Business manager Jeremy Goh has never given much thought to his electricity usage. That was, until the bill for June arrived.
It proved to be the turning point, having soared to RM225, some 80 per cent more than before.
Goh, the single occupant of a double-storey link house in Shah Alam, Selangor, makes up part of the 25 per cent of Malaysian households affected by the recent tariff hike.
As this top tier of energy users — 1.54 million households, which chalk up over 300 kilowatt hour of monthly usage each — dig deeper into their pockets, over a hundred others are thanking their lucky stars, or rather one particular one — the sun.
These are owners of residential and commercial buildings installed with solar panels to generate power via the photovoltaic (PV) system.
Malacca-based Harry Boswell and Stephanie Bacon, who had their house installed with PV in October 2007, saved more than RM12,000 in 2008.
The system is currently providing 77 per cent of their total electricity demand, which includes 24-hour air conditioning.
The couple were among the first batch of applicants under the SURIA 1000 programme, introduced by the government in 2006 to encourage the public to take up the generation of power through the PV system.
Under the programme, building owners bid for a limited number of grid-connected solar PV systems. Costs were borne by the successful bidders at the bidding price and supplemented by the project.
The Boswells paid RM55,000 or 44 per cent of the total cost. The rest — RM70,000 — was funded by the project.
SURIA 1000 — which has equipped over 60 buildings with PV panels — is one of the success stories of the Malaysian Building Integrated Photovoltaic Project (MBIPV).
Established over five years at a cost of RM88 million under the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, the MBIPV was aimed at developing solar energy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through building application.
It was a partnership between the Malaysian government and the United Nations Development Programme, with funding coming from the government, Global Environment Facility and private sector.
One of its objectives was to reduce the long-term cost of the technology through developing a sustainable market. To be exact, the reduction in the cost per unit of the solar PV system was targeted at 20 per cent.
But, despite availability of the technology and Malaysia being a nation blessed with endless sunshine, the take-up rate of solar power generation has been slow in the past — an often-quoted reason has been the high cost.
But Ahmad Hadri Haris, former national project leader for MBIPV, argues: “PV is expensive if compared to bricks. But a lot of offices use steel cladding as roofing, and a lower-end PV is about the same price as the standard steel cladding.”
Prior to the project, the unit cost in 2004 was RM31,000 unit per kilowatt. To slash it by 20 per cent, MBIPV’s target was RM25,000 unit per kilowatt.
Over five years of the project, the cost reduction happened gradually, but by June 2010, it was 39 per cent, almost double the intended target.
Solar power, says Hadri, is the fastest growing technology in the world. Its cost has reduced tremendously over the years.
The second main objective of the project was to increase building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) capacity by 330 per cent against a baseline of 468 kilowatt of installed capacity in the country.
“Having to meet a 330 per cent target means we had to have 1,544 kilowatt by the end of the project.
“But we managed to achieve a 439 per cent increase — in June, we had 2,530 kilowatt of installed capacity,” says Hadri.
Since 1999, there have been 120 PV system installations in the country, the bulk of which came in after 2006 as a result of MBIPV’s demonstration projects and SURIA 1000 awards.
Across the country, a healthy mix of structures host solar panels on their rooftops now — from schools, universities, government and corporate buildings to private houses, developer’s show units, malls, hotels and clubhouses.
While most are under the national PV project, some were carried out on the building owners’ own initiative.
The Boswells say it makes a lot of sense for Malaysia to pursue solar energy.
“Malaysia, with its abundance of sunshine, should concentrate on solar power, as it delivers maximum generation exactly when you need air conditioning — at the hottest part of the day.”
As the MBIPV concluded the middle of this year, it had exceeded all its targets.
Hadri, who presented a closing report in June, says the achievement didn’t come easy.
“When we set the target in 2004, everybody said it was way too ambitious. I have always believed we could do it.
“What we’re trying to do now is to sustain this steady growth, because the industry will then retain its carrying capacity.”
The project’s continuity has since been assured through its inclusion in the 10th Malaysia Plan.
As part of the way forward, the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water has announced that Malaysia would implement the feed-in tariff (FIT) starting December.
Two separate meters will be introduced — one which records electricity use, and another the power generation from PV modules.
Consumers will pay Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) based on what they consume, and then sell the gross amount generated at a premium tariff of RM0.85 to RM1.75.
With FIT, solar PV is expected to generate 350MW by 2015; 1,250MW by 2020 and 4,470MW by 2030, with an eight per cent unit cost reduction per annum.
The Boswells are looking forward to the transition from net metering to FIT.
