TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Solar power lights up middle schools
Empirical teaching: Teachers at SMP 19 in South Jakarta explain the advantages of recently installed solar panels to their students on Wednesday
Change Size
E
span class="inline inline-center">Empirical teaching: Teachers at SMP 19 in South Jakarta explain the advantages of recently installed solar panels to their students on Wednesday. The 145 solar panels are expected to save energy usage and costs. JP/Ricky Yudhistira
A city solar-power initiative is taking flight, as solar panels are being installed and operated at junior high schools in Jakarta.
The administration has so far installed the panels at two public junior high schools (SMP), 19 and 12, both in South Jakarta. The two are considered pilot projects, and solar energy will be expanded to other schools based on their success.
The principal of SMP 19, Morgan Napitupulu, said that his school had saved up to Rp 8 million (US$686) in last month's electricity bill. 'The school's monthly electricity bill usually reaches Rp 30 million. The cost this month declined to Rp 22 million,' he said on Wednesday.
Paul Sutanto, the senior engineer of the project's contractor company PT Alpen Steel, said that there were 145 solar panels installed at the school. 'Each solar panel can produce around 145 watt-peak of energy, so there are around 20 kilowatt-peak (kWp) in total,' he said.
He explained that 20 kilowatt-peak meant that the solar panel could produce 20,000 watts under clear, sunny skies.
An employee with Alpen Steel, Bubun Widarta, said that for the trial period the solar energy was being used only to power the lamps in one of the school's three buildings.
Paul said the panels installed on the building had thin-film solar cells, like those found on a solar-powered calculator, which were easy to maintain. 'The panels only need to be cleaned periodically. They only need to be washed like you would windows,' he said.
He added that the panels could last up to 25 years, and his company would still help with regular maintenance for a year. 'After a year we will monitor them remotely, using an Internet connection installed in the converter machine room,' he added.
Paul said that the energy produced by the panels was converted by an inverter and then channeled to the classrooms. Excess energy was stored in batteries located in the same room with the inverter machine.
He added that the pilot projects cost around Rp 1 billion for each school.
Principal Morgan said that the project was initiated by the Industry and Energy Agency in the era of former governor Fauzi Bowo. The project aims to cut energy cost in buildings owned by the city.
He said that the two pilot schools were selected from among hundreds that were surveyed. 'If the projects go well, it will be developed in other schools,' Morgan added.
He said that another advantage of having solar power in the school besides energy conservation was that his students could observe directly how solar energy worked.
The pilot projects are part of a greater effort by the city administration to reduce the use of fossil fuels in Jakarta.
In October 2011, the administration installed several solar power panels in Thousand Islands regency with a total capacity of 43 kilowatts. The administration also installed 39 solar-powered street lighting systems in several areas of Jakarta in 2010. (ask)
