Today marks the 15th year of incorporation of SolarGy Pte Ltd. It has been a long and patient journey as we solarise the nation’s rooftops, 'one panel at a time’, cumulating to almost 200,000 panels to date. We started the business when total system cost was $10/Wp and module efficiency of mainstream crystalline panels was only a modest 12 to 13%, while Sanyo HIT was at 16% - the world’s highest at that time.
Long payback periods of 15 to 20 years were the norm. Fast forward to today, with solar module prices reducing by 10-fold, along with the sharp increase in grid electricity prices, the payback period for solar power systems has dropped attractively to just 3 to 4 years.
Of late, the push factor for some solar adopters seems to be the motivation to cut electricity costs rather than sustainability. This is understandable as industries that used to be buying electricity from Retailers at sub-20 c/kWh are now bearing 3 to 4 times more in their monthly electricity cost when their Retailers exit the business or when their contract is due for renewal. Decarbonization and the race towards net zero is an even bigger push factor for big corporates to switch to renewables.
As the solar industry ramp up steeply to serve enthusiastic customers in their attempt to hedge on high grid electricity cost and reduce carbon emissions, it is important to ensure that the PV systems are installed by experienced and professional system integrators (or EPC) so that they can survive through the 3 year payback period and continue for the entirety of their 25 years lifespan, reaping unprecedented returns on investments.
We at SolarGy are well placed to serve the growing solar EPC business as we continue to leverage our wealth of experience, established quality controls and project management processes. We passionately believe that every PV system deserves attention to detail from inception to completion and on that note, we have taken months to put together a corporate video to show our past, present and future customers, the legacy that SolarGy has built.