Sunset at Sutera Harbour Resort

To the city folks, Sutera Harbour resort is probably synonym to 7K Sunset Run. And it is by no accident that the annual run is so named as its man-made shore is perfect for sunset watch. Come anytime in the evening and you'll be presented with different 'sky paintings' every single time.


You do not have to a be a resort guest to enjoy the beach (if i can call it beach).


During fine weather, you can sit among the rocks and watch the sun goes down.


This was on the evening of Malaysia Day, 16th September 2016


You can stay back long after other revelers have left and take long exposure shots.

The sky was not clear that day and it was not possible to witness the 'fireball' dipping down the horizon but this place is nearby and you can always come back to capture that elusive shot.

See more shots at JDFloydPictures.

Singapore to have driverless pods by end-2016

Back in April, Mashable carried an article about driverless vehicles that is expected to ply Singapore's roads as early as year-end. Chances are if you spend your Christmas holiday in Singapore later, you could be hopping on these battery powered pods.


This cool driverless pod will run on Singapore's roads by end of the year. Image by SMRT Corporation


In 2010, Dutch company, 2getthere, specialising in developing sustainable Automated Transit Networks for personal and group transportation, together with SMRT produced 10 similar vehicles for Abu Dhabi's cleantech business park, Masdar City.

It is understood that 2getthere also built similar system for Rotterdam's Rivium Business Park, supplying 6 electric vehicles for the park with the capacity of 20 passengers per car.

For the Singapore case, these pods - 24 of them that can handle up to 8,000 passengers per hour - are said to be suitable for gated communities, schools, universities and other smaller roads.



The concept vehicle for Singapore will run on batteries.



The car that's currently running on Masdar City's roads - built by 2getthere. Image: 2getthere. You have got to like this cool, quiet pod for your community! 


TheGreenMechanics: This may be suitable for UMS. The campus occupies large area of gated community with increasing number of students. In fact, this is one of the biggest campus in Malaysia in terms of land area.


Source: Mashable

SESB Purchased 14 Mobile Generator Sets for Faster Response Time

In a nutshell this acquisition would mean reduction in power supply interruptions and faster relief to the consumers. This is achieved supposedly with faster response via deployment of smaller gensets but larger in numbers, to cover more strategic and critical areas.

Reading today's local dailies, you read and get what's necessary for general information. But from technical standpoint, I was a bit frustrated that none of the three papers (NST, Borneo Post & Daily Express) give sufficient information about the mobile gensets technical information apart from stating the obvious -- generator capacity and number of sets. Then again, that is all that matters to the general public, I suppose.

Too bad. Had I known of the event earlier I would not have hesitated to walk in as spectator.

WZS PowerGen handing over the trucks to SESB. Photo: NST Online

Anyway, digesting what the reporters reported in their respective dailies, here's a hint of the mobile power unit:

Generator set capacity	:	500kW each
Engine manufacturer	:	na
Alternator manufacturer	:	na
Designed & integrated by	:	WZS PowerGen Sdn Bhd
Generator engine emission standard	:	Euro 3
Gross mobile unit weight	:	16 tonnes
Fuel tank size	:	2,000 litres
Up time (with continuous use)	:	10 hours
Number of sets	:	14
Total cost	:	RM12 mil ($3 mil)
Received now	:	7 trucks
To receive in Oct 2016	:	7 trucks (expected)
Each generator set will power up	:	200 to 300 homes

Having 14 trucks with capacity of 500kW each, SESB will now have 'additional' generating capacity of 7MW at its disposal to attend to power interrupted areas. So, when there are scheduled power outages which normally last for 8 hours in most cases, this new truck loaded with power generator will be able to last that long.

In my own experience in Kota Kinabalu and Penampang areas, when requested, SESB would send their "Tenaga segera" mobile genset to cater for our industrial power need.

“Before this, we would have to call our contractors and settle payments before we are able to respond to power supply interruption reports but with these 14 new mobile units, we can go together which would cut down response time by half.”- Muhamad Nazri Pazil, Senior General Manager (Asset management), SESB

TheGreenMechanics: Fair enough.

