building integrated photovoltaic (bipv...

BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC (BIPV) IMPLEMENTATION:

DEVELOPER PERSPECTIVE

AARON YAP BOON KIAN

A thesis submitted in

fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the

Degree of Master of Technology Management

Faculty of Technology Management and Business

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

SEPTEMBER 2015

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ABSTRACT

Sustainable development is one of the main issues in the developing world today. In

order to achieve sustainable development, the construction and energy sector has

been identified by global community as the key area that need to be prioritized. Due

to the interdependency of these two sectors, the Malaysian government has done

extensive research and development on renewable energy (RE). One of the key

initiatives is the introduction of the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV).

However, the implementation of BIPV is still relatively weak in the Malaysia context.

This because of the developers’ are sceptical on investing in BIPV and are concern to

short term profit based rather than long term investment. However, with the latest

economic investment into Iskandar Johor, BIPV have good prospect ahead. The

purpose of this research is to introduce developers as a catalyst or push factor in the

implementation of BIPV in Malaysia. The method used is Qualitative In-depth

Interview to get a wide perspective and a depth perspective. Data from seven

developers gathered from the interview addressed their concerns and also ways to

overcome the concerns plus also their strategy in the selection of BIPV. The results

are very promising and showed the determination of the developers in implementing

BIPV into the housing projects with the developers providing a very positive

feedback into the research. In conclusion, BIPV has promising potential to be

implemented in Malaysia and it is important in increasing the awareness of the

construction industry players in sustainable development. The outcome of this

research is beneficial the knowledge of the developers and increase awareness to the

house buyers.

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ABSTRAK

Pembangunan lestari adalah salah satu isu utama di dunia yang kian berkembang.

Untuk mencapai objektif tersebut, sektor pembinaan dan sektor tenaga telah

diutamakan oleh komuniti global. Oleh sebab kedua-dua sektor ini saling bergantung

antara satu sama lain, kerajaan Malaysia telah melaksanakan penyelidikan dan

pembangunan yang luas terhadap tenaga yang boleh diperbaharui. Salah satu inisiatif

utama adalah memperkenalkan Sistem Bangunan Bersepadu Photovoltaic (BIPV).

Namun, pelaksanaan BIPV di Malaysia masih berkurang walaupun kaedah ini sudah

lama diperkenal di Malaysia. Ini adalah kerana pemaju perumahan kurang yakin

terhadap pelaburan dalam BIPV. Dengan pelaburan ekonomi terkini di pembangunan

Iskandar Johor, BIPV mempunyai prospek yang baik. Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk

mengkaji penglibatan pemaju dalam konteks BIPV, terutamanya pemaju perumahan,

sebagai pemangkin atau menolak faktor dalam pelaksanaan BIPV di Malaysia.

Kaedah temubual secara terperinci digunakan untuk mendapatkan perspektif yang

lebih luas dan mendalam. Tujuh pemaju perumahan telah dipilih untuk kajian ini.

Kebanyakan mereka menyuarakan kebimbangan mereka dan juga cara-cara untuk

mengatasi kebimbangan tersebut. Selain dari itu, mereka juga menyatakan dalam

strategi pemilihan BIPV dalam perlaksanaan sesuatu projek. Hasil kajian

menunjukkan potensi dan kesungguhan pihak pemaju dalam melaksanakan BIPV di

dalam projek-projek perumahan sangat positif. Kesimpulannya, BIPV berpotensi

untuk dilaksanakan di Malaysia dan juga penting dalam meningkatkan kesedaran

pihak-pihak professional yang terlibat dalam pembangunan lestari. Hasil kajian akan

membantu pihak pemaju untuk mengetahui secara mendalam tentang BIPV dan

meningkatkan kesedaran pembeli rumah.

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CONTENT

DECLARATION ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

CONTENT vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiii

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS xiv

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Background of study 2

1.3 Problem Statement 3

1.4 Research Question 4

1.5 Objective of Research 4

1.6 Significance of Research 5

1.7 Scope of Research 5

1.8 Research Process 6

1.9 Thesis Organisation 8

CHAPTER 2 IMPLEMENTATION OF BIPV

2.1 Introduction 10

2.2 Sustainable Development 11

2.3 Renewable Energy Technologies 13

2.3.1 Hydro 14

2.3.2 Wind 14

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2.3.3 Biomass 15

2.3.4 Solar 15

2.4 Solar principle and types 17

2.4.1 Types of solar photovoltaic 18

2.4.2 Thin film and PV module 19

2.4.3 BIPV and BAPV 20

2.5 Government Policy and Subsidy 20

2.5.1 Other countries policy on BIPV 20

2.5.2 Malaysian Government policy on BIPV 22

2.6 Application of BIPV 27

2.6.1 Application by International developers 27

2.6.1 Application by Malaysia developers 28

2.7 Challenges in BIPV adoption 30

2.8 BIPV selection process criteria 31

2.9 Research gap 33

2.10 Summary 38

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 39

3.2 Research Philosophy 40

3.3 Research method justification 41

3.4 Research Design 42

3.4.1 Stage 1 – Literature Review 43

3.4.2 Stage 2 – Data collection & Analysis 43

3.4.3 Stage 3 – Research Outcomes 47

3.5 Selection of respondents 47

3.6 Research analysis 48

3.6.1 Thematic Analysis 49

3.6.2 Thematic Analysis Process 51

3.7 Summary 52

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS & DISCUSSION: BIPV APPLICATION ISSUES

4.1 Introduction 53

4.2 Participant Background 54

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4.3 Company Background 55

4.4 Demography Analysis 58

4.5 Research Outcome 59

4.6 First and second section interview results and

discussion 61

4.6.1 Barriers 62

4.6.2 Drivers 70

4.7 Discussion of Objective 1 79

4.8 Summary 80

CHAPTER 5 RESULTS & DISCUSSION: BIPV SELECTION CRITERIA

5.1 Introduction 81

5.2 Other green technology 82

5.3 Section three interview results and discussion 83


5.5 Summary 95

CHAPTER 6 RESULTS & DISCUSSION: FACTORS AFFECTING BIPV

SELECTION

6.1 Introduction 96

6.2 External Factors 97

6.2.1 Profit 97

6.2.2 Maintenance 98

6.2.3 Licensing 100

6.2.2 Bank 100


6.4 Relationship between the criteria 103

6.5 Summary 105

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION

7.1 Summary of research 106

7.2 Research objective 1 107



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7.5 Research Contributions 109

