The Singapore solar sector is heating up

Joint venture with topinstitutes raises $800,000 to develop solar cell industry:
Esther Ng, Today Online 6 Oct 08;

Picture this: There is a new solar panel in the market with the latest technology to reduce your electricity bill drastically. You want to buy it because it means huge savings on your energy bill and you’re prepared to pay for the initial investment. The question on your mind, however, is — will the product last 20 years as claimed by the manufacturer?

This is where testing and certification come in. Energy experts told Today that by 2050, half of the world’s electricity will come from renewable energy and sales of solar panels and other energy efficient products are expected to take off, especially in Asia. As such, testing and certification of these products will become an important measure of quality control for consumers.

VDE, one of the world’s most trusted certification marks, and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Europe’s premier solar R & D centre, have pumped in $800,000 in a joint venture with the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (Seris).

The aim is to ensure that the solar panels manufactured in Asia are of the highest quality and to support the development of a photovoltaic industry (the harnessing of light into electricity) in this region.

Said VDE’s chairman Wilfried Jaeger: “When a buyer buys a product, he wants to be assured of its quality. Buyers prefer to trust the certification of an independent third party rather than a manufacturer — this is where we come in.”

According to energy experts, photovoltaic modules in solar panels have to withstand a range of elements — high exposure to UV radiation; high humidity; large temperature variations; extreme rainfall; snow; hail — and last for at least 20 years with no significant performance reduction.

“Also, as with new developments in technology, you need to test whether the product is ready for commercial use,” said Dr Hans-Martin Henning, Fraunhofer’s head of department.

Seris will invest $3 million to set up a laboratory to test these products and send the results to VDE and Fraunhofer.

Singapore was chosen because of the city-state’s positioning as a clean energy hub.

Indeed, last year, the Singapore Government identified the Clean Energy industry as a strategic growth area for our economy.

Said Mr Manohar Khiatani, assistant marketing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB):”Our clean industry may be small but it has tremendous growth potential. We have already a number of manufacturing and R & D projects in the solar sector — Renewable Energy Corporation, one of the biggest solar manufacturing plants in the world has invested $6 billion in a project here. Other projects include Oerlikon Solar, Norsun and Bosch.”

EDB expects the clean energy industry to contribute $1.7 billion to the GDP and create 7,000 jobs in manufacturing, training and R & D by 2015.

Seris, a joint venture between the EDB and the National University of Singapore, with a five-year budget of $130 million, hopes to be one of the key industry players.