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Energy · Asia

Singapore explores solar panels on carports, building walls and vacant land

Singapore is exploring solar installations at public spaces and on vacant land as it pursues a 4GWp capacity target by 2035. JTC has launched two challenges to develop solar deployment solutions, with selected projects eligible for funding to develop and test them.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 3 outletsHow it's made

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3 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 2 · R 0 · 1 unrated
Updat3 graphic: Singapore International Energy Week
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What happened

Key facts

  • Singapore announced a solar capacity target of 4GWp by 2035, replacing its previous target of 3GWp by 2030 (per CNA).
  • Singapore has reached 2.3GWp of solar capacity (per CNA).
  • At the Asia Clean Energy Summit, Gan Siow Huang said Singapore is exploring solar panels on carports and building walls, as well as mobile containerised panels on vacant land (per CNA, indexbox.io).
  • JTC launched two challenges to encourage companies to develop solar deployment solutions, with selected projects eligible for funding to develop and test their solutions (per CNA).
  • Gan Siow Huang said facade solar installations must account for building design, orientation, structural requirements, maintenance, performance and cost (per CNA, indexbox.io).
  • Singapore will explore a one-stop digital portal to encourage owners of landed homes to install solar panels (per CNA).
  • As incoming ASEAN chair, Singapore will work to get energy guidelines endorsed in 2027, after ASEAN energy ministers expressed support for them earlier in October (per CNA).

The brief

Singapore is looking to expand solar installations across public spaces and vacant land as it works toward a newly announced capacity target of 4 gigawatt-peak (GWp) by 2035. CNA reported that Minister of State for Energy, Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang outlined the plans at the Asia Clean Energy Summit, held alongside Singapore International Energy Week.

The new target replaces Singapore’s previous goal of 3GWp by 2030. The country has reached 2.3GWp of solar capacity so far, according to CNA. The announced target and current capacity set out the scale of the government’s stated deployment task, while the summit remarks described several places where it is exploring additional installations.

Those options include solar panels on carports and building walls, as well as mobile, containerised panels that could be placed on vacant land. The proposals extend beyond conventional rooftop installations, but Gan said facade projects would have to account for building design and orientation, structural requirements, maintenance, performance and cost.

Her remarks identify practical considerations for installing panels on building exteriors without setting out a specific deployment schedule. JTC has launched two challenges aimed at encouraging companies to develop ways to deploy solar installations. CNA reported that selected projects will receive funding to develop and test their solutions.

The challenges link the exploration of new locations with supported project development and testing; the account does not identify the companies selected or state the funding amounts. Singapore is also exploring a one-stop digital portal to encourage owners of landed homes to install solar panels, CNA reported.

The portal is presented as another part of the country’s solar effort, alongside the public-space and vacant-land options. No launch date or further details about how the portal would operate were given in Gan’s remarks as reported by CNA. The regional policy work is another strand of the summit announcement.

Gan said ASEAN energy ministers had expressed support for the guidelines earlier in October, and that Singapore, as incoming ASEAN chair, would work to secure their endorsement in 2027. That endorsement remains a planned next step; the account does not report that ASEAN has already adopted the guidelines.

Why it matters

  • Singapore’s stated target is 4GWp by 2035, compared with 2.3GWp of capacity reached so far.
  • Building-wall installations raise practical requirements identified by Gan: design, orientation, structural needs, maintenance, performance and cost.
  • JTC’s two challenges offer selected projects funding to develop and test solar deployment solutions.
  • The government is also exploring a digital portal to encourage landed-home owners to install solar panels.

What to watch next

  • Whether JTC selects projects for funding through its two solar deployment challenges.
  • Whether Singapore develops the proposed one-stop digital portal for landed-home solar installations.
  • Whether Singapore secures ASEAN endorsement of the energy guidelines in 2027.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
3 source articles · 3 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 2 Center · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Asia 67% · Europe 33%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
3 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

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Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Singapore introduced the Green Mark building rating scheme in 2005, administered by the Building and Construction Authority, to promote more energy-efficient buildings.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The National University of Singapore and the Economic Development Board established the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. The government launched its first national climate-change strategy in 2012, setting out measures that included energy efficiency and renewable energy.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. A key institutional foundation for public-sector solar deployment was SolarNova, launched in 2014 by the Economic Development Board and the Housing and Development Board.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. Singapore’s first SolarNova tender, in 2015, covered 5,000 public housing blocks and 3,000 government buildings.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. Singapore awarded Sembcorp the project to build a 60MWp floating solar farm at Tengeh Reservoir.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Singapore opened Sembcorp’s 60MWp floating solar farm at Tengeh Reservoir.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Singapore’s solar policy shifted from a 2-gigawatt-peak (GWp) goal to a more ambitious 3GWp target for 2030 before the current 4GWp-by-2035 ambition. The 2GWp goal was set in the Singapore Green Plan 2030, launched on Feb. 10, 2021. Singapore later raised its 2030 target to 3GWp, reflecting a policy focus on expanding solar generation despite the city-state’s limited land.

In 2022, Singapore submitted an updated climate pledge to the United Nations, committing to peak emissions at 60 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent around 2030, after reaching a peak earlier.

Original sources

1 of 3 articles · Europe · Show all

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