7.5.1 Contribution to academic knowledge 109

7.5.2 Contribution to construction industry 110

7.5.3 Contribution to other stakeholders 111

7.6 Limitation to the research 111

7.7 Recommendation for future researches 112

7.8 Closure 114

REFERENCES 116

APPENDIX

Interview guide Appendix A

Sample respondent A transcript Appendix B

Published papers Appendix C

VITA

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LIST OF TABLES

2.1 Summary of impacts by Malaysian Renewable Energy technologies 16

2.2 Summary of Malaysian Renewable Energy technologies in comparison 17

2.3 Types of solar panels (Silicon) 18

2.4 Types of solar panels (Non - Silicon) 19

2.5 List of urban scale residential BIPV project 27

2.6 Challenges in Adoption of Sustainable Material 30

3.1 Grounded Theory vs. Thematic Analysis 50

4.1 Participant background 54

4.2 Responding Company background 56

4.3 Analysis of participant background 58

4.4 Barriers and Drivers of BIPV Implementation in Malaysia 61

5.1 Other green technology used 82

5.2 Criteria for Process of Selection 83

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LIST OF FIGURES

2.1 PV module and Thin Film 19

2.2 Malaysia energy generation mix 26

2.3 Price of natural gas in Malaysia 26

2.4 Malaysia FiT Conceptual Framework 29

2.5 Green material adaptation 32

2.6 Existing Stakeholders Relationship 35

2.7 Proposed BIPV Implementation Theoretical Framework 37

3.1 Research Design Framework 42

3.2 Research interview structure 46

3.3 Qualitative research analysis range 49

3.4 Summary of Thematic Analysis Process 52

4.1 BIPV Implementation Theoretical Framework 58

4.2 BIPV Implementation Framework 79

5.1 BIPV criteria selection flowchart 93

6.1 BIPV selection process 101

6.2 BIPV framework relationship 103

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BIPV − Building Integrated Photovoltaic

BAPV − Building Applied Photovoltaic

CAPEX – Capital Expenditure

CdTe − Cadmium Telluride

CO₂ − Carbon Dioxide

CIGS − Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide

DSS − Decision Support System

FiT − Feed-in-Tariff

GBI − Green Building Index

GHG − Greenhouse Gas

GEF – Global Environment Foundation

IRDA – Iskandar Regional Development Authority

IS – Inquiring System

kWh − kilowatt hour

kWp − kilowatt peak

MBIPV − Malaysian Building Integrated Photovoltaic Technology

Application Project

OPEX – Operational Expenditure

PV − Photovoltaic

RE − Renewable Energy

REPPA − Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement

SCORE − Special Committee on Renewable Energy

SEDA − Sustainable Energy Development Authority

SREP − Small Renewable Energy Program

ST – Suruhanjaya Tenaga or Energy Commission

TNB − Tenaga Nasional Berhad

USA − United States of America

UNDP − United Nations Development Program

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LIST OF PUBLICATION

1) Aaron, Y.B.K., Goh, K.C., Seow, T.W., Goh, H.H. (2015) “Awareness and

Initiatives of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) implementation in

Malaysian Housing Industry”, 2015 International Conference on Sustainable

Design, Engineering and Construction, Chicago, USA

2) Goh, K.C., Aaron, Y.B.K., Seow, T.W., Masrom,M.A.N Goh, H.H. (2014)

“Strategies in Dealing with Cost Overrun Issues: Perspective of Construction

Stakeholders”, 2014 International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering

Conference, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

3) Aaron, Y.B.K., Goh, K.C., Seow, T.W., Goh, H.H. (2014) “Stakeholder

Roles in Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Implementation”, 2014

International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference, Kota Kinabalu,

Sabah

4) Aaron, Y.B.K., Goh, K.C., (2013) “Challenges Of BIPV Application In

Malaysian Construction Industry: A Case Study In Batu Pahat”, 1st FPTP

Seminar, UTHM Johor

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Preliminaries

Construction and energy sector has been recognized to be a sector that pollutes the

environment through its land clearing process to its harvesting of new material from

the environment to be used as building material and fuel. Construction of

conventional mega power plants is important to sustain the human businesses and

operations, whereas energy is needed to fuel, construction process, which both

adversely pollutes the environment. All the same, these cannot be halted totally due

to its interdependency and the inevitable requirement to satisfy the demands of the

human population. Nevertheless, the equilibrium between both sectors can be done

through creating a sustainable development through establishing renewable energy

initiatives. Sustainable development is the integration between economic viability,

social equity and environment conservation (Chua, et al., 2013). With the intention

of achieving sustainable development, the construction sector must play an active

role in procuring and implementing green technologies as voice of their enterprise.

One of the green technologies that can be used Building Integrated Photovoltaic

(BIPV) which can help attain sustainability in both the energy sector as well as the

construction sector. The aim of this research is to help introduce the developers as

implementers for BIPV in order to create this sustainable development for the future.

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1.2 Background of Study

In pursuit of sustainable development frontier, Malaysia has been backing the

development of BIPV indirectly through the governance of renewable energy by

through the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) of Malaysia. BIPV

still faces barriers in Malaysia despite being in the market for quite a number of years.

Though the 8th

, 9th

and 10th

Malaysian plan highlighted renewable energy in general,

however there is no policy that governs BIPV implementation exclusively and could

serve as the BIPV push factor (Solangi et al., 2011).

