i wonder if a gen set is cost effective way to power your aircons and water heater compared to solar?

this is more about, if you generate more than you use.. you can sell the surplus back to the utility company... but i doubt that...
doubt that.. cause there is conversion loss already which make it not as efficient as it should be

A normal house Solar with push back to the Grid (contra) system is about 80k+-. I ask this last year. Earlier there was a subsidy from got and house owner pay about 1/2 of the cost, but is already end.

You need to change the TNB meter two two way. And all installation are approved by TNB and Gov.

You can go to TNB and ask, they have one small department doing this, but now think they focus on commercial.

80k wow thats alot unless you have tons of roof area and high quality panels, dont think u can make much profit from selling to tnb...

now my bill is about 200 bux and i use a solar power to power my fridge/lights/aircond(at night), i can cut 200 bux and put that up into the cost

then at least electric bill is lower (min), thus from that way longer and longer term, you dont get affected by the rising tnb tariff..

It was publish in the news paper, i read about it few years ago.

I don't want to calculate the ROI after hearing the numbers. I was expecting like 10k +-, but after the consultant told me is about 40k after gov subsidy I lost my interest. Hope the price have come down substantial.

Maybe we can install wind turbine instead

@osak , yeah maybe start with lights first would be better, install 120w panel with 2x 100AH batts power

maybe 2 or 3 18 watt Philips lights, cost would be around 3 to 5k i think for a simple project...

would be better is can totally power fridge + aircond from solar that would be the most cost effective as those two items takes up a bunch of power from tnb bills..

We need average about 1Kwatt hour per day (average out), peak minimal about 6Kwatt - 8Kwatt for a terrace house. So that maybe need about RM 40k to just cover one household need. ROI will be very long...

AUD 16k is about right loh RM 60k

I find now Malaysia price no longer cheap. Other than labor what else is cheap?

Do you know many things need AP to bring in? I need an AP to bring in a faulty router from my oversea office. What a joke. And all this add up the cost.

So everyone, you know why things so expensive in Malaysia?....

@osak , yeah maybe start with lights first would be better, install 120w panel with 2x 100AH batts power

maybe 2 or 3 18 watt Philips lights, cost would be around 3 to 5k i think for a simple project...

would be better is can totally power fridge + aircond from solar that would be the most cost effective as those two items takes up a bunch of power from tnb bills..

Where the battery?

I am thinking of solar for the motion detector LED light, because that is the area i did not put wiring. Where did you get it?

Rechargeable AA battery are not lasting under hot temperature.

there is a solar lighting supplier in malaysia

look here

http://www.solarlight-mart.com/ , not sure about the pricing but seems reasonable...

Too big the order will trigger custom problem

But the website do have some nice stuff if you are the DIY person.

What i understand not listed mean standard taxing apply.

BIPV, Grid Connected, Photovoltaic, Solar Power Systems - Do You Need It ??? Or...  

  Electricity from BIPV, Grid Connected, systems, does NOT cover the cost of electricity that you use and you still have a monthly bill to pay, to the power company. You would need at least 15 Kilowatt peak, of Crystalline Solar panels, to fully power a small house, or 10Kwp of Modern, Thin film, Solar panels. Maximum allowed for BIPV Grid connected, in Malaysia, is 5Kwp. This seems to be omitted from all of the advertising. Only DC (Direct Current), Stand-Alone, systems, cover the whole cost of Electricity used.  
  Solar panels do NOT save energy. They are only an alternative supply of electricity. BIPV is a very expensive alternative, when compared to the price of Mains AC (Alternating Current) electricity, from the power company. Different types of PV panels work better in different climates but a lot of Myths often make consumers choose the 'WRONG' type of panel.  
  Solar panels make DC electricity (like a battery), directly from the Sun. This is a very simple conversion which is known as the �Photovoltaic effect�. DC power can be used directly, with most of your household appliances. The problem is that often the DC electricity is converted to AC, by an INVERTER , for Grid Connected systems, so that it can be put back into the AC mains Grid. This Inverter is an expensive piece of equipment, that has a Power LOSS, when converting the battery type electricity (DC) into Mains type electricity (AC).  
  For over 50 years, Solar power has been used in Stand-Alone, DC systems, in places where there was no Mains Electricity supply. Over 90% of all Solar power systems are still Stand-Alone systems but we never hear about these! No hype here, because there is no benefit for the big power companies if customers start using their own electricity and stop buying from them!  

