1. What is the difference between solar panels (power) and solar hot water(thermal)?
Solar panels take light from the sun and make electricity. Solar hot water systems take heat from the sun and heat water.
It’s easy to remember:
• Heat from the sun heats the water.
• Light from the sun turns on the lights.
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2. How do solar power systems work?
Solar power systems convert the energy from sunlight into direct current (d.c.) electricity. An inverter then converts this direct current to alternating current (a.c.), to make it compatible with grid electricity. Solar power systems should be oriented to the North and tilted in order to generate as much electricity from the sun as possible.
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3. Why use solar power?
• It is quiet, clean and reduces electricity bills.
• It avoids the impacts of fossil fuel power stations such as greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution.
• It avoids the need for expensive powerlines to carry electricity from large power stations to your business and private properties.
• It can add value to your house, and make an interesting and unique architectural feature.
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4. If I have solar panels, does that mean I won’t have electricity when it’s dark, cloudy or raining?
Solar panels do need light to produce electricity. However, the electricity can be stored in batteries or in the electricity cables on the street (for grid-connected systems). Therefore, there’ll always be extra electricity if you need it.
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5. Will my solar panels make power during blackouts/power surges?
If you have a grid-connected system your power will go out in a blackout, as your system’s inverter automatically disconnects the electricity supply to prevent electrocution. When this happens, you can’t get your electricity back out of the cables, and you can’t put any more in.
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6. Are solar power systems reliable?
Some early solar power systems were unreliable, just like early models of mobile phones, computers, radios, TVs, microwaves etc.
Today solar power systems are covered by Australian standards and installed by trained professionals. Typical warranties are 20 years for panels and 5 years for electrical components – better than most household appliances.
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7. Are the batteries reliable and how long will they last?
Yes. Batteries are generally very reliable and will last 3-4 years provided you look after them properly (in the same way as your car battery e.g. regularly check charge levels, top up with distilled water etc.). Ask your installer for care advice.
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8. How reflective are solar panels?
Solar panels are designed to absorb as much light as possible to generate the maximum amount of electricity. Therefore the materials typically have no or low reflectivity.
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9. How many solar panels do I need to run my house?
This depends on how much power you use.
The average Malaysian home consumes about 7,400 kWh of electricity each year and this would need about 64 panels (which would take up a lot of roof space).

A typical rooftop solar power system (1.2 kW) has an area of about 7.6 square metres (approximately 12 x 80 watt panels) and generates around 1,600 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.

This is enough to power:
• 5 compact fluorescent light bulbs
• A 4-star 250L refrigerator, a 4-star top loading washing machine
• A stereo
• A medium sized television

Remember, you’ll always have your battery storage or the electricity grid there if you need extra electricity.
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10. What if my roof doesn’t face north?
North-facing roofs are ideal for solar power, but most systems can work up to an angle of 45 degrees off North. Ask your local solar supplier or installer for advice.
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11. How long will the panels last?
Generally, systems last 20-30 years since the waterproof seals on the panels tend to deteriorate over time.
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12. If I move home, can I take the solar panels with me?
You could take your solar power system down and re-install it at your new house provided the roof of the new house is suitable. Or, you could include it in the selling price of your house. If your house is in a remote area and the solar power system is the sole source of power, the purchaser of your house would be wise to make sure the solar power system is included in the price, or they’ll be left without electricity.
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13. Where are the solar panels made from?
The silicon used to make the solar panels is imported, and the panels manufactured and assembled in countries such as Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia.
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14. Do solar power systems ever pay themselves back?
A solar power system is a big investment and as long as electricity prices stay the same, the payback in terms of what you save on energy bills will be very long. If prices go up, it will be shorter (but still a long time). However, keep in mind that solar panels are a similar price to many other home renovations or consumer goods which will never pay themselves back e.g. home theatre, new carpet, swimming pool or a new kitchen.
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15. Is it more expensive to fit an old house than buying a system for a new house?
The cost would be about the same if the roofs were the same shape. If you are building a new house you can make sure the roof is optimally shaped and oriented for solar power. If you are building a new house, the relative cost of the solar panels compared to the overall cost of the house will be small.
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16. Will solar panels damage my roof structure?
Your roof has been designed to carry a lot of weight and most roofs will hold panels without need for reinforcement. Solar panels can be heavy and are attached to the rafters of the house so that the load is ultimately borne by the roof structure not the roof material (e.g. tiles). A solar installer will design your solar power system to take account of the roof structure. Solar panels are placed over the top of any roof penetrations, and all penetrations can be waterproofed so the roof won’t leak.
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17. Are they easily maintained?
Yes. Solar panels are designed so that they need little maintenance. Dust typically reduces output by 5% but since solar panels are sloped, the rain keeps them clean. You’ll just need to hose them down after long periods of little rain.
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18. How efficient are solar panels in comparison to other renewable energy technologies?
In terms of converting a renewable resource to energy, solar panels are less efficient (15%) than other renewable energy technologies such as wind farms (30%) or hydro generators (40%). Solar panels require the least maintenance since there are no ‘moving parts’ as in other technologies.
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19. How many greenhouse gases would be saved with solar panels?
A typical 1 kW solar power system would roughly save 1.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year (a tonne of CO2 is enough to fill a family home!).
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20. Can you recycle old solar panels?
Since the silicon is treated with various chemicals (‘doping’) to make the surface more receptive to light, it is difficult to manufacture into new products. That doesn’t mean to say you can’t fashion a great coffee table from an old solar panel!
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1. What is Renewable Energy?
"Renewable energies" get their basic energy from solar radiation.
Wind is caused by the heating action of the sun; hydro relies on the hydrologic cycle (which relies on the sun); and geothermal is technically "stored solar energy." In general, "renewable energy" is any energy that is self-replenishing without the need to find new 'reservoirs' of wind, solar or geothermal energy.


2. What does "energy conversion efficiency" mean?
Energy conversion efficiency is an expression of the amount of energy produced in proportion to the amount of energy consumed, or available to a device. The sun produces a lot of energy in a wide light spectrum, but we have so far learned to capture only small portions of that spectrum and convert them to electricity using photovoltaics. So, today's commercial PV systems are about 7% to 17% efficient, which might seem low. And many PV systems degrade a little bit (lose efficiency) each year upon prolonged exposure to sunlight. For comparison, a typical fossil fuel generator has an efficiency of about 28%.

3. Can I really use renewable energy to power my home or business?
Many renewable energy systems can be compatibly blended with the regular electricity provided by your local utility. This is called grid integration and it is increasingly popular around the world and in Malaysia.


4. What are the environmental benefits of renewable energy?
Every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by a renewable energy system displaces the same amount of electricity produced by conventional power generation stations that are using fossil fuels that contribute to CO2, SO2, NOx and smog. Clean renewable energy production reduces suspended particulates we usually call smog, which are a significant health problem on the same hot sunny days when (for example) a solar energy system can produce electricity at its peak level.

5. What are the disadvantages to using solar and renewable energy?
The biggest disadvantage and the only truly significant one remains the cost.
For example, solar energy technologies require a significant initial outlay. Still, in nearly all cases, this high initial cost is recovered through substantial fuel savings over the life of the product (15-30 years), and solar energy systems can last much longer than this. But in areas where there are no hydro wires, choosing solar is as obvious as the sun in the sky.

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