The construction industry plays an important role in putting BIPV together,

as it requires integration into the building. BIPV is one of the green technologies that

are available and mature enough to be deployed as part of the project. Malaysia is the

second largest solar photovoltaic module producer in the world and has a proven

expertise for large BIPV capacity installation in several government and private

building such as Centre of Environment, Technology and Development, the Green

Energy Office (GEO) of Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (PTM) and Monash University

(Sunway) along with a few residential building in Cheras, Semenyih, Bukit Sebukor

(Malacca), Setia Eco Park, Putrajaya and Bangsar (Kamaruzzaman et al., 2012).

The most recent push for BIPV was the proposal to start a community-based

solar power project in the Iskandar Region Economic Corridor in Johor instead of

leaving the rooftop bare by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA).

This is following the property bloom in the Iskandar Region by the influx of foreign

investment especially from China (The Star, 2014b). This is an excellent opportunity

to maximize investment by developers in adopting BIPV with property project

especially residential. Johor is still a developing economic state with a relatively flat

terrain among the other state terrains in Malaysia, minimizing the concerns of

nature’s shading from surrounding mountains or hills. Johor has 706,089 stock

houses, second largest amount among the states to the total 4.7 million stock houses

in Malaysia out, representing approximately 15% of the total which gives ample of

rooftops for BIPV purposes (JPPH, 2013).

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1.3 Problem statement

Aspects such as technical, political, economic, social and environmental must be

taken into careful consideration to exploit the maximum potential of the renewable

energy and its technology (Gomesh et al., 2013). However, there are no specific

guidelines to map out or to address neither the most suitable renewable energy nor

their technologies, which creates indecisiveness for choice among investors. This

leads to investors and the major stakeholders in the construction industry especially

the developers’ remaining sceptical about the actual potential for investment in BIPV.

These developers hold the capacity and liquidity in investing large scale into the

BIPV implementation that could lead to potential parallel blooming of the BIPV

market in wake of the recent the property bloom in Iskandar Johor via the influx of

foreign investment into the property market especially from China (The Star, 2014b).

However, they are more to business based investment and there are more concerns

on the returns from their investments rather than the actual potential of the green

BIPV technology (Goh, 2011).

Furthermore, there is also a capped quota 9.86MW in 2012 with additional of

2MW the same year and expected quota of 6MW the following year (The Star, 2012).

This capping of quota hampers any investment interest of these stakeholders into

BIPV thus slowing down the BIPV implementation. Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) rates given

by the SEDA does not encourage economy to scale investment and with relatively

cheap electricity provided through fossil fuel due to heavy government subsidies, this

position BIPV to be even less competitive in terms of pricing and longer payback

period in the investment (Cheng et al., 2013).

Therefore, there is a need for a particular stakeholder to undertake BIPV. The

proposed construction stakeholder that has the capacity to undertake BIPV via

adoption of it into the project is the developers (Kamaruzzaman et al., 2012).There

are issue that arise from availability of materials arising to code and policy regulation

from adoption of sustainable materials as Tey et. al (2013) puts it. Besides that, the

issues extends further from affordability to limited or lacking of readily available

accessible information according to Griffin et al. (2010). The lacking of information

especially on BIPV is a problem for developers as it adds more indecisiveness and is

a barrier for the developers. Besides that, the developers lack of clear requirements

that are needed in adopting and developing BIPV which can be detrimental in cost

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overrun in a project. This shows that there is need for research to be done in wake of

the limited availability of past studies.

1.4 Research question

In order to further investigate on BIPV, there are three questions which address the

concerns of developers and their requirements for BIPV adoption into their projects.

These questions cover the perspective of what the developers are encountering in

their pursuit to implement BIPV. The questions are:-

1) What are the BIPV’s application issues in Malaysia among developers?

2) What are the developers’ perspectives on the BIPV process of selection?

3) What are the factor that affects the selection of BIPV and why?

1.5 Objective of research

The objective sets the purpose for the research; in this case the developers are the

focal point of this research. There are three objectives cover the implementation for

BIPV into housing projects. These objective accounts for the developers’ thoughts

and current practice in housing projects. The research objectives are as follows:-

1) To investigate the BIPV’s application issues in Malaysia among developers.

2) To investigate the developers’ perspective on the BIPV process of selection.

3) To investigate the factors that can affect the selection of BIPV by the

developers.

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1.6 Significance of Research

The research must bring significance towards certain parties or stakeholders which

can solve particular issue or venture into new market. Therefore, the importance of

this research in respective perspective is as follows:

1) Developers

The research helps the developers to understand about BIPV and its viability

of application in Malaysia. Developers have a broader understanding of BIPV

and its significance especially in Iskandar that can help project the return on

investment for BIPV.

2) Academic

The research advances further BIPV into the application stage and facilitates

more researches on BIPV in future. Technical researches are good to enhance

the technology; however it has to go hand-in-hand with researches that

broadens the applications BIPV to justify the cost and effort put in.

3) Government

The research can help government update existing policies on BIPV with

most up-to-date information available and effective maximization of

generating renewable energy for the future. The government can also

understand the developers’ perspective and create joint efforts with the

developers’ in order to make BIPV a successful project in Malaysia.

1.7 Scope of research

The scope of research governs the limits for the research in this case, there are few

scopes that are looked into:-

1) The data is only limited to the geographical location of Johor Region,

particularly Iskandar Johor. Malaysia has an average sunlight per day,

however can differ in other places as to natural shading from clouds and also

locality from the Equator (Azahari et. al, 2008). The information used is

based on average output of solar PV system and are based on past weather

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patterns data, the weather for the future is unpredictable and is based on

forecasts. Daily weather patterns might defer from day to day and only an

average data can be obtained and used.

2) For this research, the eight respondents are taken from the developers in the

Johor Region, particularly focused on the Iskandar Region as it is blooming

with economic investment and housing developments. This creates an

excellent opportunity for the developers think about housing projects with

BIPV to lure house buyers

3) The BIPV system available to be installed for building project that is

connected to fossil electric and the generated energy cost is made in

comparison to fossil electricity cost. The study is also mainly focused on

urban and suburban area attached to the fossil electricity grid. This is because

rural areas have a more competitive cost as there is the need to infrastructure

to supply fossil electricity to the rural areas with can cost more than the entire

lifecycle of the BIPV project.

