Cost of solar power can now match conventional electricity in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The cost of installing and maintaining solar panels in Singapore is now on a par with that of using conventional electricity, a milestone known as grid parity, local media reported on Wednesday.

Scholars said this means that an alternative form of energy could become viable without subsidies, which Singapore does not provide, the Straits Times reported.

Singapore's electricity tariffs are among the highest in the region, helping it achieve grid parity earlier than other countries, said Thomas Reindl, director of solar energy systems at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore.

The cost of solar panels has been falling in recent years. In the past year or so, the cost of installed solar power in Singapore has roughly halved from 4 Singapore dollars (3.2 U.S. dollars) per watt to 2 Singapore dollars (1.6 U.S. dollars) per watt.

Installed solar capacity here has gone up to match, from 361.9 kilowatt peak, a measure of power output, at the end of 2008 to 5, 546 kwp at the end of last year, most of it non-residential.

Conventional electricity tariffs are 27.27 cents per kilowatt hour. Singapore's largest solar panel systems of 500 kwp to 1 megawatt peak would currently match those prices. The Housing and Development Board has been testing solar panels since 2010 under a 31 million Singapore dollars five-year scheme. (1 U.S. dollar = 1. 25 Singapore dollars) Enditem

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