HDB in big solar energy drive [News]

25 May 2011 – Green energy in public housing is getting a boost, as the Housing Board wants to double the current capacity by launching its largest-ever single solar panel scheme.

In a tender that closed this month, the HDB called for a company to own and operate panels in the eco-town of Punggol, offering to buy the electricity produced for 20 years.

The panels, or sheets, will be put up on 85 blocks and can produce 2 MWp (megawatt peak) of energy when the sun is fully out. Such an amount of energy can meet the power needs of five four-room HDB flats for a month.

But the electricity produced will not be for home use. Rather, it will be used to power lights in common areas, lifts and pumps, among other things.

The tender is part of the HDB’s $31 million, five-year scheme to test-bed solar energy in 30 precincts. Read more

GE Energy poll indicates that more than 9 in 10 Singaporeans view renewable energy positively [Press Releases]

Singapore – May 18, 2011 — ‘Global warming’ followed by ‘air pollution’ and ‘water pollution’ are Singaporeans’ top environmental concerns judging by a mood sampling poll commissioned by GE Energy recently. The poll, which randomly surveyed 350+ adults representing a cross section of society, named these three in a list which also included flora and fauna extinction, noise pollution and excessive use of non-biodegradable products.

Interestingly, respondents showed strong understanding of the causes of air pollution, accurately naming the burning of fossil fuels for power generation as one of the top three causes of air pollution. The survey also revealed that more than 4 in 5 Singaporeans believed that renewable energy (RE) would be necessary if we cared about the environment, though only about 2 in 3 could accurately identify sources of RE unaided.

“I think this level of public awareness is a positive start to Singapore’s plans to develop a Clean Energy Hub. It indicates that Singaporeans may be receptive to greater detail on sustainable development such as energy efficiency projects and next generation electric vehicles”, says Edwin Khew, Chairman of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore. Read more

Photovoltaic System & Grid Integration Forum 2010

Date: 9 – 10 Nov 2010

JFPS Group will hold the “Photovoltaic System & Grid Integration Forum 2010” on November 9-10,2010. This forum will have PV grid integration discussions on “Policy & Market Development” and “Technology R&D and Application”.

Expected 200+ Attendees will come from government officials, power groups, PV system integrators, PV cell and module manufacturers, PV products testing and certification service providers, PV components manufacturers and related PV materials and equipments manufacturers.

The forum will focus on:

• Discussion on grid integration of photovoltaic system and smart grid construction
• Unveiling & implementation of Chinese on-grid photovoltaic feed-in tariff
• Key grid integration technology in BIPV projects
• Analysis of China’s newest subsidy policy on grid integration of solar energy
• Difficulties in developing large scale grid-connected photovoltaic power plants in China

For more info, please visit www.pvgridintegration.com or email Fanny Wang at marketing@jfpsgroup.com.cn.

HDB: Two Steps Ahead Towards Sustainable Public Housing In Singapore

As the public housing authority that houses over 80% of Singapore’s population, HDB has a key role to play in supporting Singapore’s commitment to sustainable development. Today, HDB made further progress with two key initiatives:

a) Procurement of 1MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) panels worth about $2.3 million from the Renewable Energy Corporation (REC). This is by far the single largest solar panel procurement in Singapore to date. The solar panels will be implemented at six HDB precincts covering about 3,000 residential units; and

b) Collaboration with Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) to develop a modeling tool to quantify and formulate a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) on sustainability environmental targets in developing Punggol as an Eco-Town for the tropics. This will enable a more effective design for sustainability, and support HDB’s planning efforts to enhance resource efficiency and livability within Punggol Eco-Town. Read more

Possible Environmental Crises Facing Singapore and Appropriate Responses: The Case of the Poh Ern Shih Buddhist Temple

Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II

Speaker: Mr Lee Boon Siong, Honorary President and Director, Poh Ern Shih Temple

The Poh Ern Shih Temple (Temple of Thanksgiving), built in 1954, is an ecologically friendly Buddhist temple located at Chwee Chian Hill, off Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore. In 2000, the Directors decided that the temple had to be redesigned to deal with the rising costs of water, electricity and an over-dependence on fossil fuel. It was noted that environmental degradation had been increasing over the decades and that adopting ecologically friendly technologies was the way to go in the age of rising global temperatures and climate change.

This seminar will focus on Poh Ern Shih Temple’s efforts to protect the environment. The temple takes advantage of Singapore’s abundant sunlight to produce: (i) Electricity by employing three different kinds of solar energy cells – Polycrystalline, Monocrystalline and Amorphous Cells (ii) Hotwater from Solar Heat Collector Cells in Solar Panels, and (iii) Night Lighting of its landscaping and common corridors with batteries charged by electricity collected from hybrid sets of wind/solar energy units.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s abundant rainfall has made it possible to (i) Irrigate the temple grounds (ii) Generate electricity via the deployment of Micro Hydrogenerators for charging the batteries of in-house motorized wheelchairs and lighting for its landscaping and common corridors as well as (iii) Conserve, collect and convert the rainwater to drinkable water by deploying Reverse Osmosis Techonology in Portable Filtration/UV Units available overseas in the event of natural disasters.

Finally, the temple is able to leverage on the abundance of a renewable resource, bamboo, (i) to reduce the culling of our valuable forests by deploying bamboo for all the temple’s new furniture wherever possible since it is readily available from neighbouring states and is a 5-year renewable resource as compared to a 100 year old or 300 year old oak or teak tree and (ii) to reduce the pollution from the steel industries, by making all its in-house new wheelchairs from bamboo.

For details and registration, visit the ISEAS website.

Source: ISEAS

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