4) The research method uses in-depth interview for this research. This is to help

probe further into BIPV implementation in Johor region as the available

information is still lacking. The limited wealth of information makes other

research method such as case study or Delphi difficult to be conducted in this

application field.

1.8 Research Process

Basic information is extracted from multiple sources such as journal papers and

books. The information is then consulted with the academia professionals in order to

determine the accuracy and impact of the information. From this information, the

research problem is singled out measurably. There are four main problems that are

identified in this research which are the business based monetary investment

expectation, unmatched subsidized convention electricity, not motivation and lack of

information flow which leads to the developers skepticism in implementing BIPV.

The measurable objective are being determined based on the research problems and

three research objective have been identified which are to investigate the BIPV

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application issues in Malaysia among developers, the developers’ perspective on the

BIPV process of selection and the factors that can affect the selection of BIPV by the

developers. A methodological research approach is being devised into a research

framework by using survey interview. The in-depth survey interview segregated into

four sections to enable a deeper understanding into BIPV and to enable the

respondents to have a fresh mind but not forgetting on the subject matter. The

interview is conducted as below:-

1) Interview Section 1

The first section aims to obtain more information on the issues faced and

achieve objective one. The question revolves more to the current issues

the respondents is facing or they think the project face when BIPV in

implemented.


The second section probes further into the barriers the developers that the

developers have projected to encounter in order to fully utilise BIPV as

part of their project. In the future projection, the developers also give their

thoughts on how can the barriers be overcome as they see it.


Section 3 focuses on the selection of BIPV. This is important as the

respondents are equipped with experiences that defers as the developers

companies may defer in method and practices to achieve the same

selection of BIPV. Selection is a very meticulous process which accounts

for many affecting factors.


The fourth section aims to understand further BIPV in a deeper manner

that can indirect or underlying factors that can be contributing or

determinant of the implementation of BIPV in the housing projects. The

developers has voiced out considerable concerns that they may encounter

when they tries to adopt BIPV and take account for future implementation

of BIPV in their housing projects.

The interview is transcribed into written transcripts by the researcher. The data is

analysed by identifying whether there are any consistent patterns and also differences

of the respondent’s responds. Coding process is done by identifying and highlighting

the keywords and codes related to the topic are being categorised into potential

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themes. A thematic map is created based on the theme and link up together to the

main topic. Based on the thematic map, the essence of each theme is being explained

through the researcher’s understanding on what the theme is portraying. The theme is

then broken into several sub-themes and being explained the essence of sub-themes.

These themes are also being cross checked with the literature review for patterns and

codes that may have been disregarded earlier on during reviewing the literature

works. A framework is then generated to compare with the propose framework to

determine the proximity of the result in real life to the proposed ideal results in the

initial literature review and interview results.

1.9 Thesis Organisation

This thesis is organised into six chapters to help arrange research information flow.

i) Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1 introduces the need of implementation BIPV for the research.

This chapter is the executive summary of the research and provide a

general guide for the entire research. This chapter also carves out the idea

the research and necessary concerns that can affect the research. The

objective and scope of research are mention in this chapter.

ii) Chapter 2: Implementation of BIPV

The implementation of BIPV is further discussed in Chapter 2 with the

accurate usage of the terminology to addressing of the issues. Other

research is taken into account in this chapter that help guide and create a

base reference for the research. The research is then justified and made to

stand out from other researches to ensure quality and originality of work.

iii) Chapter 3: Research Methodology

The research plan is constructed in Chapter 3 to guide the research. This

chapter provide detail explanation on who are the respondents and how

the research is to be carried out. This to enable the research objectives can

be achieved in the research.

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iv) Chapter 4: Result and discussion: BIPV Application Issues

Chapter 4 presents the results for the first and second interview to achieve

objective one of the research. The barriers are established in this part of

the interview. The drivers are also mentioned too by the developers in this

chapter in order to overcome the barriers which are significant in

implementation of BIPV into their housing projects.

v) Chapter 5: Result and discussion: BIPV Selection Criteria

Chapter 5 shows the selection of the criteria that the developers employs.

The criteria gives more weightage to the social and economical side rather

that the environmental side BIPV. The criteria is based on the general

adaptation of green materials in the construction industry.

vi) Chapter 6: Result and discussion: Factors Affecting BIPV Selection

Chapter 6 discuss the findings from the data and gives reasonable

explanation on the factors affecting the selection of criteria for BIPV. The

data is then interpreted for research purposes to achieve the objective of

research. This chapter also determines the intangible side of the data that

will affect BIPV implementation into the housing project.

vii) Chapter 7: Conclusion

Other findings such as limitation of research are discussed in this chapter

before a summary of the research is made. Recommendations for future

researches are given as to help other researchers to grow their information

or as reference.

CHAPTER 2

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND BIPV REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Construction process is the wide means for the realization of human settlements and

the creation of infrastructure that supports development which encompass the raw

materials extraction, the construction materials manufacturing and components, the

entire construction project lifecycle from feasibility to deconstruction, and the

management and operation of the built environment (Vatalis et al, 2003). One of the

aspect in development that is recognised as a major contributor to global

environmental degradation is the built environment. Man-made surroundings that

provide the setting to facilitate human activity, however, this has an adverse

environmental impacts from the built environment which includes high energy

utilization, solid waste production, intensifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,

other forms of pollution that is environmental damaging and resource depletion

spanning from the design, construction and operational phases of the project

(Masnavi, 2007; Melchert, 2005; Zimmermann et al., 2005). Multiple economic

reports validate that the construction industry is among the largest, most rapid

growing and vibrant sector that contributes to the economic growth of an

industrialising country, including Malaysia. Parallel to this growth is the energy

industry that is required to support the blooming construction industries’ operations

(Betts et al., 2011; Brandt and Yong, 2011; GBI-Research, 2010).

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Hence, the interest in renewable energy (RE) is propelled by two factors

which are to prolong the fossil fuel depletion while minimizing or mitigating the

impact on environment which goes hand in hand to support the blooming

construction and its operations (Shahirinia et al., 2005). The projected amount of

CO₂ by 2030 released in Malaysia is 339 million tonnes with an increase of 3.3%

yearly. From this amount, 42% is accounted from the electricity generation sector.