===========================================================

Here's excerpt of the report by The Borneo Post:

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) now has 14 brand new mobile generator sets to provide faster response to consumers during power supply interruptions.

Its senior general manager (asset management), Muhamad Nazri Pazil, said SESB had spent close to RM12 million to acquire the new generator sets from WZS PowerGen Sdn Bhd, the company appointed to design and assemble the mobile power provider.

“We have seven units with us now which will be assigned to be on standby here in Kota Kinabalu, while the other seven will arrive in October and will be sent to assist the remaining focus areas in the East Coast,” said Nazri, during the handing over ceremony at the SESB compound here yesterday.

The 500Kw mobile generator sets, with a capacity to cater to about 200 to 300 houses at once, will be located in focus areas statewide, namely, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and Labuan.

The 14 new units, he said, adds on to SESB existing assets of nine mobile generator sets of bigger capacity in Malawa, which are being used to cater to commercial business districts (CBD), as well as its contractors’ assets, namely, MNI and LLP, which each owning 11 and two units respectively.

Previously, SESB had traded in 25 units of used canopy (ground) generator sets, which Nazri said had been in use for about 15 years. The supply of the 14 units of 500Kw generator sets will enable SESB to provide faster response during power supply interruptions and improve the company’s quality of service.

“Before this, we would have to call our contractors and settle payments before we are able to respond to power supply interruption reports but with these 14 new mobile units, we can go together which would cut down response time by half,” he said.

Also present at the handing over ceremony yesterday were SESB general manager Abdul Razak Salleh, deputy general manager (distribution) Ridwan Saham, and WZS PowerGen chief operating officer Dominic How.

Sources: The Borneo Post

Video: The Truth About Solar

Watch this clip and learn interesting facts about solar PV, explained in simple terms by ColdFusion:



It's 11 minutes long but you won't get bored, I promise.

Source: coldfusion 

Sherry Anne Laujang crowned 2016 Sabah Harvest Festival Queen

It was a shame I couldn't make it to the main event for a couple of years now. This school holiday, we were on a family trip to Gold Coast during the final days of the state wide Harvest Festival celebration.

Received news from home saying that our hometown girl was adjudged winner of this year's competition. Here is a capture of her when she won the Penampang UNK competition and became the representative of this district:


Sherry Anne Laujang. Picture by de engineur

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + ~~~ + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the article carried by The Star on Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Student Sherry Anne crowned Harvest Queen


Sherry Anne Laujang (middle) flanked by Claryssa Henry and Fenny Ester Joslin. Picture by The Star

KOTA KINABALU: Student Sherry Anne Laujang of Penampang was crowned this year's Unduk Ngadau or Harvest Queen in the penultimate event of state-level Kaamatan festivities.

The 21-year-old Kampung Ramayah resident outshone 43 other contestants from around Sabah as well as the Klang Valley, Johor and Labuan to take the title.

In second place was 23-year-old Claryssa Henry of Kudat while the third spot went to Fenny Ester Joslin, 21, of Sabah's northernmost island of Banggi.

They received their prizes from the wife of Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negri Toh Puan Norlidah RM Jasni.

Earlier in the day, the ritual chanting of Kadazandusun priestesses in the age-old magavau or thanksgiving ceremony was among the events to kick off the harvest festival celebrations. The festivities at the Hongkod Koisaan in Penampang here started with the cutting of seven padi stalks.

Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin performed the symbolic harvesting and later beat a gong seven times. Also present was Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who is also the Huguan Siou or Kadazandusun paramount leader.

Pairin later read out the speech of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who said Sabah gives priority to cultural festivals like Kaamatan because they help foster unity and understanding among the state's diverse communities.

The celebrations included cultural performances, including the sumazau dance of the Kadazan of Penampang, the pokodinding of the Dusun Tindal and the sayau of the Dusun Liwan.

Source: The Star Online

Penampang Unduk Ngadau 2016: Sherry Anne Laujang

Sumazau dance by Unduk Ngadau contestants and the invited guests

Held - for the first time - outside the confined space of Tun Fuad Hall or Penampang Cultural Centre, this year's district-level festival venue was Padang Siol, Kg Hungab here.


