Sunny days ahead for solar energy industry here; Sector gets boost from Govt's $170m R&D fund; more firms being wooed to set up shop
BYLINE: Jessica Cheam
SOMEWHERE in Freiburg - a town known as the 'solar capital' of Germany - a Made In Singapore solar cell sits on the roof of a building.
It is only one cell, but it is a sign that Singapore's fledgling solar energy industry, which saw its first home-grown solar cell manufacturing plant begin production only two months ago, is on the way up.
Set up by local company Solar Energy Power (SEP) in 2005, the plant cost its managing director Freddy Goh almost $10 million to build, but it looks like the investment was a worthwhile gamble.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave the industry a boost when he announced a dedicated $170-million research and development (R&D) fund to developing clean energy, with a focus on solar power.
The decision, which came out of a two-day meeting of the high-powered Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), could result in an industry worth $1.7 billion and employing 7,000 people by 2015.
The Government's latest move was widely welcomed by industry players.
'This is really good news for us, even if indirectly,' said Mr Christophe Inglin, managing director of Phoenix Solar, the Asia-Pacific head office of Germany-based solar systems integrator Phoenix SonnenStrom AG.
'We've been hoping for some demand to create a local market for a long time and more R&D could push the market in this direction,' he said.
Although the industry is growing, there are only a few solar companies here, an Economic Development Board (EDB) spokesman said.
However, the board said it is in talks with other solar companies to set up shop here.
Some big names already present in Singapore include Frankfurt-listed SolarWorld and European leader Coenergy.
These companies manufacture, assemble and implement photovoltaic (PV) systems, the term for the technology that converts light energy into electrical energy.
Other local companies, like Omega Trading, specialise in converting solar energy into heat, for instance to produce hot water.
Although based here, most solar companies in Singapore do their business outside the country.
Orb Energy, for example, has its assembly operations and market in India. SEP's plant, meanwhile, exports all of its cells to Europe.
'There is not enough business in Singapore now to keep a decent-size company alive,' said Mr Inglin. 'But this will change, hopefully.'
Dr Goh's plant, which currently produces enough cells to power 2,700 homes every year, already has a full order book for the year and is looking to expand capacity more than twofold by the end of next year.
The high cost of solar technology was previously a strong deterrent for consumers, but Assistant Professor Stephen Wittkopf at the National University of Singapore's Department of Architecture expects costs to go down as the industry develops.
Looking ahead, he said: 'Singapore is well-positioned, as we receive more solar radiation than countries like Germany and the United Kingdom, which are the leaders in solar technology.'
One area with particular potential is the building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system, which integrates solar panels into the facades of buildings, he added.
Dr Wittkopf is also overseeing another feasibility study looking into fitting landmark buildings and MRT stations here with solar panels.
Singapore Environment Council's executive director Howard Shaw said: 'Solar energy makes sense as we don't have the resources for other types of clean energy such as wind power or hydro power.
'But this is also good as we can turn this into a national export, like with Newater, and tap on not just the domestic but also the international market.'