5 Buildings Get Grants To Install Solar Panels

Source : The Business Times, May 22 2009

EDB has also given grants to four public sector projects.

FIVE commercial buildings for office, retail and manufacturing use have received grants from a $20 million scheme to install solar panels, the Economic Development Board said yesterday.

It did not reveal the amount disbursed from the fund, saying that it is a small percentage. It noted that firms can receive grants of up to 40 per cent of the cost for solar panels.

Grants to 14 private and public solar projects so far total $8 million. or 21.6 per cent, of $37 million of funds, EDB said. The $37 million combines the $20 million solar capability scheme and $17 million set aside for clean energy research and test-bedding (Cert).

The five private sector projects that have received grants are: City Developments Ltd's Tampines Grande, Lend Lease Retail's 313@Somerset, Robert Bosch's regional headquarters building, Lonza Biologics' manufacturing facility and Applied Materials' manufacturing facility.

By year-end, Applied Materials is set to put up the largest solar installation in Singapore at its operations centre at Changi. The 5.7 sq metre panel to be installed - about the size of a Western king-size bed - can generate 430 megawatt hours (MWh) per annum. This is enough to power 95 four-room HDB flats.

CDL's office building Tampines Grande will incorporate a solar power system to provide air-conditioning to the atrium, the company said. It expects to save 2.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year.

Besides the five commercial projects, EDB has given grants to four public sector projects under Cert - Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Changi Airport budget terminal, the National Environment Agency's Meteorological Station and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

With the earlier five public sector projects, Singapore's total installed base of solar power systems stands at 5MWh, up from 200kWh in mid-2008.