The last ten in the second round

The day-long fest was capped with the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan (beauty pageant) and here are some of the contestants in the second round (top ten):-


Angel Sungkadhamai M. Motiung





She reacts to a 'lifeline' offered by the cheering crowd during the Question & Answer session.



Eventual winner Sherry waits anxiously with the runner-ups.



Sherry Anne is congratulated by the 2015 UNK.



Sherry Anne Laujang: Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan 2016



Happy moment for the fair ladies!



Sherry Anne with the rest of the seven finalists


Full result of the Penampang Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan (UNK) contest:

Unduk Ngadau: Sherry Anne Laujang (representing Kg Ramayah)
1st Runner Up: Fayelina Rudolf @Unon Labangka (Penampang Proper)
2nd Runner Up: Carrey Evanne Kim Lee (Kg Koidupan)

The rest of the top 7:

Angel Sungkadhamai Motiung (Kg Ramayah)
Deborah Wilson (Kg Babagon)
Joyce Liew Mei Ling (Kg Kolopis)
Sabrina Tubong (Kg Mogkoputi)



Sherry Anne is the younger sister of former Penampang Unduk Ngadau (UNK 2012), Samantha Sharon Laujang. You can see her winning moment here or at JDfloydPictures.



Samantha Sharon Laujang, the 2012 Penampang UNK. -- Do you think they look alike?


Congratulation Sherry Anne!

She will be representing Penampang district in the state-level Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan at Hongkod Koisaan KDCA, Jln PEnampang on 30-31 May 2016.

Didy Yani Dinoh is Kota Kinabalu city Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan 2016

The Kaamatan Festival

The Kaamatan  or harvest festival is a thanksgiving celebration in honour of the rice spirit for a good harvest by the KadazanDusun and Murut communities in Sabah.



The city-level Kaamatan carnival this year was held at Padang Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu with host of not-to-be-missed highlights such as the Unduk Ngadau or Harvest Beauty pageant, Sugandoi or singing competition featuring KadazanDusun songs, traditional cooking, local food tasting and many, many more.

Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan

Fifteen finalists took part in this year's competition with seven making it into the second round. The winner is chosen after going through interviews conducted in their mother tongue and in a language of their choice.


Ms Valencia Ann Primus, the Unduk Ngadau DBKK 2015 is making appearance for one last time and is here to crown the 2016 UNK.

Some of the contestants:














The 7 finalists in the final round with their winning sash, together with Miss Popular and Miss Best Hairdo.



Ms Didy Yani Dinoh is Kota Kinabalu city Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan, UNK 2016


Ms Didy Yani received RM4,000 cash for her victory and several other prizes in kind. Here is the full list of winners for DBKK Unduk Ngadau pageant:

Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan: Ms Didy Yani Dinoh
1st Runner Up: Ms Laura Simon
2nd Runner Up: Ms Mirna Kota
3rd Runner Up: Ms Tatiana Rudolf J.Milip
5th Place: Ms Andrea Nyuk Fah Harry
6th Place: Ms Dewina Petrus Guriting
7th Place: Ms Alexsa Chin Chiaw Yinn

Miss Audience Choice & Miss Popular: Ms Cindy Jenniffer David
Miss Best Hair Do: Ms Shareene Francis Loudin

Ms Didy Yani Dinoh will represent Kota Kinabalu and Ms Laura Simon to represent Likas in the state-level Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan 2016 at Hongkod Koisaan KDCA on 30-31 May 2016.

Congratulation!

More pictures of the Kota Kinabalu UNK 2016 here.

Note: All right reserved. I would not object to the usage of my images for non-commercial purposes, as long as you seek my permission to do so.

Malaysia to install 1,250 MW of solar PV by 2020

Malaysia is poised to become member of the Gigawatt Club of solar PV, expectedly in 2020. But if MIDA (Malaysian Investment Developement Authority) is to be believed, this would happen earlier as the government agency is forecasting that by 2020 Malaysia is expected to have installed about 1,250 MW of solar photovoltaic.

As of today, SEDA data indicates that our installed capacity in this type of RE is just slightly over 230 MW.

