Rooftop solar PV launched at SM St. Michael, Sabah

While 10 schools in Sabah celebrate their achievement of 100% passes in the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) this year, SM St Michael has a bonus reason to celebrate.

Greenery welcomes you as you approach St. Michael secondary school.

The school became the first in Sabah to have the solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed on its roof to reduce the school's electricity consumption. More importantly, this will pave the way for Malaysians to learn and appreciate the technology at early stage.

The installation of the 5.4kWp rooftop solar here was completed in January 2013, thanks to a worldwide project named dena Solar Roofs Programme, coordinated by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH, and co-financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Brief information of the rooftop installation:

Installed capacity       : 5.4 kWp
Solar module              : 24 panels
Area of roof covered  : 41m²
Panel rating                : 225W
Inverter                       : 2 nos (to convert DC to AC supply)
Energy production     : 6,800 kWh annually. Approximately 567 kWh per month
Cost                             : €2,000 to €2,500 per kWp without battery (RM8,000 - RM10,000)

For educational purposes:
A display panel has been installed in the centre of the school to display the actual power in kW and the accumulated generated energy (in kWh) and CO₂ savings over the entire period.

"The main goal is to support the cooperation between German and Malaysian experts in the field of photovoltaic and also sharing of knowledge about the systems under the specific conditions in Malaysia." 

           - Gabriele Eichner of the German Energy Agency.

The school became the programme's first recipient in Malaysia

Another school with solar PV installation is SK Pulau Sepanggar, located half an hour boat-ride from Kota Kinabalu. This is a full capacity installation which means the school gets all its power requirement from this installation alone. The school is not connected to the power grid due to its location.

It is a self initiative by the government to improve the quality of life of the local community as well as to provide a better learning environment for the school children.

SK Pulau Sepanggar hybrid system: The 25kWp solar PV is coupled with diesel generator set

TheGreenMechanics' two cents:

While fully agreeing to the school selection, I am hoping that the "dena Solar Roofs Programme" will also look into the many underprivileged rural schools in the interior. They acknowledged that the programme is most suited for places such as those in the remote areas in East Malaysia.

Samsung Africa launches Solar-powered Internet schools

Watch it Malaysia.

Because we can definitely do this and we can even surpass what they did in South Africa. We have the talents (experienced designers and installers), we have many remote areas, and most of all, we have the social obligation - and the leaders pledge - to extend similar services to the rural folks. The hilly terrain should not be too much of a challenge to transport stuff anymore nowadays. The implementation of the promised Internet Village should be intensified and do away with too much hassle.

We do not have to wait for Samsung to do CSR for us, do we?

A 40-foot shipping container-turn-school.

They did it in South Africa

Samsung has built the first-of-its-kind solar-powered internet schools in the remote rural areas of South Africa, with design specifically to thwart theft. The schools are understood to have been equipped with Samsung's tablet PCs, laptop computers, internet connection, wi-fi cameras.

Samsung reckon that, on average, less than 25% of rural areas on the continent benefit from electricity, resulting in isolated communities with limited access to education and connectivity.

The solar-powered schools are built for energy scarce environments, harsh weather conditions, and for transportation over long distances. The solar panels, made from rubber (not glass) provide enough energy to power the classroom’s equipment for up to nine hours a day, and for one and a half days without any sunlight at all. The selection of rubber material over glass is to withstand long journey into the rural areas.


KK Park, President and CEO of Samsung Africa, on the initiative:

“We have set an ambitious goal for ourselves in Africa: to positively affect 5-million lives by 2015. We believe that this can most effectively be achieved if we connect our CSR initiatives with our history and core business. With the goal to grow our business on the continent, we also know that we have to sustain our level of innovation. This can only be achieved if we invest in education to facilitate African thought leadership and to ensure we have access to a large workforce of skilled engineers in the future. The Solar Powered Internet School is a great example of this strategy at play.”

The classroom can accommodate 21 student. It is also equipped with a 50-inch electronic board.

The classroom is equipped with a smart power consumption monitor that detects if people use the solar setup to power anything that they are not supposed to, such as television sets. I think this is a good idea but being in a remote area, Samsung should provide some socket outlets for the community to charge their electric lanterns, communication tools, etc. This should serve the general public even further.

If 'power theft' is a concern, Samsung can always password-protect the power sockets.


Source: designboom and Samsung Tomorrow.