Wait for costs to come down before adopting solar energy

Today published a letter by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in response to readers who were “concerned that the Government was dismissing solar power and asked for further clarifications on the cost of solar power.” MTI replied that they “recognise that solar energy offers potential in diversifying our energy mix and reducing emissions.” Funds have been committed to research and development (R&D), and testbedding of solar and other forms of clean energy. But the cost for solar energy is still about two to three times our household tariffs.

How do we reduce the cost of solar power so that it is cost-competitive compared to conventional electricity? Do we do more R&D on solar energy? Do we testbed various types of solar energy technologies? Or do we start installing more solar panels (existing technology) so that there is economies of scale thus reducing the cost of solar energy? Countries around the world have started tapping on solar energy while we are still doing R&D and testbedding, and waiting for costs to come down.

Maybe we are just too impatient. But we hope to see the energy authorities emulate the Public Utilities Board’s plan to harvest every drop of water that falls on Singapore, and aim to harvest every ray of sunlight that falls on Singapore and turn them into energy for our use. We should aim to be self-sustainable in our energy needs and not only rely on oil and natural gas imports for our survival. We must work towards reducing our foreign energy dependency and supplement it with our own sources of energy as far as possible.

Maybe we are just too impatient. Let’s wait for the day when costs come down and more solar panels are installed in Singapore. The day we do that will mark our first baby step towards being a clean energy hub. Because we feel that Singapore cannot be a clean energy hub if she only attracts clean energy companies to set up their plants here but not generate energy using those clean technologies. 

Is it time now to move from the R&D and testbedding stages of solar technology to large-scale implementation across the nation? Maybe we are just too impatient. Right?

Source: Today.

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