Government to approve RM1.7b investment in Solar PV?

This sounds interesting but that's very speculative. Hence, we should just treat it as 'intention to announce', for now. Once announced we will have clearer picture of what's planned for implementation. It should be noted that announced project cannot be used as a component of the RE yardstick.

We have heard of many solar PV project announcements around the globe which did not materialised for various reasons.


: : Here is what we saw in the local daily The Star Online that would be of interest to RE players : :

The government is looking to approve several more solar photovoltaic (PV) companies with a total estimated investment of RM1.7 billion this year.

"We will announce it when the time comes," Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) Deputy Chief Executive Officer Datuk Phang Ah Tong said, noting that one solar PV company, with a total investment of RM1 billion, has been approved so far this year.

"Malaysia's stategic position in the industry is now attracting global solar PV module manufacturers," he said, adding the country's PV cluster ecosystem comprises about 250 companies from upstream manufacturing to downstream services, including module supply chain, supporting industries and system integrators.

"Malaysia also expects to have installed about 1,250 MW of solar PV by 2020 from the current 230 MW following two mechanisms approved by the government namely net metering and utility scale solar. With support from the government, we are optimistic the target is achievable with these two mechanisms in place," he said.

Phang also said that solar energy now has become a popular approach to renewable energy usage as it is the easiest, compared with biomass, biogas and hydropower.

"Malaysia is now the world's third largest manufacturer of PV cells, with the industry contributing significantly to economic growth and job creation." - Phang Ah Tong, Deputy CEO of MIDA.

Malaysia also has the world's largest thin manufacturing site and is one of the top exporters of solar
panels to the US, he noted.

"Five out of 10 of the world 's largest solar companies are operating in Malaysia with the PV industry recording revenue of RM20.8 billion last year," Phang said.- Bernama

Source: The Star

Brazil's Solar PV sector to create more than 60,000 jobs opportunities by 2018

Brazil will require a trained workforce to keep up with the PV pipeline. Image of "Christ the Redeemer" by Encyclopædia Britannica Online


Brazil population is estimated at 204 million in 2015 per Trading Economics, and with the Samba nation unemployment rate of 6.8% that year, every effort to alleviate this is most welcomed.

In Brazil, industry players estimated that, for every 1 MW of solar, there will be 20 to 30 direct or indirect jobs created.

Let's say we loosely apply this to our situation in Malaysia, our current installed capacity of 227MW (latest from SEDA Malaysia - as at Feb 2016) would have created around 6,800 jobs so far. Not really sure if we have reached that figure yet.


As a matter of interest, here is more of the Brazil news (through PVTech):

Solar PV sector to provide jobs to 60,000 to 90,000 people

Brazil's solar energy sector will create between 60,000 and 90,000 new job opportunities up to 2018, according to the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (Absolar).

At present at least 3.3GW of solar power plants are due to be installed in Brazil by 2018 as part of the country's reserve energy auctions and projects made possible under the free market of the state of Pernambuco.

Absolar claimed this would help to alleviate Brazil's 6.8% unemployment rate at the end of 2015, which accounts for 1.7 million unemployed persons.

Furthermore, these estimates do not include the potential jobs creation arising from the distributed generation (DG) market, which tripled in size during 2015.

Absolar executive president Rodrigo Sauaia said the installation of solar projects will result in a "significant volume" of new job opportunities, but said the DG market will require a large number of small companies having skilled teams. Professional training will become a priority this year as such training takes time and therefore action must be taken now to avoid a manpower issue creating a bottleneck in the market once it starts to progress.

These comments echoed the findings of a recent report by India's Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), which claimed that India's ambitious solar energy target could spark the creation of one million jobs, but producing a skilled workforce may be challenging.

Referring to Brazil's action plan Sauaia said: "We are evaluating the certification mechanisms that have been applied in other countries, trying to understand which of these initiatives have been successful and which ones can be used as a reference for Brazil to plan our own way."

