Tuesday July 8, 2008
Powered by the sun
Solar power is lighting up neighbourhoods in The Netherlands. Will the same happen here?
Stories by TAN CHENG LI
THE rows of terrace houses and bungalows look like any other urban neighbourhoods in The Netherlands save for one thing: glassy panels on the roofs. These are photovoltaic (PV) cells capable of turning solar radiation into electricity.
I am at Stad van de Zon (City of the Sun), about 40km from Amsterdam in the northern region of The Netherlands, so named not only because it sits on the sunniest spot of the country, but because the homes here are powered by solar energy. I am with a group comprising the top bosses of four Malaysian housing developers, an architect, an engineer, and staff of the Malaysian Energy Centre, on a study tour of solar townships in The Netherlands.
At each site that we visited, we marvelled at the solar communities. Some, being “social houses” for the poorer sections of Dutch society, are just basic link houses. Others are luxurious bungalows that open up to lakes and canals. PV cells are either mounted on rooftops or form the roof itself.
The cells add to the aesthetics of the homes and generate solar power at the same time. – Pics by TAN CHENG LI / The Star In these neighbourhoods, we got a glimpse of the future. Just imagine: If all dwellings were to be outfitted with PV cells, we would be able to ward off the ills of global warming, a result of our reliance on electricity sourced from coal and oil.
Homes powered by solar energy have become an everyday reality in Europe, the United States and Japan. PV technology has transformed these abodes into mini power stations that feed electricity to the grid.
When construction of City of the Sun is complete at year’s end, it will have some 14,000 homes lit and powered by solar energy; hence its claim as the world’s largest PV housing project. The 5megawatt peak (MWp) scheme is sprawled over three municipalities in the province of North Holland: Heerhugo-waard (3.6MWp), Alkmaar (1MWp) and Langedijk (0.4MWp), an area collectively known as the HAL region.
Cees Bakker, formerly the project manager of City of the Sun, says the scheme was driven by support for clean energy and enthusiasm to reduce energy costs. He says the North Holland province and three municipalities sought a sustainable urban development that offers high quality buildings and standard of living and above all, is carbon-neutral.
“So the homes have to be energy-efficient to reduce energy needs and be powered by renewable energy,” says Bakker during a briefing for the Malaysian visitors.
But it took years before the project, mooted in 1993, became a reality because of the many parties involved and funding hurdles. Subsidies were obtained from the European Commission, power company Nuon and both provincial and federal governments. The project stalled when the Dutch Government suddenly withdrew subsidies in 2004 but this has since been reintroduced.
Photovoltaic cells form the roofs of these bungalows in Langedijk, and are mounted on these homes in Heerhugowaard (pic below), in The Netherlands. In Heerhugowaard and Alkmaar, house owners paid a subsidised price for the PV systems. In Langedijk, on the other hand, the PV systems were funded and owned by a power company.
Not ready for solar
But whole neighbourhoods lit up by solar energy remain a distant reality for Malaysia. Though impressed with the Dutch solar townships, the group of Malaysian housing developers are sceptical that solar energy will reach the masses in Malaysia, in the absence of financial support from the government. All cite the prohibitive cost of PV systems. A 4kilowatt peak (KWp) PV system typically needed for a house will cost about RM112,000.
Nevertheless, three of the developers are testing the water with a small number of PV-equipped homes. The developers note that in Europe, PV housing schemes relied heavily on government subsidies and support. The Dutch Government, for instance, capped prices at Euro4.50 (RM23) per watt peak to make PV systems affordable. In Germany and Thailand, a national law permits individuals to produce renewable energy and sell that to utilities at above-tariff prices.
The Malaysian developers are all for higher tariffs for clean and renewable energy. Now, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) pays normal electricity tariff for solar power fed to the grid.
“A higher tariff will make it attractive to invest in PV systems,” says SP Setia chief executive officer Koe Peng Kang. He says a payback period for investment in PV technology of eight years would make their installation feasible, but now, it is 25 to 30 years.
“Environment always has a cost. You either pay now to protect it or you suffer later from environmental degradation.”
For Mohamed Suffian Johari, vice-president II of Sime Darby Property, solar energy should logically be priced higher since it is clean energy. “It cannot be the same as normal electricity which is sourced from coal, gas or oil,” he argues. Environmental benefits aside, he says, for the extra cost incurred by PV systems, developers could build bigger houses or improve the finishing.
Suffian believes promotion of solar energy has to be the collective effort of the government, local authorities and the private sector since its advantages would benefit everyone. He says the government must have a policy on solar energy, and local authorities could offer incentives such as reduced assessment for “green” homes.
Putrajaya Perdana chief operating officer Mak Hong Seng says growth in use of solar cells very much depended on governmental policies that help finance purchases of PV systems, offer tax rebates, lower duties and give higher buy-back tariffs.
“We should encourage clean energy even more now, with the withdrawal of oil subsidies and rising energy prices,” he says.
Mak suggests that polluters contribute to a special fund to finance renewable energy. “TNB should play a role because when house owners produce solar energy, they supplement the TNB power supply at a time when demand is highest. This reduces TNB’s investment cost as it need not put up new installations. It also curbs wastage as the electricity is produced at source.”
In this regard, TNB could emulate the steps of Dutch power companies, which are leading parties in the PV drive and even pay for and own the PV systems installed in residential homes.
Malaysia should draw upon the many examples worldwide in its endeavour to go down the solar path. In the United States, some states require clean energy sources to constitute a certain percentage of a utility’s energy portfolio. Spain made PV investment tax-deductible for house owners and housing developers. Japan initially subsidised 50% of the cost of PV systems but later introduced feed-in tariffs and low interest rate on loans for PV products.
With this kind of clear policies, legislations and incentives, solar power and other kinds of clean and renewable energy might well reach the masses.
Related Story:
Solar homes for Malaysia
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