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1. EU's biggest solar farm located in Spain with 120 000 solar PV panel covers 247 acres
or land, peak capacity of 20MW and it can power up to 20 000 homes
2. At Peterborough, Canada, 140 acres of farm land converted into CAD45m solar farm
capable to produce 10MW energy, for 1500 homes
3. Former EU's largest solar PV farm, located at Portugal, has 2520 super-sized solar
panel covering 1250 acres of land. It produces 45MW electricity, enough for 30 000
homes. It costs GBP250m
4. Current title of world's biggest solar PV farm is CAD400m-recently-opened Ontario
solar power plant, covering 950 acres of land. It has 1.3m solar panels, generates
80MW - sufficient for 12 000 homes
This demonstrates choosing correct technology, implementation and solar coverage (other
factors will be discussed later) are critical factors when choosing suitable places to build
solar farm. Research showed feasibility, profitability and manageability of solar energy is
location-specific (not like fossil fuel – thousand barrels of oil will generate electricity almost
identical at Brussels or Tokyo). Solar energy specialist shall be consulted.
1. plain terrains, valley or hilly areas (but not too high in altitude, usually 60m and
below)
plain terrain at and surrounding areas – simpler implementation for any solar
technologies and as well as lower maintenance. Some solar power techniques,
such as concentrated solar power (solar thermal, solar tower etc.) only suitable
to be implemented at plain terrains
valley areas is OK as long as elevated terrains (hills etc) surrounding it does not
interfere with sunlight or forming shades that will decrease solar irradiance and
electricity generation
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solar farms in hilly areas might be challenging and costly. Only South-facing part
of the hill is suitable to plant solar panels. Hills might also be “terrace-terrained”
(like paddy field at Bali).
2. located far from any water bodies e.g. lake, river, sea – water bodies resulted in
denser air thus scatter more sunlight
3. located near to closest TNB main distribution system
4. far from any "dusty" or smokes/smog released by industries – wind direction might
also play some part as we also don’t want smokes from industries originated from
distance places to disrupt solar panels at chosen location
5. wind speed, but this is not critical factors as Malaysia has fairly low wind speed
throughout the year.
6. no fogs, especially during morning. This is very important especially if the solar farm
located in the valley of build in hilly areas. High humidity (a.k.a fog) will badly reduce
efficiency of solar panels even after fogs disappear.
Research by Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (PTM) concluded that the annual energy output for
selected Malaysian cities varies about 1170-1600kWh/m² for roof-top system (related
studies among cities in Germany showed most of the cities generates less than 1000kWh/m²
annually) and 630-830kWh/m² for facade system, which is also among the highest in the
world. As per day basis, at the very least, we can expect 6 hours of direct sunlight with
irradiation of between 800W/m² to 1000W/m² - already very good for the usage of PV.
Generally, solar irradiance is high between 08:00-08:45, low between 09:00-11:00, then
starting to increase significantly between 11:00-14:30 (maximum at 12:30), before slowly
decreasing after 15:00.
Malaysia located at Northern Hemisphere, so solar panels should be directed to South for
greater solar irradiance. Degree of angles for the solar panels to be positioned (azimuth and
altitude/horizon), however depends on actual site.
Energy payback time (a.k.a ROI) ranges between 1.6 to 2.2 years for roof-top system and 3-
4 years for facade system. Industry-wide standard warranty of solar panels is lifetime (some
only 30 years). Whichever it is, investment in solar energy is profitable in the long run.
Practical field study of various solar panel cells by researchers from UKM was published in
Renewable Energy in 2009. This study endorses the use of copper-indium-diselenide (CIS)
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solar PV panel as the first choice, followed by amorphous silicone for tropical climate,
instead of following market trend of promoting mono- and multicrystalline silicone solar
PV panels:
1. thin-film CIS has better performance ratio compared to other solar panel modules.
However, the differences is very small
2. study showed ambient temperature is 31°C and average temperature of solar cells
modules is about 42°C which is quite high and definitely will change the
characteristics of output power
3. mono- and multicrystalline modules perform better when they are under hot sun,
but as temperature rises, their efficiency drop. CIS and amorphous silicone perform
well in cloudy and diffused sunshine and their efficiency does not significantly
affected by the changes in temperature (a.k.a better power conversion efficiency)
Other than tax cuts and subsidies, solar industry (manufacturing of solar panels, generation
of electricity and distribution) in North America and Europe has grown very fast due to:
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solar equipment manufacturers. Economies-of-scale made solar panels cheaper in
Europe.
4. respective government also mandates power distributor/utility companies to buy
solar-generated electricity (from IPP) at the slightly higher price than an average
kWph rate they sell to the IPP (net metering rate). Power distributors, in return will
be given tax credits equivalent to accumulative price difference. As for small-scale,
individual house, power distributor must accept the request from PV customers to
be connected to the grid and pay the same amount of power they receive from solar
system as for the power they dispense to their customers.
5. In several US states and countries in Europe, utility companies offer time-of-use rate
scheduling, where electricity rates are highest during peak usage time (generally
from noon until 18:00). The timing is perfect for solar PV systems because they
generate a majority of their power during peak time (as explained before, by law the
utilities must pay the same rate they charge for power, so at peak time they must
pay peak rates). Then later, when use more power than generating (e.g. at night),
power was charged back at a much smaller price. In this way, the size of a solar PV
system can be leveraged to increase return on investment.
None of these five points currently applicable in Malaysia. Tax cuts and subsidies are
important, but most people/investors do not want, or cannot, lay out a big investment
solely for the purpose of rationalizing their energy consumption. More sustainable policy
is crucial.
During the National Photovoltaic Conference in November 2009, PTM presented a full FiT
scheme which will be introduced to the Malaysian parliament in November 2010 for the 10th
Malaysia Plan period. It is proposed that:
To make FiT possible, the renewable energy (RE) law under the RE policy must make sure
that:
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By 2011, Malaysia is expected to emerge among the top five solar PV manufacturer
worldwide, behind China and Germany with local PV industry contributing up to 4% to the
national GDP by 2020 through revenues exceeding RM500b (USD154.5b).