Renewable energy (RE) is a long term energy security that could help mitigate this

42% CO₂ in the years to come (APERC, 2009). However, according to Ekins (2004),

there are “No optimal model that has emerged, and probably none will do so in the

contexts that is shaped by different histories and cultures.” Therefore, the selection

and execution of renewable energy (RE) and its policy is defined based on the

government, the public and the private sectors according to necessity and other

factors. Under these circumstances, Malaysia has started pursuing renewable energy

(RE) through the inclusion in the national planning and policy. There are four forms

of RE has been identified with much suitability to Malaysia strategic locality and

geographical terrain conditions. However, there is just a general policy to pursue RE

and no specific policy to target one form of RE. The governance of these policies are

position under the Energy Commission or “Suruhanjaya Tenaga (ST)” and the

Special Committee on Renewable Energy (SCORE) which later on was replace by

SEDA.

2.2 Sustainable Development

The “Sustainable Development” concept came about as the development that meets

the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their own needs according to Farah and Nur, 2012. Then, the International

Council of Building (CIB) help shape the “Sustainable Development” concept by

introducing “Sustainable Construction” with the aim to achieve sustainable

production, use, maintenance, demolition and reuse of buildings and constructions of

their components after Professor Charles Kibert first use it during the First

International Conference on Sustainable Construction in Tampa, 1994 (Du Plessis,

2002; Shafii, Ali and Othman, 2006; CIB, 1999). In other words, this means of any

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development should meet the aspirations of people at the same time without harming

the future generation’s aspiration. Hence, this concept has been gradually amended to

specifically focus on the quality of life which takes into consideration the three

dimensions encompassing economic, social and environment aspects (Yakob et al.,

2012).

For over forty years, Sustainable Development has been in focus as the global

environmental dialogues with aim to guide the ecosystem protection (Walsh, 2004).

According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the term

“Sustainability” is defined as “the preservation of the ecosystem for the future

generations that is to come” (Strand and Fossdal, 2003). The initiatives of Health

Building, Green Building Congress, Sustainable Building International Conference

and Sustainable City International Conference aims to drives Sustainable

Development to make it a global development goal, with special considerations

given on “healthiness” and “comfortability” in order to find and equilibrium between

"sustainability", "green" and "healthy" environment (Chiang, 2005). The European

Union indicated that sustainable housing in Europe now sole focus on three essential

perspectives, which are construction of the building, social and economic impacts,

and eco efficiency (Abu Hassan et al., 2010). Karrupannan and Sivam (2009)

describe this phenomenon as a vital contribution to local community development,

local social justice and equality, and local economic growth. The initiatives are

proven successful when sustainability is adapted into sustainable housing, in which

many are aware and concern about the physical design aspect in a building by

employing as much green technology integrated or retrofitted in the building, in other

words, “Green Building” (Yakob et al., 2012).

The term “Green Construction” is often associated with “Green Building”.

The green construction practice starts from the initial planning stage from site to

design, the construction stage, operation and maintenance stage, renovation and

demolition stage. This green practice takes a more comprehensive approach towards

the conventional building construction process, enhancing and improving the

economy, utility, durability, and comfort of the building in order to achieve

sustainable or high performance green building which are more environmentally

responsible and resource-efficient that balances the economic demands in creating a

sustainable future (Vatalis et al., 2013; Isnin et al., 2012). In United States of

America (USA), the organisation that oversees the green building and green

13

construction is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) using

on their rating system, a voluntary, consensus-based national standard that support

and validate successful green building design, construction and operations. LEED is

a third party organisation that gives certification for green buildings qualification

based on the high-performance guidelines, giving professional training and

accreditation, which after a project is completed, it may qualify for LEED certified,

silver, gold or platinum level accordingly (Refocus, 2003).

However, in Malaysia, the Green Building Index (GBI) is the third party

organisation that overseas and defines green building. Their focus is more to

increasing the efficiency of resource usage such as energy, water and materials while

reducing building impacts on human health and the environment through greener

construction process. However, GBI has been focusing more towards ‘renewable

energy’ and ‘energy efficiency’ application into green buildings which has recently

has been addressed by many countries (Chua et al., 2013).

2.3 Renewable Energy Technologies

There are a few forms of renewable energy which are: Hydro, Geothermal, Solar,

Marine, Wind and Biomass (Chou and Ongkowijoyo, 2014). All these forms of

renewable energy have great implications towards the energy and construction sector

when being put into maximum capacity. It is not 100% suitable for every country due

the multiple factors, therefore a careful process of selection is needed to determine

not be most idea but the most suitable renewable energy or best practice is needed to

maximize the capacity of the renewable energy in the particular geographical

location. Malaysia strategic locality and geographical terrain conditions enable four

major forms of renewable energy, namely Hydro, Solar, Wind and Biomass, can be

considered as ideal; therefore other criteria must be included in determining most

suitable renewable energy with maximized capacity to be selected (Ahmad et al.,

2014). These four forms will be explained in the following section.

14

2.3.1 Hydro

Malaysia climate and geographical terrain is suits the requirement of generation of

hydropower in abundance. Malaysia has about 189 named rivers located in the

mountainous area and 3549mm of rain annually which is more than the prerequisite

for hydropower generation. However, Peninsular Malaysia hydropower has been

fully exploited, leaving the East Malaysia yet to be exploited with estimated of

29000MW untapped. The electricity generated (kWh) per cost is relatively low

accounting for the lifespan and capacity of the plant (Ahmad et al., 2014). However,

to ensure a constant capacity for hydropower plants requires building dams to

contain water reservoir, encompassing a sizeable amount of land. This will lead to

major social and environment problems such as native population displacement, soil

erosion and reduced agricultural land and also ecosystem disturbance (Rosnazri et al.,

2012). The construction of this dam involves a high initial CAPEX involving

billions most of the time and consistent operation expenditure (OPEX) to ensure the

dam is in good condition not subjected to catastrophic failure and the turbine

mechanical maintenance to enhance the productivity lifespan (Ahmad et al., 2014).

