.57 kWh

(271.35 kWh/m^2 x 5
hours x 10m^2)

11.03 kWh

(220.50 kWh/m^2 x 5 hours x
10m^2)
Feed-in-Tariff rate as of Jan 2015
(RM/kWh)



RM1.16

RM1.16
Annual revenue (Energy
produced daily x FiT rate x 365
days)

RM5745.53
(13.57 kWh x RM1.16 x
365 days)


RM4670.10
(11.03 kWh x RM1.16 x 365
days)

Average Initial Investment for
installations, etc


~RM47500

~RM47500
Payback Period (Years)
(Initial investment / annual
revenue)



~8 years




~10 years

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The table above shows the comparison between the areas with highest solar irradiation with the
lowest which are Bayan Lepas (highest) and Kuching (lowest). Based on the calculations above,
one can generate a revenue of RM4600 – RM5745. The payback period is between 8 to 10
years as well. The values are fixed to provide a perspective on different areas. This table shows
a very general calculation on the potential of solar energy in Malaysia.
In real life, the calculations may vary according to the efficiency of PV, PV area, installation
costs, FiT rate and sun hours. As a result the payback period may drop to 6 to 7 years. An
average solar panel life is 20 years before they have to be changed or maintained. This is
actually a very good investment as it allows BIPV users to earn passive income after they have
paid off their solar panels. Not only that, this is also environmental friendly as it reduces carbon
emissions.
Besides that, the efficiency of solar panels are expected to increase by 5% in the next few years
and this will cause the payback period to be reduced even more. From this, we can see that
solar energy in Malaysia actually has potential for mass use by its citizens.

6. Issues of Solar energy in Malaysia and the Government’s initiatives
However, there are issues that hinder the boom of solar energy in Malaysia. The sources of
renewable energy in Malaysia such as biomass, biogas, wind and solar to generate electricity is
in very low popularity currently which it only generates less than 1 per cent of the total
generated electricity in Peninsular Malaysia. The most electricity generation capacity in
Malaysia is a natural gas followed by the usage of coal, diesel and other renewable
sources(table 3.0).
Table 3.0

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The main issues with solar energy is most Malaysians are not aware of what and how solar
energy works to generate energy and how it will be beneficial for them once knowing it. The few
initiatives by the government to this are the Malaysian Building Integrated Photovoltaic (MBIPV),
Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) and SURIA 1000.
The government launched SURIA 1000 to establish new market in BIPV and targets the
residential and commercial sector. A number of grid-connected solar PV systems will be put on
auction or bidding through the mass media and this will allow the creation of a sustainable BIPV
market. This market will allow more BIPV to be implemented in offices and residences.
The MBIPV initiative was launched to reduce the costs of BIPV technology in the Malaysian
market to increase the use of the technology in more buildings and reduce the impact
greenhouse gases emission from the Malaysia’s electricity sector. It also aims to produce
awareness in the public on the importance of sustainable building design. Pusat Tenaga
Malaysia’s Zero Energy Office building is one of pilot project that shows the importance of
sustainability and it can be achieved in Malaysia.
The Feed-in-Tariff is initiated to allow electricity produced from various renewable energy
resources to be sold to power utilities at a price. With this incentive, more and more Malaysians
will adopt solar panels and take opportunity of this. It allows the PV industry to have a healthy
and competitive market as the years pass on. This means they will compete to produce more
efficient solar panels to lure in more customers. The prices of solar panels will also decrease as
a result of competition between companies as well. Customers will then be able to get return on
investment faster than before.
The government launched a few initiatives as a response but it seems like it doesn’t yield much
response from the public. It can’t be denied that as the price of solar panels are decreasing by
the year and Malaysians are slowly beginning to adopt solar panels in their homes. However,
the price for installation of solar panels is still a burden to most Malaysians and it is the reason
why solar panel still hasn’t has its spurt yet even though it is slowly being adopted. It is only a
matter of time for the solar energy industry to advance and it will in the coming years when the
efficiency of PV technologies increase and the price of installation of PV systems decrease. The
government’s initiatives in promoting awareness will also affect the growth of solar energy in
Malaysia.

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7. Case Study
The PTM Zero Energy Office is built as a pilot project to promote sustainable building design to
Malaysia. The office uses energy efficient designs and BIPV technologies which placed
Malaysia on the regional map as the first completely self-sustainable building in Southeast Asia.
The building uses both passive and active designs with solar BIPV system. It does not rely on
fossil fuels for energy and rather its own solar BIPV system. There are four different solar BIPV
technologies that make up the system. This office is a great example for Malaysian architects to
design sustainable buildings.

The Menara Mesiniaga building located in SS16 Subang Jaya Malaysia is one of the
sustainable buildings which it uses some of the solar panels to provide back-up energy for
future needs for instance when power failure occur in sudden occasions. Moreover,
approximately 10~20 percent of total energy used in this building is from renewable energy
mainly from solar panels installed on the rooftop trellis which it also functions as to give shade to
the building. Due to this the solar panels will be installed more for better building system in the
future.

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8. Impact and benefits to Malaysia
By taking Germany who is number one in solar energy as a case study, we can project the
impact and benefits of solar energy to Malaysia. Firstly, we will be able to see a growth in
economy and lesser emission of greenhouse gases as we rely less on fossil fuels to generate
electricity. We can reduce our reliance on conventional energy as a main source of energy in
producing electricity and move towards renewable energy. As solar energy becomes more
relevant, there will be more job opportunities in the solar energy industry compared to
conventional energy. Besides that, when the demand of solar energy increases, the price of
installations will decrease as well. This would then result to investment certainty from feed-in-
tariff.

9. How to improve solar energy usage in Malaysia
Solar energy usage in Malaysia can be improved with several ways. First of all, the government
should create awareness in all the citizens of Malaysia of the benefits of using solar energy for
electricity generation. This can be done by advertising the usage of solar panels (photovoltaic)
installed/mounted on rooftops of individual houses and buildings and how it will benefit them in
the future via streaming on television or any online social media. Secondly, since most of the
people in Malaysia are not willing to purchase the reason being the price of installation of each
solar panel (photovoltaic) is very expensive and cannot afford to buy one, the suppliers should
reduce the cost of solar panel (photovoltaic) so that the people can purchase one.

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10. Conclusion
To conclude, solar energy is an energy source which is unlimited supplied by the nature. In
Malaysia where solar irradiation is abundant, we should try to rely more on using renewable
energy such as solar energy. We should try reducing the usage of non-renewable energies
(coal, oil and gas) and we should try our best to rely more on renewable energies. Renewable
energy is very important to us as it provides many advantages such as minimizing the
percentage of global warming and pollution in various types such as air pollution, noise pollution,
water pollution and etc. I strongly encourage everyone to use solar energy as a main electricity
supplier by installing solar panel at home as it would save us from polluting our planet. Although
the solar panels are expensive in units and also in installing fees, the investment will be worth it
if we are patient enough. It is inevitable that the solar industry in Malaysia will improve in the
future. The factors that dictate how fast we can improve is all in our decisions whether we will
accept solar energy as a reliable source of energy.

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