COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SOLAR ROOFTOP SYSTEMS TO ACHIEVE THE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: AEDP
Abstract
This study aims to analyse the investment worthiness of residential solar rooftop installation for self-generated electricity and to investigate the feasibility of implementing the government policy for solar-powered houses to achieve success in energy consumption as specified in the Alternative Energy Development Plan 2018–2037 (AEDP 2018). A cost–benefit analysis was conducted by calculating the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and discount payback period (DPB) and analysing the sensitivity based on primary and secondary data. The study compares the investment worthiness of three solar rooftop systems, on-grid, off-grid and hybrid off-grid systems (with both lithium-ion and dry batteries). The findings show that on-grid solar rooftop systems offer the best value for investment while there are risks involved in investing in the off-grid and hybrid off-grid systems with dry batteries as these could lead to large losses due to their high cost and short lifespan. However, replacing dry batteries with lithium-ion ones will create better value for solar rooftop investment. The analysis of the secondary data can be summarised as showing that following the government policy in encouraging the installation of on-grid solar rooftop systems among households with monthly electricity usage of over 500 kWh cannot achieve the AEDP 2018’s goal of 10,000 MW power consumption from household on-grid solar rooftop systems by 2037 unless the government sectors instead support and push a policy for the installation of off-grid solar rooftop systems with lithium-ion batteries among households with a minimum monthly electricity usage of 150 kWh.
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