2.3.2 Wind

Malaysia geographical terrain creates low wind speed inland varying from 1.3 m/s to

2.7 m/s which is not sufficient enough for wind power generation. The coastal wind

however, has low potential with wind speed estimated about 3.5 m/s to 4.5 m/s due

to the locality of Malaysia with the 29th

longest coastline in the world amounting to

around 4,675 km. Although wind power shows low potential, Malaysia still has wind

potential, with the help of a wind map, in other aspects such as the flexibility in

equipment assembly, mobility in equipment transportation and relatively low

CAPEX. However, the adverse effect of wind power could alter migrating birds’

flight path, electromagnetic interference for radio signals surrounding the large

installations, consequential noise from rotating blades and also eyesore to the

landscape (Ahmad et al., 2014). Besides that, the mechanical parts are subjected to

15

wear and tear and require replacement to extend the lifespan which increase the

OPEX.

2.3.3 Biomass

Biomass utilizes organic waste for electricity production. The estimated potential of

biomass is around 800MW annually and is capable to increase to 1300MW annually

due to Malaysia as the second largest producer of palm oil in the world after

Indonesia, with over 4.06 million ha of palm oil land in 2009. The palm oil waste is

ideal for consistent electricity generation with 1 ha of land producing 50-70 tonnes of

waste; however there is a high level of uncertainty for the fuel source of palm oil

because of the competing prices for the palm oil waste, which serves multiple uses in

other industries. Other fuel source for biomass is palm oil mill effluent and manure

from livestock which in turn emits biogas. Another fuel source is from organic

municipal solid waste, which Malaysia has a high waste production of 17000 to

28500 tonnes per day, in turn emits methane. Both biogas and methane can be used

for electricity production but at the same time are greenhouse gasses that could

pollute the environment especially methane which is more harmful than CO₂ and can

be fatal when inhaled. Biomass also requires a sizeable amount of land and water and

could affect surrounding biodiversity (Ahmad et al., 2014; Afgan and Carvalho,

2012).

2.3.4 Solar

Malaysia’s potential is high due to the strategic geographic location near the equator

averaging 4.96 kWh/m² annual solar irradiance and with the range of 4.8 to

6.3kWh/m² irradiance monthly except for December due to the monsoon season

(Azhari et al., 2008). Malaysia is said to have solar potential about four times of the

world’s fossil fuel reserve. Solar power can be regarded as the cleanest technology

for electricity production. Nonetheless, there is scarcity in the availability of material

16

for higher efficiency solar cells and the solar cell production poses environmental

hazards if the production process is not handled appropriately (Oh, 2010). The

detailed production involves higher costs which increased the price of the solar

panels. On the other hand, the price for solar panels has decreased from (Malaysian

Ringgit) MYR 31,410 per kilowatt peak (kWp) in 2005 to MYR 20,439 kWp in 2009

(Ahmad et al., 2014). The latest pricing offered in 2013 sees a further drop to an

estimated MYR 10,000 kWp (Senheng, 2013). Though the decrementing in prices

looks promising in lowering the CAPEX for solar investment, yet the rates for return

on investment are seen as low competitiveness against the conventional fossil fuel

with heavily subsidized natural gas (Cheng et al., 2013). However, two-thirds of

Malaysia land area is tropical forest, hence to build major solar power plant is not

environmentally viable. Thus BIPV for rooftops to harness solar power is the best

option (Ahmad et al., 2014). The summary of impacts by Malaysian Renewable

Energy technologies and its comparison is shown in Table 2.1 and 2.2 respectively.

Table 2.1: Summary of impacts by Malaysian Renewable Energy technologies

(adapted from Ahmad et al., 2014)

Types Negative Impacts

Wind

1) Native population displacement

2) Soil erosion

3) Reduced agricultural land

4) Ecosystem disturbance

Hydro 1) Alter migrating birds’ flight path

2) Electromagnetic interference for radio signals

3) Consequential noise from rotating blades

4) Eyesore to the landscape

Biomass 1) Fuel source uncertain and requires land for waste production

2) Facility requires sizeable amount of land and water

3) Affect surrounding biodiversity

4) Emission of greenhouse gases such as deadly methane and CO₂

Solar Power Plant 1) Requires sizeable amount of land

2) Poses environmental hazards if the production process is not

handled appropriately

Solar BIPV 1) Poses environmental hazards if the production process is not

handled appropriately

17

Table 2.2: Summary of Malaysian Renewable Energy technologies in comparison

(adapted from Ahmad et al., 2014)

Types Wind Hydro Biomass Solar Power

Plant Solar BIPV

Source Limited Limited Limited Abundant Abundant

Cost per kWh High Low High High High

CAPEX Low Extremely

High High High High

OPEX Average High Low Low Low

Land

requirements Low

Extremely

High High High Low

FiT category Not listed Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive

2.4 Solar Principle and Types

Solar has two categories which are the passive solar and the active solar. The passive

solar is the non-mechanical techniques used in construction to control the amount of

sunlight and the distribution of energy in a building such as heating, cooling, lighting

and ventilation. Cardinal direction positioning, material selection and design of the

building are the part of the system for passive solar. Active solar is a more

mechanical application which includes wide range of mechanical and electrical

components such as tracking mechanisms, fans and pumps. Some other parts are

panels that convert heat or sunlight to electricity (Onar and Khaligh, 2010).

Active solar has two subcategory which are thermal solar that convert Sun’s

heat into electricity and photovoltaic solar that uses the light from the Sun to create

mobile charged particles in the semiconductor which separates from the device

structure through “photovoltaic effect” in the panels thus producing electricity

current (Markvart, 2000).

18

2.4.1 Types of solar photovoltaic

There are five types of solar photovoltaic panels that exist currently. The commonly

used solar photovoltaic panels are the silicon solar panels because the panels have

been research throughout the years and are mature enough to be commercialized.