 So why all the hype about BIPV?  

  The peak demand of the power company occurs at mid day and this demand can NOT be met in many areas. Coincidentally, the peak output of Solar panels happens at Mid day, when the Sun is at its Hottest. So an Ideal solution is to put Solar panels on local houses and feed this, much needed power, back to the power company, to help them meet the peak load. BIPV is intended to help the power company more than the consumer. The MPIA (Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association) protects consumers and explains all the pitfalls of using BIPV systems, before installing them.  
  Now you all know, that the power coming from the wall socket, in your house, is the AC type power. What some of you may not know, is that all your modern appliances are DC powered. To get round this problem, all your appliances are fitted with AC to DC converters, to turn the 240V AC power into 12V DC, in most cases. An example is your mobile phone, it comes with a wall mounted converter, to change the 240V AC to 4V DC to charge the battery. Also your lap top computer has a small black box on the mains lead, which also converts the 240V AC power back to 12V DC to charge the battery in your lap top. LCD TV is DC powered, Printer, PC, Satellite dish, and anything which has microchips inside are ALL DC powered. You are using DC powered appliances already, all with the AC to DC converters supplied by the manufacturers.
 
 
So why do we have AC 240V if everything is DC?  

This is because low voltage DC, can not be carried very far, over an electric cable. But AC high voltage can travel hundreds of miles and can be converted by transformers to higher voltages, which are needed to make the electricity travel these long distances, from the Power Station to your house. These transformers and voltage changes, cause a massive loss of power. 300% more power has to be produced at the power station, to make up for these losses in your AC mains system. That means that a 100 watt light bulb needs the power station to generate 300 watts of power, to light it. So if you put Solar Panels on your house and produce Mains electricity directly into the local power grid, for every 100 watts you put in, the power company saves 300 watts of power.

  Now in most countries, this is reflected in the price that the power company pays for the electricity you give to them. Thailand for example will give 3 times the rated tariff, for electricity they get from Solar panels.
 
  However, if you have a stand alone PV power system and you WISH to be BIPV, Grid connected, you can Pay the additional cost, of an expensive grid connection inverter and put the energy you Produce, back into the Grid. Unfortunately, you do not get paid for putting the energy into the Grid, you only get back AC power that you put in. So, you don't use or need the Grid Energy and get nothing in return, for connecting into the Grid System.

The Malaysian cabinet had approved the Renewable Energy Act and Act for a Feed-in-Tariff Implementing Agency in April 2010. These acts were then formalized under the 10th Malaysia Plan, with which the National Renewable Energy Policy & Action Plan was announced to the public. It aims to increase the generation of electricity from renewable sources of energy from less than 1% of total output in 2009 to 5.5% in 2015.

Renewable sources of energy eligible for the tariff system are solar photovoltaic, biogas, biomass, mini hydro, and solid waste. Basically the system will allow producers and users alike to sell excess power to the national power grid. In other words it is a mechanism which will allow electricity produced from local renewable energy resources to be sold to power utilities at a fixed premium price for a specific duration. The organization which was established to manage the feed-in tariff programme is the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA).

Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water has also initiated the Green Technology Financing Scheme amounting to RM1.5 billion to attract the private sector to participate in green technology entrepreneurship. This step should be applauded as financing has always been the stumbling block. In Germany, juwi has been a successful example of private participation in the green energy sector.

