Well I actually work as an Solar Design Engineer out here in California. Interestingly, what I found was Photovoltaics is actually not new technology, it actually has been around for almost a hundred years. It is true that initial start up costs are high, however, the system has a life-span of 25 to 30 years, and your ROI in Malaysia would be about half of that (Actually, I'm going to say this depends on how much of a utility bill you get in the first place). In California, there are government based and utility based incentives to help balance the cost of Solar systems here and ROIs can go from 4 to 7 years depending on the size of the system. Though, it would be unfair for me to point on California's case.

It is true that power is not produced during the night, however you would be surprised that power can still be produced in cloudy weather, though production may be halved or even more. However, all these would have already been taken into account in the first place when sizing a system, so your building/house would be covered. Also, do keep in mind that renewable energy systems will definitely not take over current forms of energy, but it would actually mitigate the amount of coal being burnt, hence making KL's skyline more visible at times.

Efficiency of panels range from 18 to 20 percent and its bound to only go higher. Especially with the recent boom in the European market again due to large incentives and not forgetting the large American market. Prices on PV panels are now so competitive due to the over production in China.

Ozak:

Well, again i'm not too familiar with the Malaysian energy market, and the prices of panels in Malaysia, I was just giving information based on what I know since I work in the industry.

If you wanted to start small scale, you may want to consult the manufacturer or an electrical engineer/electrician before starting.

VMSmith:

The last statement I wrote was intended as a pun. I did not really mean what I said. Though, you never know.

The glass is actually manufactured to be more durable than that, the dust can be cleaned off easily with water, and the glass used is actually a temper proof/scratch proof glass, so you wont have to replace it.

PV panels are maintenance free, you dont have to maintain them at all. As a matter of fact most panels should come with a 25 year warranty. The reason their maintenance free is due to the fact that it has no mechanical parts.


Most of the time they just go for the whole house, or try to anyway, again it really depends on available area. There are reason for this and I don't want to go too in depth about it.

This is true, however a good solar company would have already sized the system so that you produce more energy during the non-monsoon months to cover up for the monsoon months, however I'm not too sure whether TNB will credit the power back to you if you over produce. Might want to check your local utility company, on this regard.


This is true, if the government however gives incentives, it may make sense then.

There is a global overcapacity, prices of panels have dropped since last year to an all time low. The firms are still pretty much waiting for other firms to file for bankruptcy and it may happen very soon, however with the new government incentives in some EU countries, these firms are given a thin life line for a while at least.