Singapore plans to curb its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and is moving to meet the target by tapping more of the sun’s energy. Solar power usage here has gone up almost 30-fold since 2009, statistics from EMA show. Total installed solar photovoltaic capacity rose from 1.5MW in 2009 to 43.8MW at the end of last year. “This is the equivalent of powering around 14,000 four-room HDB flats for a year,” an EMA spokesman said. There are now 886 solar installations here, most of which are for non-residential use, for instance, at the Singapore Sports Hub. Solar energy is the most promising renewable energy source for Singapore, said EMA. Yet, currently, it accounts for less than 1 per cent of the country’s fuel mix. The goal is to ramp the figure up to 350MW by 2020. EMA said this would meet about 5 per cent of peak electricity demand. To this end, a slew of initiatives have been launched, including the Government’s SolarNova programme, which aggregates solar demand across government agencies.... Continue Reading