Singapore aiming for more solar panels in public spaces to hit new 2035 target

Singapore is planning to install more solar panels in public spaces, such as carports and building walls, in order to meet a new 2035 solar target, said Ms Gan Siow Huang at the Asia Clean Energy Summit on Tuesday. The government will also create a digital portal to encourage homeowners to install solar panels on their properties.

The country will explore using mobile containerised solar panels on vacant land, and is launching a tender for solarising public premises, which includes new surfaces like solar carports and building-integrated photovoltaics. The Energy Market Authority will appoint a panel of solar photovoltaic installers to help government agencies assess the potential of their buildings and develop tailored deployment proposals.

The second JTC innovation challenge seeks solutions for quick-deployment containerised solar panels paired with mobile battery energy storage systems, to help temporary worksites with limited or no power grid access. Singapore aims to harness solar energy across various surfaces, but acknowledges there are limits to how much solar energy it can deploy, and considers regional low-carbon electricity imports as an important option to meet at most 10% of the country's electricity needs by 2050.