Monocrystalline has the highest efficiency but is the most expensive due to its

process to grow in high-tech labs, sliced, doped and etched. The second is the

polycrystalline which has a slightly cheaper price because it has a less complex

process but with a lower efficiency in electricity output. The cheapest is the

amorphous silicon which is easy to produce and is cheap but has the lowest

efficiency of only 5 – 10% (Foster et al., 2010).

For non-silicon panels, both Cadmium Telluride and Copper Indium Gallium

Diselenide are still under research because the yield is still low and the metals use in

producing are all too rare and very expensive. However to produce a solar

photovoltaic panel out of non-silicon is a simpler process than silicon base (Markvart,

2000). Table 2.3 and 2.4 will summarize types of solar panels for both silicon and

non-silicon.

Table 2.3: Types of solar panels (Silicon) (Foster et al., 2010)

Types Monocrystalline Polycrystalline Amorphous silicon

Material

Semiconductor-grade

silicon from a single

crystal ingot

Semiconductor-grade

silicon from various

crystal ingot

Amorphous silicon

Lifespan 20 – 25 years 20 years 10 years

Efficiency 15 – 20 % 13 – 15 % 5 – 10 %

19

Table 2.4: Types of solar panels (Non - Silicon) (Markvart, 2000)

Types Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide

(CIGS)

Material Screen-printing from Cadmium liquid

and Telluride liquid

Copper Indium/ Gallium Diselenide

alloy

Status Under research Under research

Efficiency Current: 6 % Current: 8%

Expected increment: 12 -14%

2.4.2 Thin film and Photovoltaic (PV) module

Thin film is actually the coating of a thin layer of semiconductor to a substrate,

usually glass or ceramic. This layer has a photovoltaic capacity to generate electricity

and is made from amorphous silicon, CdTe or CIGS. It is normally used in BIPV

façade because it is flexible enough and can be used on tiles or glass windows.

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are produced from silicon panels because of its durability

and higher efficiency yield. PV modules commonly used in BIPV roofing in a form

of array due to its maturity and availability for commercialization (Foster et al.,

2010).

Figure 2.1: PV module and Thin Film

(Source: Home Solar, 2009 and Thin Film, 2007)

20

2.4.3 BIPV and BAPV

BIPV and BAPV have almost similar in description but it totally different type of

system. BIPV is defined as BIPV system involves integration of the system into the

skin of the building and is considered in the conceptual phase of the project before

the building is actually developed. BAPV is defined as Building Applied

Photovoltaic which involves retrofitting the system into the building after the

building in completed, upon the requirement of the owner (GreenTech., 2010).

However, in Malaysia, both BIPV and BAPV are categorized under the BIPV

category to ease procedures and avoid confusion (SEDA, 2011). Therefore, there are

no differences between retrofitting after construction and truly integrate the system in

the design plan as both are equally know as BIPV.

2.5 Government Policy and Subsidy on BIPV

According to Ekins (2004), there are “No optimal model that has emerged, and

probably none will do so in the contexts that is shaped by different histories and

cultures.” Therefore, there are no perfect government policies or subsidy that can suit

any countries. Different countries will be based on their capacity and capability to

invest into green technologies, namely BIPV. However, there are a few key countries

that have been using renewable energy and especially BIPV other than Malaysia as

part of their initiative via the policy that is created by the government which are the

USA, Germany, Australia and Japan.

2.5.1 Other countries policies on BIPV

USA photovoltaic system has contributed to around 8% of the country’s electricity

with about 50MW installed around the country. These are few energy policies

initiatives that have been done by the USA government on renewable energy, which

21

are the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), incentives, Investment Tax Credit

(ITC), Production Tax Credit (PTC) and targets. RPS is a mechanism that helps to

maximise production energy and RE obligations though exchange renewable energy

credits by state utilities or renewable energy certificates (Fayaz et al., 2011). This

enables the other state utilities to invest into other states in where production of RE is

higher via the present state’s utilities.

Besides that, the adoption of Public Utility Regulatory Policies (PURPA) in

the 1978 requires the utilities to purchase renewable energy from qualified

independent generators over long term contracts unlike the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) that

guarantees a premium for RE delivered to grid (Fayaz et al., 2011). This is because

the utilities are based on state and have the freedom to negotiate the contract with the

state utilities as well as other state utilities who wish to invest to fulfill RPS. It is part

of the incentive plan by the government, besides the Production Tax Credit (PTC).

PTC was introduced by the USA government in 1992 for small scale large wind

turbine farms based on the upfront capital cost. For individuals and other like

residential solar and wind projects will be in the form of Investment Tax Credit

(ITC), which help bloom to with more than 83,000 units installed the RE investment

by 30% and extension for 3 years with additional help from Congress for the tax-

extenders bill in their financial bailout plan in 2008 and will expecting go generate

an annual growth of 6000MW for solar installation is 2016. ITC is one of the most

important components in the increase in solar installation, although individual states

have their own programs to promote RE (Fayaz et al., 2011).

Countries with high technology frontier like Germany and Australia has been

adopting the solar energy and the FiT policy with various incentives and abandoning

nuclear energy after the Fukushima accident in Japan (Fayaz et al., 2011). Australia

started around the same time as Malaysia on RE, around in 2001. Australia adopted

the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) policy too but it is a selectively based on states only

although the program is considered in the Renewable Energy Target. This move is to

help enhance the commercialisation of mandatory RE and FiT in the country because

the costs of the panels are too high. However, the Australian government are keen to

push on RE to reach a national mandatory RE target of 20% in the energy supply by

2020. Germany on the other hand adopts FiT based on cost avoided. It means a cost

is based on the electricity displaced price. This RE is given grand priority access to

the grid to be accepted and distributed up to 20 years depending of technology.

22

Germany is one of the most successful countries to implement FiT to promote RE

sources because of the attractive and convincing return on investment for RE

(Abdullah et al., 2012; Fayaz et al., 2011).

