Solar panels hung over void spaces: JTC goes innovative as Singapore ramps up deployment

Woodlands East Industrial Estate may be home to food-related trades such as traditional foodstuff and catering kitchens, but it will also soon be a home for innovative solar solutions.

As part of the country's efforts to ramp up solar deployment to meet its new ambition of 4-gigawatt-peak (GWp) by 2035, businesses and visitors at 15 Woodlands Loop will soon see solar panels being suspended across the void space between two existing buildings.

Emphasising the need to look beyond conventional surfaces such as rooftops and open land, Minister of State for Energy, Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang said at the Asia Clean Energy Summit on Tuesday (Oct 27) that this will help maximise Singapore's solar potential.

She cited JTC's pilot of the country's first "overhang" solar deployment project at Woodlands East Industrial as an example of innovative solutions in land-scarce Singapore.

"This will transform an unused area of more than half a football field into a new source of energy. If successful, the pilot could unlock similar unused spaces between more buildings for solar deployment," Gan said.

Overhang solar project pilot

In a news release after the summit, JTC said the first overhang solar project has been awarded to renewable energy company EDP APAC.

The company will design, build, operate and test the overhang solar structure over 15 months from October this year, targeting at least 250kWp of installed capacity against an estimated void space of 4,300 sq m.

It is required to maximise sun exposure without compromising the structural integrity, ventilation or fire safety of the existing buildings.

EDP must also provide safe access for installation and maintenance works at height, and proper drainage to prevent water from pooling on the structure.

After it is commissioned, the system will operate for 10 years, exporting the electricity to the national grid, JTC added.

Innovation calls for solar system on facade, construction site

Meanwhile, JTC has also launched two innovation calls seeking industry solutions to deploy solar on building facades and at construction worksites which have limited access to the national grid.

It pointed out that unlike rooftops, facades differ in design, orientation and how much weight they can bear.

Solutions must be light enough to install without major reinforcement works and connect seamlessly to the building's existing electrical systems, JTC said.

The selected solution will be installed on at least 200 sq m of facade at its YS-ONE industrial building in Yishun and tested over 12 months.

As for construction sites, the innovation call seeks off-grid, portable system that pair containerised solar panels with mobile battery energy storage systems.

JTC noted that many temporary construction worksites and remote locations have little or no access to the national grid and rely heavily on diesel generators.

Portable system solutions sought must therefore be ready to commission within days and redeployed across different sites as needed.

The energy generated could then be used to power site offices, electric construction equipment, and charging electric vehicles.

JTC will measure how much time, cost and carbon emissions the selected solution will save compared to diesel generators over a nine-month trial.

Said JTC chief sustainability officer Finn Tay: "Every surface is a potential power source. By testing solar in the spaces between, on and beyond our buildings, we are finding new ways to grow Singapore’s solar capacity."

伍德兰兹东工业区可能是传统食品和餐饮厨房等食品相关行业的聚集地，但很快也将成为创新太阳能解决方案的聚集地。

为了实现到 2035 年达到 4 吉瓦峰值 (GWp) 的新目标，该国正在加大太阳能部署力度。作为其中的一部分，伍德兰兹环路 15 号的企业和游客很快就会看到太阳能电池板悬挂在两栋现有建筑物之间的空隙上。

新加坡能源、贸易及工业部政务部长颜晓煌周二（10月27日）在亚洲清洁能源峰会上强调，需要跳出屋顶和空地等传统表面的局限，这将有助于最大限度地发挥新加坡的太阳能潜力。

她以裕廊集团在兀兰东部工业区试点推行的全国首个“悬挑式”太阳能部署项目为例，说明在土地稀缺的新加坡，创新解决方案的重要性。

“这将把超过半个足球场大小的闲置区域变成新的能源来源。如果试点成功，就可以在更多建筑物之间开发类似的闲置空间，用于太阳能发电，”甘说。

悬臂式太阳能项目试点

峰会结束后，裕廊集团在一份新闻稿中表示，首个悬挑式太阳能项目已授予可再生能源公司EDP APAC。

该公司将从今年 10 月起，在 15 个月内设计、建造、运营和测试悬挑式太阳能结构，目标是在 4300 平方米的预计空隙空间内实现至少 250kWp 的装机容量。

需要在不损害现有建筑物的结构完整性、通风或消防安全的前提下，最大限度地利用阳光。

EDP​​ 还必须为高空安装和维护工作提供安全通道，并采取适当的排水措施，以防止水在建筑物上积聚。

裕廊集团补充说，该系统投入使用后将运行10年，并将电力输送到国家电网。

创新理念呼吁在建筑工地外立面上安装太阳能系统

与此同时，裕廊集团还发起了两项创新征集活动，寻求行业解决方案，以便在建筑物外墙和接入国家电网有限的建筑工地部署太阳能。

它指出，与屋顶不同，建筑立面在设计、朝向和承重能力方面都存在差异。

裕廊集团表示，解决方案必须足够轻便，无需进行大规模加固工程即可安装，并且能够与建筑物现有的电气系统无缝连接。

选定的解决方案将安装在其位于义顺的 YS-ONE 工业大楼至少 200 平方米的外墙上，并进行为期 12 个月的测试。

至于建筑工地，此次创新征集旨在寻找离网便携式系统，该系统将集装箱式太阳能电池板与移动电池储能系统相结合。

JTC指出，许多临时建筑工地和偏远地区很少或根本没有接入国家电网，严重依赖柴油发电机。

因此，所寻求的便携式系统解决方案必须在几天内即可投入使用，并可根据需要重新部署到不同的站点。

产生的能源可用于为工地办公室、电动施工设备供电以及为电动汽车充电。

JTC 将在为期九个月的试验中，衡量所选方案与柴油发电机相比，能够节省多少时间、成本和碳排放量。

裕廊集团首席可持续发展官郑文泰表示：“每一处表面都是潜在的能源。通过在建筑物之间、建筑物表面以及建筑物外部的空间测试太阳能，我们正在寻找提高新加坡太阳能发电能力的新途径。”