Landed homes capitalise on low cost of solar panels to power homes

A full suite of solar panels installed just a month ago has helped homeowner Marcus Pua harness the sun's energy. It's used to power his home as long as the sun's out. Having paid for the system in full, Mr Pua says it's very likely he'll break even in the next five years. Based on the data, I foresee the ability to be able to sell back the excess energy generated back to the grid and I think that will be very useful. Because as you know, electrical consumption and demand is very high in Singapore. For homeowners like Mr Pua, that perk is just one part of the equation. A competitive market coupled with falling prices of solar panels mean homeowners are now spoilt for choice. Over the past two years, prices for such panels have fallen by some 60 percent, partly due to excess supply. Even then, one firm says it takes a lot for homeowners to commit to a system that lasts for a quarter of a decade or longer. I think when everyone in the market has a kind of first-time owner mindset, when there's still a lot of trust and awareness issues with rooftop solar as a product, ultimately it was very difficult for customers to, you know, put up like a hefty upfront cost to own a system and then also kind of have to bear the risk of high maintenance, high repair costs. That's why the firm introduced a rent-to-own model that helps homeowners power their homes on a flat monthly fee. Such solar systems are already proving worthwhile, with energy output far surpassing consumption during the day. They generate enough energy to keep lights like these on, ponds like this running, and even electric vehicles like this charged. But with new players like GetSolar entering the market, it means tougher competition. There has been a noticeable increase in number of system graders coming into the market the last one year, two years, especially after the COVID. So, in fact, there's a very low barrier to entry for such system graders. So for SolarG, because of too many players in the residential market, we now focus more strongly on the commercial industrial sector. Energy experts believe solar energy is now the cheapest form of generating electricity in most parts of the world. Meanwhile, Singapore's energy market regulator says the country is on track to achieve its solar energy targets. Solar power is projected to meet about 10% of the nation's energy needs by 2050.