Japan has also adopted solar BIPV through their New Energy and Industrial

Technology Development Organisation (NEDO) project. They are more to a semi-

government organisation that is in charge of policy formulation and research and

design to innovate, solve problem, enhancing competitiveness and support the

technological industry. They are the largest research and development management

organisation in Japan. Their focus is on especially on RE and its technology plus the

usage and efficiency of it, and to promote by being part of initiative to recommend,

develop and demonstrate the advancement of the RE technology (NEDO, 2013).

Even Malaysia’s neighbour, Singapore is looking into the prospect of solar energy

harnessing through BIPV which is projected to supply 28% of the current electricity

demand and reduce approximately 8% of the CO₂ released with the 30% reserve

margin above peak set by their government. It is estimated that solar can meet the

electricity generation up to 65% in the morning by 2050 (Wagner et al., 2012).

2.5.2 Malaysian Government policy on BIPV

Though diversification has been initiated in the 80’s under the National Energy

Policy, National Depletion Policy and the Four Fuel policy which aims to shift the

reliance on petroleum to other sources for electricity generation, the reliance was

shifted from petroleum to natural gas, which is also under the same category of fossil

fuel. Ever since the formulation of these policies, the petroleum fields discovered

have matured more than 30 years with pending new discovery and remaining fields

are low quality, small and scattered in distribution. Natural gas is not looking good

either with 10% declining production rate per annum and scattered in distribution too.

Extraction and development of these scattered oil and gas field escalate the cost

which makes it not feasible economically. In year 2000, Malaysia turns its focus to

renewable energy (RE) through the three major plans which are the 8th

, 9th

and 10th

Malaysian Plan (Cheng, et al., 2013).

23

Under the 8th

Malaysian Plan, the fifth extension to the Four Fuel policy has

been added, formulating a new Five Fuel policy. The objective of this policy has not

change but to further diversify the reliance on oil and gas to other sources if possible.

Though nuclear energy is not one of this Five Fuel policy, a special provision has

been granted to explore the possibility potential for usage of nuclear for electricity

generation (Rosnazri et al., 2012). Other than that, a 5% target has been set for RE to

contribute to the electricity generation mix. Small Renewable Energy Program

(SREP) scheme has been set up by Special Committee on Renewable Energy

(SCORE) to achieve the objectives of the Third Outline Perspective Plan (2001-2010)

and the Fifth Fuel policy which is to solidify the development and exploitation of RE

(Fayaz et al., 2011). With the Energy Commission or “Suruhanjaya Tenaga (ST)”

formation under the Energy Commission Act 2001, the role of Depart of Electricity

and Gas Supply was taken over to further enhance effective supervisory of energy

sector and efficient energy usage. It has become the body to regulate any energy

related issues also (EPU, 2001). However, SREP developers’ have to sign a

Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement (REPPA) with Tenaga Nasional

Berhad (TNB), Peninsular Malaysia’s national power utility company. This lead to

SREP poor response because of 4 factors, which are high subsidy in fossil fuel

especially for electricity generation which makes the RE electricity prices not

competitive enough to fossil fuel electricity price, high capital expenditure (CAPEX)

with long return on investment and low tariff for RE electricity, long negotiations

with stringent conditions imposed and also uncertain price of RE source and

availability (Cheng et al., 2013).

The poor response from Small Renewable Energy Program (SREP), only

achieving less than 14MW of the targeted 350MW in the 8th

Malaysian Plan, did not

hamper the government’s commitment for renewable energy (RE) (Cheng et al.,

2013). The 9th

Malaysian Plan stresses more on the energy efficiency, parallel with

the sustainable development goal that Malaysia has been trying to achieve. It outlines

the strategy for addressing environmental and resource management issues in an

integrated and holistic manner, to ensure sustainable and resilient development

(APERC, 2009). The establishment of the Ministry of Energy, Communications and

Multimedia further enhanced this goal, with the purpose to support green economy

which is clean and sustainable (Fayaz et al., 2011). The launching of National Green

Technology in April 2009, with the intention of Green Technology development and

24

energy efficiency, is concrete evidence that Malaysia is further pursuing sustainable

development on the next level (Islam et al., 2011).

Besides that, the setting up of Malaysian Building Integrated Photovoltaic

Technology Application Project (MBIPV) joint effort by Global Environment

Foundation (GEF) via the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiates

the BIPV application in Malaysia (Solangi et al., 2011). This project involved three

categories which are BIPV demonstration, national “SURIA 1000” programme and

BIPV showcase, putting into action the establishment and participation of both the

private and the public sector in the BIPV market and application in both residential

and commercial buildings (Mekhilef et al., 2011). The construction of several

government building such as Centre of Environment, Technology and Development,

the Green Energy Office (GEO) of Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (PTM) and Monash

University (Sunway) along with a few residential building in Cheras, Semenyih,

Bukit Sebukor (Malacca), Setia Eco Park, Putrajaya and Bangsar shows the

government commitment to enhance this BIPV market (Kamaruzzaman et al., 2012).

Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan under the 10th

Malaysian Plan

demonstrate the government’s interest further into RE. The objective has been raise

to 985MW by 2015, amounting to 5.5% of Malaysia’s electricity generation mix

compare to the previous 5%. SEDA has been set up when the Renewable Energy Act

2011 and Sustainable Energy Development Authority Act 2011 [Act 726] has been

passed to replace the Special Committee on Renewable Energy (SCORE)

permanently (Fayaz et al., 2011). A new mechanism called Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) has

been introduced under this two Acts which will allow RE investors to enjoy premium

tariff payback rate per unit energy generated by selling to Tenaga Nasional Berhad

(TNB).

A special collection for Renewable Energy Fund under the Renewable

Energy Act 2011 was initiated by SEDA which incorporate additional charge of 1%

into the consumer’s monthly electricity bill for usage above 300 kilowatt hour (kWh)

per month (Fayaz et al., 2011). This has been further raised to 1.6% in 2014 to show

stronger support and assist out in this FiT initiative expenditure (The Star, 2014a).

The government introduced the new National Energy Policy under the 10th

Malaysian Plan also which encompass economy, environment and social while

enhancing energy security in supply and utilization including RE, which can be

summarized into five core strategic pillar as follows (Cheng et al., 2013) :-

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