From an investment point of view, this is also a good opportunity for ordinary citizens to achieve a relatively satisfactory ROI. A typical home which can install up to a 4kW solar panel system may require a capital of approximately RM60,000 to install the 4kW system. People however will only need to provide 10% of the sum. Due to good ROI (could be as high as 14% p.a), the rest can be loaned from a bank. 14% is certainly not bad, huh.

The Malaysian Feed-in-Tariff is expected to come into force in the third quarter of 2011, meaning - soon enough.

Malaysian authorities release details of proposed feed-in tariff system

Following on the progress of proposed renewable energy development policies for Malaysia Chief Technical Advisor to Malaysia's Ministry of Energy Ahmad Hadri Haris provided details of a proposed feed-in tariff system for the Asian nation, which include solar photovoltaics (PV). The policy would be created through the Act for a Feed-in Tariff Implementing Agency, which Malaysia's cabinet passed in April 2010. In October 2010 the Malaysian parliament will begin debating the act, and if successful a program could be launched as early as the second quarter of 2011. "Haris' Industry Briefing on Feed-in Tariff Procedures revealed as sophisticated a program as found anywhere in the world", states Renewable Energy Policy expert Paul Gipe of Wind Works. "Malaysia's proposal also seems designed to avoid several of the problems encountered with solar PV in Spain, including annual technology caps, and project registration."
 
Feed-in tariff rates to start at USD$0.302
The proposed PV feed-in tariff rates presented by the Ministry of Energy on a 21-year schedule start at USD$0.302 for systems smaller than 4KW, decreasing to USD$0.209 for systems between 10 and 30MW, with a 8% degression. Significant additional incentives would be offered for rooftop USD$.064 and building-integrated photovoltaic systems USD$.061, with small (less than USD$0.01) incentives for locally produced modules and inverters.

FiT works different weikee what you describe is net-metering. You sell ALL your power to TNB for a given price (around 1,50 under proposal i think) and you buy ALL your power from TNB at the REGULAR rate. This makes it pretty efficient if you have a large perfectly situated roof to work with. In fact your ROI can be around 8% ++ p.a.

sadly my roof is endangered by upcoming house-renovations. Any shading can totally f*** up your calculation so you need to be totally sure no neighbour can ever or will ever cause any shade to your roof. If got shade on the roof then the whole thing not worth it financially already.

Malaysia: PV Interest at an "All Time High"  

KUALA LUMPUR, SEPT 29 (www.pv-magazine.com) -- As the Renewable Energy World conference and trade show winds up in the Malaysian Capital, Kuala Lumpur today, photovoltaic industry participants have reported never-before-seen interest in solar. At conference presentations on the third-and-final day, one conference stream was entirely devoted to solar technology, markets and innovations. The sessions were declared a "full house" by organizers and demonstrated the growing awareness of, and interest in, solar.

The organizers claim 7,000 delegates and 6,500 visitors attended the show. Image: Solarpraxis/Jonathan Gifford.

Shamsudin Khalid, the president of the Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association told pv magazine that interest in photovoltaics is at an "all time high of in Malaysia right now."

The organizers claim that 7,000 delegates and 6,500 visitors attended the show, which was held simultaneously with the Power Gen Asia conference and convention. As such, photovoltaic manufacturers like Trina Solar, LDK Solar and Sharp found themselves displaying their panels amongst fossil fuel and nuclear power generators.

FITs on their way

Amongst this diverse group, photovoltaic stalls attracted considerable attention. Part of this interest stems from the fact that renewable energy legislation has been passed by Malaysia’s parliament, which should see feed-in tariffs (FITs) introduced in December.

There is some uncertainty as to whether the FIT will be introduced on schedule, as it has already been delayed once. "We certainly hope it will meet this timeframe, of December. The industry is certainly waiting for it," said Khalid.

He does remain hopeful that even if there are delays, photovoltaics is on track to play a prominent role in the country’s renewable energy future. "Even if it spills over to the first quarter of next year, we are ok. Beyond six of 12 months it will be difficult for the industry to manage."