Source: PV Tech

Kayoola: Africa’s first Solar-Powered bus launched

Derived from the word Kayoola (which means mass carrier), Uganda's Kiira Motors unveiled Africa's first solar-powered electric bus earlier this month. Later, on February 16, 2016, President Yoweri Museveni took a ride to officially launch the Kayoola solar bus at Serena Hotel in Kampala.


Launching on Feb 16. Image from The Independent


Kayoola the 'mass carrier'. Image from Kiira Motors


Solar panels on top of the bus to charge the batteries.

According to the fact sheet by Kiira Motors, the 35-seater bus propulsion system is by electric motor powered by both battery pack and soar panels:

• Top speed: 100km/h
• Electric range: 80 km (50 miles)
• Range extension by solar: Approx. 12 km

Powertrain specification

Of interest in this article is the powertrain, particularly those that are related to 'solar' although you can read  here if you are interested in everything else.


Source: Kiira Motors

It is obviously short ranged (80 km), which lead you to think that this can only be suitable for use in urban areas, rather than touring from one city to another. The solar panel could, however, extend the range depending on the weather and the good thing is that re-charging can be done anywhere without worrying that grid power may not be available.


How much?

The solar bus prototype costs $140,000 (RM584,000) to produce, but it is estimated cost around $58,000 (RM242,000) after mass production and is expected to create more than 7,000 jobs either directly or indirectly by the year 2018.

That's pretty expensive to begin with, don't you think?


The Green Mechanics' two cents: 

It's encouraging that Uganda took this bold move of producing its own vehicle to showcase its version of solar-powered electric vehicle (EV). Manufacturing a vehicle that can be mass-produced and able to penetrate the saturated market is already complicated enough let alone one that is fitted with unproven fuel source. For this, they must be given credit.

Certainly Malaysia which has a per capita GDP of more than 12 times that of Uganda's can do the same:

		Malaysia	Uganda
Land area	:	329,847 km sq	241,038 km sq
Population (2015)	:	30.5 million	37 million
GDP per capita (2015)	:	US$26,600	US$2,100
Electricity -Total installed capacity	:	28.53 mil kW	0.71 mil kW
Electricity derived from:
a) Fosil	:	87.6%  (2012)	21%  (2011)
b) Hydro	:	11.6%  (2012)	59.9% (2014)
c) Other Renewable Energy	:	0.8%  (2012)	19.2% (2014)

Source: The World Factbook at Central Intelligence Agency, CIA (US) which is published online.


We don't have to take the route taken by Uganda. We already have electric bus of our own in Melaka and Selangor. A little tweaking without compromising the safety and quality of the vehicle can pretty much be done to install solar panels to charge the batteries.

Building a whole new bus from ground up may backfire as a lot of effort will be required to prove its road worthiness, and brand acceptance in the competitive the market.

Good one from Uganda, this is!

References: Kiira Motor, CNN

Solar parking canopies to save California schools millions

We know that parking canopies are there for one reason - to shield your car from the scorching sun and prevent you from getting wet as you alight from your car during rainy days.

It doesn't have to stop there.

The roofs have done their job nicely, but they can give you more - lighting up the canopies, parking lots, charging mobile devices (and electric cars), and powering up communication towers placed in the vicinity. The list doesn't end there. The point is, installing solar roof is doable and can be profitable.


Case in point - a 325kW solar canopy system in the parking lot of Whole Foods in Brooklyn, NY. Image by: Solitaire Generation


Schools save $$$ with 7.4 MW solar PV on parking canopies

While this happened in California, SunEdison no stranger to the Malaysian local RE community.

Back in 2014 it inked a deal with Malaysia Airport Berhad to make Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) the first airport in Malaysia with solar power system. Of the 19MW proposed solar PV system, 10MW was to be installed on parking canopies.

In January this year, SunEdison signed solar power purchase agreements with 25 elementary, middle and high schools in California to install high-performance solar parking canopies at each of the campuses, which is expected to save the schools more than $30 million on energy costs over the next 20 years.

The 5 unified school districts to benefit from the new solar systems are Dixon, Downey, Duarte, Livermore and Newman Crows Landing. These districts signed 20-year PPAs with SunEdison for more than 7.4 MW of solar to be installed on parking canopies in each school's parking lot.

