Title: Flexible solar photovoltaic deployments for Singapore: an economic assessment

Authors: Anton Finenko; Kamal Soundararajan

Addresses: Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore ' Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Abstract: This article presents an economic and technical analysis of the feasibility of various solar photovoltaic (PV) deployments in Singapore. In this study, the Levelised Costs of Electricity (LCOE) methodology is used to evaluate the cost of electricity for various solar PV systems that include Rooftop PV, Building Integrated PV, Floating PV and Offshore Islets PV deployments. Using actual company data on system and operating costs and reasonable estimates for irradiation and other key parameters, we find that the cost of electricity for rooftop PV deployments is on par with the current residential electricity tariff rate in Singapore. In addition, through projections of LCOE carried out for various PV deployments, we find that while all PV deployments are generally becoming more cost-competitive to match current technologies - such as combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT) - floating and offshore deployments of PV systems also have the potential to become competitive to CCGT by 2025.

Keywords: LCOE; levelised costs of electricity; learning rates; flexible deployment; renewable energy sources; sustainability; sustainable development; solar energy; solar power; photovoltaics; Singapore; economic assessment; solar panels; rooftop PV; building integrated PV; floating PV; offshore PV.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGEI.2016.076352

International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 2016 Vol.39 No.3/4, pp.157 - 180

Received: 04 May 2015
Accepted: 13 Jan 2016

Published online: 04 May 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article