Malaysia is the 16th largest fossil fuel producer in the world. According to Statista, the export value of crude petroleum in Malaysia was valued at approximately 31.55 billion Malaysian ringgit in 2022, an increase compared to 18.37 billion Malaysian ringgit in the previous year. The export volume of crude petroleum from Malaysia totaled approximately 8.87 million metric tons in 2022, a slight decrease from around 8.9 million metric tons in the previous year.

The cost of electricity in subsidized by our Government. The cost of electricity in Malaysia is 4.7 US cent per kWh for households and 13 US cent per kWh for businesses.

According to the data from Global Petrol Prices.com, the average electricity prices for households in March 2023 were as follows:

Singapore 23.3 US cent per KWh

China 8.5

USA 13.5

UK 46

As you can see, the UK had the highest electricity price among the four countries. The global average electricity price for households was 14.2 U.S. cents per kWh. Electricity prices vary widely across the world and depend on factors such as taxes, levies, subsidies,  infrastructure, geography, and the sources of energy used.

Solar energy is the cheapest because it harnesses the power of the sun, which is a free and abundant resource. The cost of installing solar panels has decreased significantly over the past decade, thanks to technological improvements and economies of scale. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in history for projects with low-cost financing and high-quality resources.

Solar power also has lower operating and maintenance costs than fossil fuels, which have to buy mined fuels to run their power plants. Solar power is not only cheaper, but also more sustainable and environmentally friendly than fossil fuels, which cause air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change.

Malaysia has free and unlimited supply of sunlight:

Even at the cheap electricity cost in Malaysia, many house and factory owners have installed solar panels on their roof tops in Malaysia. On a smaller scale they have proved that it is cheaper to generate electricity from solar panels on roof tops of houses and factories.

That is why there are so many solar panel manufacturers and suppliers in Malaysia such as:

• Cutech Group: A global provider of power quality products and solar PV systems, with a track record of installing over 50,000 solar panels at more than 100 project locations across Malaysia, Singapore and India.
• Ditrolic Solar: A leading solar company in Malaysia since 2009, with experience in delivering various types of solar projects, such as rooftop, ground-mounted, floating and hybrid systems.
• Solarvest: A full turnkey solar PV solution provider in Malaysia, specializing in rooftop solar panels for residential and commercial customers, with a portfolio of over 500 MWp of solar projects.

Solar energy is the cheapest energy system to produce electricity in the world.

It is cheaper than geothermal, gas, coal and nuclear.

Malaysia’s petroleum reserve is depleting and Malaysia has free unlimited supply of sunshine. That is why Malaysia should produce electricity from solar panels. Moreover, solar panel price has been dropping in the last 40 years due to the manufacturing technology improvement.

The cost of solar panels has been dropping due to the improvement in manufacturing technology. Researchers at MIT have identified the relative importance of different factors that have reduced the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules by 99 percent over the last four decades. They found that government policy to help grow markets around the world played a critical role in reducing this technology’s costs. At the device level, the dominant factor was an increase in “conversion efficiency,” or the amount of power generated from a given amount of sunlight. In addition, several new factories ramping up production and helping to end a shortage of the material in 2021 and 2022. According to Tim Buckley, director of Australia-based think tank Climate Energy Finance, solar module prices may approach the threshold of $0.10/W by the end of 2024 or eventually in 2025. He estimates that PV panels prices will end up dropping by 40% this year.

China is the largest producer of solar energy in the world, with more than 200 GW of installed capacity by the end of 2019. China’s solar power market grew dramatically after substantial government incentives were introduced in 2011.

China surpassed Germany as the world’s largest producer of photovoltaic energy in 2015, and became the first country to have over 100 GW of total installed photovoltaic capacity in 2017. China’s solar power generation reached nearly approximately 418 terawatt hours in 2022. China plans to have 1,200 GW of combined solar and wind energy capacity by 2030. China’s solar power industry has also benefited from the falling costs of producing solar modules, which dropped by 42% in the last year to US$0.15 per watt (/W). China’s solar power industry is a global leader in innovation and sustainability.

Some of the most prominent names are:

• JinkoSolar: The world’s largest solar panel manufacturer, with a shipping growth of 25% in 2019. Its solar panels have an efficiency range of 15.57% to 19.88%.
• JA Solar: One of the biggest manufacturers that develop, design, and manufacture solar panels and related products. Its solar panels have a 12-year product warranty and a 25-year performance warranty.
• Trina Solar: Founded in 1987, it operates in more than 100 countries and manufactures energy storage systems, smart O&M, and systems1. Its solar panels have an efficiency range of 16.2% to 19.9%. 

The cheapest way for Malaysia is to call open competitive tender to produce electricity from solar panels to avoid corruptions.

Each state should identify suitable places for solar panel installation. Solar can be placed over water to save land cost.

If our Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can implement what I said in the article to produce electricity from the sun, he will be acknowledged as the best PM in the history of Malaysia.