“We think it’s an excellent way of rewarding those who are prepared to do that little bit extra to help reduce energy consumption, air pollution and the use of fossil fuels.
“The FIT, along with the promised special bank loans, is the best way to encourage those able to contribute to the introduction of more such installations in Malaysian homes.”
The continuation of MBIPV activities is also ensured through the passing of the Sustainable Energy Development Authority bill, which will come into effect in September.
It all looks promising and there is reason to believe that the future of solar power generation is bright in sunny Malaysia.
Bill only RM60 even with all day air-conditioning.
English couple Harry Boswell and Stephanie Bacon fell in love with Malaysia easily.
It was their favourite holiday destination for many years as they enjoyed the warmth of the people as well as the climate. They also marvelled at the abundance of wildlife in the country.
But when they decided to make “magnificent Malaysia” their base more than seven years ago, it proved to be a much harder thing to do.
Two considerations sprang to mind. One was that “Stephanie cannot tolerate the heat” and the other, “Harry does not like wasting anything”.
Bent on taking up the Malaysia My Second Home Programme, the couple from Cambridge, England, then resorted to building from scratch a house that marries both expectations — air-conditioning would be maximised, yet energy usage minimised.
The house in Ayer Keroh, Malacca, named COOLTEK, was designed in 2003 to be more than just a sustainable structure.
The ambitious goal was to make it five times more energy efficient than a standard Malaysian home that runs on air-conditioning all day.
When contacted recently, Boswell, 76, and Bacon, 69, said their experience in energy efficiency back home provided the backdrop for the construction of their new residence.
“Our home in England was energy efficient, as all newer houses are by UK legislation, and so we knew much about saving fuel and therefore, money.
“We knew there was a need to use energy-greedy air-conditioning in Malaysia so it made sense to consider an energy efficient building project.”
During the design phase, when the architects needed a project name, the Boswells chose “COOLTEK” - short for cool technology, “but spelt in the way of Malaysians”.
The name has since stuck, “as it sums up very well what we are doing, using technology to keep us cool.”
Boswell, an electronics engineer, and Bacon, a former computer systems analyst, came to Malaysia in July 2004 to be involved in the construction of their home.
The single-storey residence was erected on two plots of land within the Tiara Melaka Golf & Country Club, where large and mature jungle trees provided a canopy of cooling foliage.
The Boswells planned the orientation of the house in such a way that the building had only North- and South-facing windows to let light in without having direct sunlight enter and heat up the insides.
The East- and West-facing walls, on the other hand, were kept small and sheltered from the sun by vegetation.
For additional protection from heat, the building was painted white.
Its white steel roof was lined with aluminium reflective foil, with wide roof overhangs to shade windows and walls. The steel roof structure also allowed heat to dissipate quickly after sunset.
One of COOLTEK’s most interesting features is its ventilation system.
Ventilation comes from below the ground, bringing cooled and filtered fresh air of around 26 degrees Celcius into the house.
The air, taken from underneath a large leafy tree in the nearby jungle, passes through giant plastic pipes into two large concrete chambers and is circulated around upright cooling ceramic pipes before entering the house from beneath the floor.
Warmer stale air would then be ejected up a solar chimney via large ceiling vents.
To further deter external heat and noise from coming in and the air-conditioned coolness from being lost, the walls, ceiling and flooring are insulated, and windows double glazed.
The use of energy efficient equipment completes the green picture for the Boswell residence, which cost RM380,000 to build, minus the purchase of the plot.
About two years later, the photovoltaic system was installed to generate solar power.
For the conservationists, their efforts were worth every sen.
In 2008, the monthly electricity bill for their house amounted to RM60 on average even though there was 24-hour air-conditioning, as well as lights, cooking appliances, television and computers, and an electric lawnmower.
In September this year, the couple would have lived in COOLTEK for six years, and saved more than RM73,000 from its energy efficient features.
Aside from monetary savings, carbon cuts were also substantial.
COOLTEK’s energy efficient features generate a yearly savings of 23.7 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Another 3.73 metric tonnes are saved by generating electricity from the sun using the photovoltaic panels.
This total of 27.4 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which hadn’t been added to the atmosphere, is the same weight as 20 Toyota hybrid Prius’, the couple’s chosen mode of transportation.
Twenty houses like COOLTEK consume the same amount of energy as one standard Malaysian house.
Comfortable living apart, the cool comfort of the house also extends the usability of furnishings, equipment, books and clothes as they are not subjected to damage from extreme temperature and humidity.
The couple, who share their green experience on their COOLTEK website and also with visitors to the house, were the recipient of the Asean Energy Award in 2009.
