Malaysia

An international research team has tested a holographic film based on prismatic concentrators that was presented by Russian scientists last year and is claimed to significantly reduce the operating temperature of solar modules, including that of thermal-photovoltaic devices. According to the new findings, the film is able to lower the operating temperature by around 3.5 degrees Celsius.

Scientists have developed a new model based on fault tree analysis to evaluate the frequency of fires caused by rooftop PV systems and assess system safety and reliability. They claim that the new tool has the potential to identify fault linkages in systems, highlight failure patterns before they arise, and compare multiple designs for safety.

Through the Green Electricity Tariff (GET) program, the government will offer 4,500 GWh of power to residential and industrial customers each year. These will be charged an additional MYE0.037 ($0.087) for each kWh of renewable energy purchased.

The latest edition of a clean power jobs survey produced by IRENA and the International Labour Organization has stressed the important role which will need to be played by the public sector if the energy transition’s employment benefits are to be shared equally.

With pressure mounting on the world’s governments to turn their back on the fossil fuel, China and peers in South East Asia, Europe and South Asia could help deliver a coal-free future at the COP26 climate summit planned in Glasgow in November.

Ten 50 MW projects will be developed in four states after a tender held last year.

An Indian-Malaysian research group has investigated the effectiveness of several passive cooling techniques for solar panels, including the placement of plants around the modules or coir pith underneath them, both of which, surprisingly, offered good performance in terms of temperature reduction and power yield.

Solar developer NEFIN and electric company Tuas Power have tabled a joint bid to secure the rights to supply 100 MWh of ‘zero-carbon electricity’ from Malaysia to Singapore and said they initially intend to use “brown power” to secure supply during non-solar-generation hours.

Scientists in Malaysia have used, for the first time, nanocomposite films based on zinc oxide and polyvinyl alcohol in organic solar cells. These films were able to improve the efficiencies of the PV devices by up to 3.5%.

The Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association (MPIA) has urged the country’s government to allocate more capacity under the metering scheme, as all installed power for commercial and industrial PV was already assigned a few months after the scheme’s launch.