Solar Capability Building Programme for Public Housing

Expanding the use of renewable energy such as solar photovoltaics (PV) is part of the Housing and Development Board's ongoing efforts to promote sustainable development and is in line with the second thrust of HDB's Roadmap for Better Living – to develop ‘Sustainable Towns’. Recognising the unique resource constraints of Singapore, HDB has looked towards solar PV. The Solar Capability Building Programme for public housing involves a wide-scale solar PV test-bedding in both new and existing towns. This paper documents the unique challenges that HDB faced (and still faces) in its drive towards sustainability, a key feature of which is the introduction of solar PV to public housing. The main sections covered are:•HDB's main objectives of starting the Solar Capability Building Programme,•The journey since 2008 till now,•HDB's vision of turning Punggol into a zero-energy (for common services) town,•Various challenges faced and how they were overcome,•Findings from the systems installed so far, and•The future direction HDB is headed in.The focus of the paper is on how HDB is working towards achieving its aims for the Solar Capability Building Programme despite the high solar PV system cost, small number of industry players and lack of grid parity or tariffs. It is an in-depth look into the ways in which HDB has chosen to push forward for solar PV despite the odds. Other governments and companies facing the same challenges can adopt similar methods to overcome them.