Grid parity approaching

During one of the conference presentations, a slightly different picture was painted. Roger Goh, an executive director at wafer manufacturer GCL, said that due to rapidly falling module prices, grid parity in places with good irradiation such as Malaysia, is imminent.

While describing the module and silicon wafer oversupply as being, "very, very bad" for manufacturers, he showed figures indicating that retail grid parity in many places in Asia would occur within three to five years. "Even in the east PV will be economically viable," he declared.

FiT Rates for Solar PV (21 years from FiT Commencement Date)
Description of Qualifying Renewable Energy Installation FiT Rates (RM per kWh)
(a) Basic FiT rates having installed capacity of :      2011      2012    2013
(i) up to and including 4kW                                  1.2300  1.2300  1.1316
(ii) above 4kW and up to and including 24kW        1.2000    1.2000  1.1040
(iii) above 24kW and up to and including 72kW      1.1800  1.1800  1.0856
(iv) above 72kW and up to and including 1MW      1.1400  1.1400  1.0488
(v) above 1MW and up to and including 10MW      0.9500  0.9500    0.8740
(vi) above 10MW and up to and including 30MW    0.8500  0.8500  0.7820

(b) Bonus FiT rates having the following criteria (one or more) :          2011        2012      2013
(i) use as installation in buildings or building structures                    + 0.2600  + 0.2600  + 0.2392
(ii) use as building materials                                                          + 0.2500  + 0.2500  + 0.2300
(iii) use of locally manufactured or assembled solar PV modules      + 0.0300  + 0.0300  + 0.0276
(iv) use of locally manufactured or assembled solar inverters          + 0.0100  + 0.0100  + 0.0092

Easy calculations for system size and cost:
If you know your average kwh/day or know how many kwh/day you would like to produce, a simple calculation will determine system size and cost.

System size in kilowatts (kw) = (kwh/day) / 4 hours (peak sun) x 1.43 (system losses)
Step 1: Divide average kwh/day by number of hours of peak sun, or (kwh/ay) / 4
Step 2: Multiply by 1.43 to account for system losses due to friction, heat, and other inefficiencies.

Example: What size system is needed to produce 20kwh/day?

20kwh/4h = 5kw
5kw x 1.43= 7.15kw
7.15kw = system size to produce 20kwh/day assuming 4 peak sun hours (11am to 3pm).

System cost = system size x RM13,000 to RM15,000
Step 1: multiply system size by RM13,000 for competitive system cost installed
Step 2: multiply system size by RM15,000 for conservative system cost installed

Example: How much would a 7.15kw system cost?
7.15kw x RM13,000 = RM92,950 = competitive system cost
7.15kw x RM15,000 = RM107,250 = conservative system cost

We used to see an average cost of a grid-tied system to be about RM15,000 per kilowatt (array size) installed, but with a growing market, systems are being installed for as low as RM12,000 per kilowatt in competitive areas.  Keep in mind that these costs are before any incentives or rebates are taken into account.  When the FIT kick in, the return of investment (ROI) will be around 9 to 14 years depend on locations, solar systems, technologies and so forth.

Hopefully this helped introduce you to some of the basic considerations needed before purchasing a solar electric system.  There is far too much information to cover in a short guide and anyone serious about greener living should contact us at contact@solarpower-mart.com or SEDA for more detail.

Please take notes:
1) Malaysia only has 4 hours solar insolation (some areas may be less due to pollution).
2) Malaysia has average of 2 months cloudy/raining day per year, which solar power is not favourable.
3) When solar cell (module/panel) heat up (after noon time), the solar cell's efficiency (power output) will start to drop.  Which mean during a hot day, solar panel (PV) actually produce less.  This is a major challenge for solar power in Malaysia.
4) Every few months, installed solar panels (array) need to be clean (due to dusk accumulation on the panel) for maximum efficiency.  This is an extra cost for the owner and may increased longer payback period. Please also find out other maintenance costs.

Yesterday USJ experienced mini hailstorm, all solar panels pecah liao if install