Abstract
Abstract. Malaysia’s development has been largely financed from its fossil fuels resources that come principally from the South China Sea. This has enabled electricity to be distributed equitably throughout society and improved the quality of life for people in Malaysia. However, the depletion of fossil fuel resources and the international conflict over South China Sea territorial ownership may leads to inadequacy of supply in the future, and may give direct impact to people in the rural areas. Malaysia’s greatest potential for solar energy comes from photovoltaics (PVs) and the large roofs of village houses offer significant potential to contribute electricity both nationally and to the local communities. However, this technology is still unfamiliar to the people living in local villages due to the subsidised electricity by TNB and high capital costs of PV systems. This paper investigates whether establishing a “solar village” is feasible in Malaysia. Through a cost feasibility analysis, the potential of harnessing solar electricity for local villages in Malaysia has been demonstrated. A novel mechanism has been presented that allows rural households to own PV panels, rent the grid cables and to share surplus electricity within the community through a three (3) way financing routes map.
Highlights
As 2011 ends, Malaysiaa has recorded an annual GDP growth of 5.6% (The World Bank, 2013) and an increasing rate of residential areas for both urban and rural areas by 20% (Department of Statistic Malaysia, 2011)
Many scholars have identified that solar energy power which comes from PV panels could readily meet up to 20 % of Malaysia’s energy needs (Chua et al, 2011; Muhammad-Sukki, Ramirez-Iniguez, Abu-Bakar, McMeekin, & Stewart, 2011)
The charging station would be community owned and since public buildings are reasonably centrally located, they would set up charging points within a radius. It would be better if the power distributed was in Alternating Current (AC) circuit, in order to save the cost of inverters, to reduce distribution losses and to be useful for electric vehicle charging
Summary
As 2011 ends, Malaysiaa has recorded an annual GDP growth of 5.6% (The World Bank, 2013) and an increasing rate of residential areas for both urban and rural areas by 20% (Department of Statistic Malaysia, 2011). This situation has influenced the rapid market for electrical appliances ownerships (Saidur, Masjuki, & Jamaluddin, 2007) which contributed towards the increased demand of electricity. APEC (2013) projected that the electricity generation in Malaysia will continue to grow at an average rate of 2.8% every year. With its economic growth and increasing population, this will lead a It has been estimated that, by 2030, the population in Malaysia will have increased to 37 million people and that this will affect the rate of GDP by up to USD850 billion per capita (APEC, 2006)
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