RAY OF HOPE
Coal-dependent Indonesia starts tapping huge solar potential. By Gayatri Suroyo and Bernadette Christina in Jakarta
New financing methods, such as solar panel leasing for commercial users, have also encouraged businesses to invest
Aji Tri Atmojo lives in a traditional Javanese house with wooden walls on the outskirts of Jakarta, but his rustic home got a modern touch after he installed a row of solar panels on his roof.
Since putting them up in 2020 at a cost of 10 million rupiah (US$700), he has halved his monthly electricity bill and within five years the investment should break even.
With a patchy track record on renewable energy, Indonesia is still heavily dependent on coal, but if early signs of a jump in the takeup of solar are sustained, it could have a transformative impact.
“Because nearly all electricity generation in Indonesia … comes from coal, this way (my family) can reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Aji told Reuters. Indonesia aims to wean itself off coal and become carbon neutral by 2060 or sooner.
Despite being a tropical archipelago of 17,000 islands blessed with year-round sunshine, Indonesia ranks last for solar power capacity among the G20 nations.
But demand is starting to pick up, driven by policy changes, a steep fall in the prices of Chinese-made photovoltaic (PV) cells and environmentally conscious middle-class consumers such as Aji, an engineer at a dairy company.
From the end of 2018 to November 2021, the number of private rooftop solar panel users has risen more than sevenfold to about 4,500, with an installed capacity of 44 megawatts (MW), up from just 1.5 MW, according to the state-owned power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).
The Indonesia Solar Energy Association (ISEA) predicts installed rooftop solar capacity could top 1,000 MW next year and rise by between 3,000 and 5,000 MW per year starting in 2025.
“People are becoming more aware about the importance of renewable energy,” said Amarangga Lubis, co-founder of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm SolarKita. “Since the pandemic, the work-from-home culture has been established and electricity needs at home are rising.”
Lubis predicts massive growth in solar power installations over the next five years. “People will be more picky and they will invest in things that are more beneficial” for the environment, he said.
To be sure, solar remains a minor energy source in Indonesia. Coal powers about 60% of the country’s total electricity generation capacity of 73,000 MW, compared with a mere 180 MW for solar, a figure that includes solar both farms and private rooftop installations.
Indonesia has the potential for 400,000 MW of solar power, the energy ministry has forecast.
Falling prices for Chinese PV cells has driven the rise in private installations, since the solar power produced from the panels is cheaper than power sold from PLN.
New financing methods, such as solar panel leasing for commercial users, have also encouraged businesses to invest in solar, said Lubis.
As well, regulatory changes have spurred growth, with PLN in 2019 reducing its minimum energy charges, which lowers the amount of time it takes solar users to recoup their installation costs.
Commercial solar users can also export all their excess power to PLN, up from only 65% previously.
These changes, as well as agreements by multinational companies to curb carbon emissions, mean higher solar demand from companies, factories and commercial buildings in coming years, said Fabby Tumiwa, the ISEA executive director.
In addition to the commercial demand, Tumiwa also expects at least 2% of PLN’s 77 million household customers to put up solar PV cells in the next three to five years.