"Using parking lot space for solar solves two problems: It provides much-needed shade for cars from the scorching California sun, and it lowers electricity costs - typically a school's second largest expense," says Sam Youneszadeh, SunEdison's regional general manager of its Western U.S. solar business.

"We've helped more than 150 schools become not only more self-sufficient, but also enabled them to free up funds to maintain their buildings and ensure they continue to be safe and positive learning environments," adds Youneszadeh.

With SunEdison's solar PPAs, these schools can enjoy the benefits of solar energy without any upfront cost. SunEdison will install, own and operate each system while the schools buy electricity at rates lower than those offered by their local utility.

The solar systems are expected to generate enough energy to offset more than half of all the electricity used at each school - that same amount of electricity can power 1,700 Californian homes a year.

SunEdison expects to complete the parking canopies this year.

The Green Mechanics' two cents:
Our schools in the interior are most suitable for such installation as electricity is mostly consumed during schooling hours when the sun is up there providing solar power. Airports in the remote areas are also good prospects as their operations are the busiest during daytime.

Source: Solar Industry Magazine | 14 January 2016 

Market for MW-scale PV-related activities to surpass 133 GW worldwide by end-2015

According to GTM's latest report released recently, Megawatt-Scale PV O&M and Asset Management 2015-2020, the total market for megawatt-scale Operation & Maintenance (O&M) and Asset Management (AM) is expected to surpass 133 GW worldwide by the end of 2015.

Megawatt-scale PV refers to installations/activities in access of 1 MW which means residential solar PV and other smaller solar farms are excluded.

The research firm further stated that total market will more than triple by 2020 to exceed 488 GW worldwide, driven predominantly by China, the U.S., India and Japan.


Major vendors. Source: Periodical e-mail updates from GreentechMedia

The research finding provides global and country-specific competitive landscape analysis, market sizing and forecasts, current and emerging trends and strategies, as well as service scope and price levels for a variety of plant sizes.

It also provides profile of 57 vendors in the O&M and Asset Management space including services offered, in/out-sourcing policies and fleet size by key country.

Comprehensive geographical coverage 

With every major markets being covered in the research, there's a fair chance that you would get an informed decision in your renewable energy projects, in particular solar PV. The report is available for a fee but for the industry players, this should be considered as small cost to doing business. As for the rest of us readers, we'll have to be contented with just the bits and pieces of information released by GTM later (probably, with no time frame).

Markets covered includes Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, and United States.

The Green Mechanics: If I were to be a member of the management team of SEDA Malaysia, I would strongly recommend that we get a copy of the report.

Source: GTM

My wish is to become a smart phone

Received this and I tought I should share it for this generation and for the generation to come. Read and see what you make of it. Nothing was changed from the original text.

Sad but true

A teacher after the dinner she started checking homework done by the students. Her husband is strolling around with a smart phone playing his favourite game 'Candy Crush Saga'.

When reading the last note, the wife starts crying with silent tears.

Her husband saw this and asked, 'Why are you crying dear?

What happened?'

Wife: 'Yesterday I gave homework to my 1st Standard students, to write something on topic -My Wish-.

'Husband: 'OK, but why are you crying?

'Wife: 'Today while checking the last note, it makes me cry.

'Husband curiously: 'What's written in the note that makes you cry?

'Wife: 'Listen'

My wish is to become a smart phone.

My parents love smart phone very much.

They care for smart phone so much that sometimes they forget to care for me.When my father comes from office tired, he has time for smart phone but not for me.

When my parents are doing some important work and smart phone is ringing, within single ring they attend to the phone, but not me even...even if I am crying.

They play games on their smart phones not with me.When they are talking to someone on their smart phone, they never listen to me even if I am telling something important.

So, My wish is to become a smart phone.

After listening the note husband got emotional and asked the wife, 'who wrote this?'.

Wife: 'Our son'.

Gadgets are beneficial, but they are for our ease not to cease the love amongst family and loved ones.

Children see and feel everything what happens with & around them. Things get imprinted on their mind with an everlasting effect. Let's take due care, so that they do not grow with any false impressions.

Source: anonymous