Hello everyone! We meet again for
another blog post regarding SEDA Malaysia site visit to Melaka recently. I
would like to write about a visit to AUO Sunpower Sdn. Bhd. on the 18th
of January 2014 with other bloggers and media representatives. Right after we
left COOLTEK Home, we headed to Melaka World Solar Valley in Alor Gajah with 40
acres of land occupied by AUO Sunpower Sdn. Bhd. or better known as AUSP.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
The
company is a world leader in solar cell manufacturing and it exports solar
cells to regional offices and assembled as solar panels. We had a briefing
session with Puan Roslawanis Husani to better understand how the company works in
supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency effort in the country and
worldwide.
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| Puan Roslawanis gave her briefing on how the company operates. |
With 2,000 Malaysian workers at this
solar cell manufacturing plant, AUSP strives to exceed customers’ expectations
by delivering world class products and services at competitive prices through
innovation, operational excellence and continual development. As most of you
know, solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity and an individual
photo-voltaic (PV) cells are grouped into panels that can be used in a wide
range of application to generate its own energy.
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| Dr. Wei-nee from SEDA Malaysia with the solar panels produced by AUO Sunpower |
We use solar PVs because the
sunlight is free, the process emits no noise, no harmful emission or polluting
gases with PV systems are guaranteed to be safe and highly reliable with 20-25
years of warranty. Malaysia is blessed because we are situated near the equator
and that means we have a better power generation and exposure to the sun. Many
of us misunderstood that we cannot generate electricity on a cloudy day but
AUSP representative claimed that we can still produce electricity but the
amount would be slightly lower than in normal days.
Why do we need to shift from
traditional energy generation from fossil fuels to renewable energy produced by
solar panels? You must remember that diesel and petroleum used to generate the
energy can be harmful to the environment and the price will be truly expensive
once the resources are depleting. The importance of the renewable energy sector in
Malaysia has been recognized since the Eight Malaysia Plan when the Five Fuel
Policy was introduced in 2001 to include alternative sources of energy in our
daily consumption. The development of renewable energy in Malaysia were a bit
slow given the fact that it took so many years before it was actually
implemented in the national level. In 2011, Sustainable Energy Development
Authority (SEDA) Malaysia is finally formed under the Sustainable Energy
Development Authority Act 2011 [Act 726]. SEDA Malaysia becomes the implementer
of the Feed-in Tariff program for the development of Renewable Energy in
Malaysia.Now let us go back to the
revolutionary solar cell technology development set up by AUSP in its local
plant in Melaka.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
Solar cells are recognized not only
as a mean for providing power but it also significantly diminishes the impact
of environmental damage caused by conventional electricity generation in
advanced industrial countries. A solar cell in an electrical device directly
converts sunlight into electricity and this process requires a material in
which the absorption of light raises an electron to a higher energy state and
the movement of this higher energy electron from the solar cell into an
external circuit. The basic steps in the operation of a solar cell are:
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
-the generation of light-generated
carriers,
-the collection of the
light-generated carriers to generate a current,
-the generation of a large voltage
across the P-region and N-region
-the dissipation of power in the
load and in parasitic resistances.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
Solar cell products by AUSP are
efficient because AUO SunPower’s all-back contact n-type solar cell design is
patented, hard to replicate, and provides industry leading efficiencies of up
to 22.5%. With its superior performance and aesthetics value, it can generate
up to 50% more power in a uniformly black and attractive design. AUO SunPower
cells deliver most energy and customers can benefit from lower electric bills,
higher carbon emissions savings and a superior appearance. It offers
efficiencies of approximately 22.5% or about 3.4 watts per cell in the world.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
AUSP installed solar PV cells for Apple office in
California to help back up i-cloud storage of Apple users around the world if
the electricity shuts down unexpectedly in that area. Among its worldwide
projects are Olivenza Solar Power Plant, Badajoz (18 mw), Serpa Power Plant,
Serpa (11 mw), Bavaria Solar Park, Bavaria (10 mw) and Nevada, United States of
America military air force base for security reasons. Such incredible journey
paved by AUSP in the world level because the solar cells are made in Melaka by
our local people; surely something to be proud of! And believe it or not, you
have to wait for 2 years if you want to purchase the solar cells by AUSP
because the company is now busy meeting the demands for 11 highly-developed
countries. Amazing!
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
You can apply for the
Feed-in Tariff mechanism by SEDA Malaysia if you want to install solar panels
on the rooftops of your house of commercial buildings. Let me review about the
mechanism so that you can take part in promoting renewable energy and energy
efficiency effort because you can generate a handsome income by joining this
program by SEDA Malaysia.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
Malaysia’s Feed-in Tariff system requires the
Distribution Licensees (DLs) such as Tenaga Nasional Berhad and this year's addition of Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) and NUR Distribution Sdn. Bhd (NUR) to buy from renewable
energy producers the electricity produced from renewable resources by them. FiT
rates are set by SEDA Malaysia with approval from KeTTHA to pay for the
renewable energy supplied to the electricity grid for a specific duration. By
having access to the grid and setting a favorable price per unit of renewable
energy, the FiT mechanism also ensures that renewable energy becomes a viable
and sound long-term investment for companies, industries and individuals. This
can happen very easily if consumers are registered under SEDA Malaysia as one
of the producers of renewable energy through solar panels, small hydro power,
biomass and biogas at their homes or private lands.
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| Source: www.auosunpower.com |
The Cabinet has also agreed for the 1%
surcharge on consumers’ electricity bills that has been gazetted and collected
from consumers. This 1% surcharge is needed to achieve the target capacity of
renewable energy in the long run. As of 2013, 1% surcharge is still imposed on
all TNB’s electricity customers and domestic electricity consumers are obliged
to contribute to the surcharge only if their monthly electricity consumption
exceeds 300 kWh or RM 77 a month. This money is channelled into the Renewable
Energy Fund and administered by SEDA Malaysia to pay the premium Feed-in Tariff
rate to those producers who generate electricity from renewable resources at homes or in industrial
companies.
| www.seda.gov.my |
But
as of January 2014, this surcharge will increase by 0.6%
to be 1.6 % for current electricity users. This increase will also affect the
consumers in Sabah and Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan as they are charged with 1.6%
of their electricity bills for the first time. Please refer to www.seda.gov.my for more news and information if you are
interested in taking part. Thank you everyone for reading this and hopefully
you gain insights about the roles played by SEDA Malaysia in promoting
sustainable energy and energy efficiency effort in the country. Take care and
God bless!
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