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31st October 2001, The Straits Times

Wanted: Building to test solar power on large scale

The Building and Construction Authority is eyeing commercial buildings to test efficiency of using solar electricity

By Dawn Wong

COMMERCIAL buildings in Tanjong Pagar and other town centres are being eyed as testing ground for generating solar electricity on a mass scale.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is looking for a building with fans, common lighting or exhaust systems that have to be turned on during the day.

It would be the test-bed to provide all the answers on the efficiency of using solar- electricity, said BCA's director of building plan and management Wong Wai Ching.

However, its start-up hinges on getting funding from the relevant authorities, he said, adding that at least $300,000 is needed.

Such a building would add to the findings now being gathered in a pilot project.

This trial at the Construction Industry Training Institute in Braddell Road started last month, when 36 solar-electric panels were fixed to its rooftop to power half the lights in its cafeteria.

This initial work forms only 10 per cent of the final system to be installed. It currently produces 2.7 kw of electricity when sunlight falls directly on the panels.

The project is a collaboration between the BCA, the National University of Singapore and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Said Mr Wong: 'It will help us in that if the industries have questions about the efficiency of using solar-electricity, we can have ready answers.'

Electricity from the solar panels at Braddell Road costs 45 cents per kilowatt-hour, more than double the 17 cents it costs to buy the same amount from the electricity grid here.

But the high price is because of the small scale of the project, said Mr Guido Haarpaintner, marketing manager of Siemens Showa Solar, which provided the panels.

He said: 'It should be kept in mind that the installation has not been optimised from an economic point of view. It should be seen as a demonstration project for its technical feasibility.' He said that if all the rooftops of HDB blocks were used to exploit solar power, the electricity produced could meet about 1.5 per cent of Singapore's total consumption.

Added Mr Wong: 'We see these rooftops as very fertile area for the solar systems.

'But the cost of doing this on all of them will run into billions, unless the cost of the systems goes down as a result of an increase in demand.'

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