The government is in talks with private companies that have expressed interest in constructing solar panels for houses and other buildings, as the government does not allocate funds for such projects.

The cost to install a solar panel is estimated at Rp 27 million (US$1907) per unit for one that produces between 1.6 and 1.7 kilowatt (kW) of electricity.  

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s renewable energy director, Harris, said on Tuesday that the ministry had been communicating with producers of solar panels on the matter.

"Our friends in the industry have expressed interest in financing the cost of solar panels,” Harris said. 

He said private financing would be the only option for such projects because the government would not allocate funds for them,  although the national target for energy produced by rooftop solar panels had been set at 1,000 megawatt of installed capacity by 2020.

Last November, the government issued Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Regulation No. 49/2018 on the utilization of solar panels for PLN customers to boost the use of solar energy, which was part of the 23 percent renewable energy contribution target by 2025.

The government hopes that at least 10 percent of 40 million total customers of state-owned electricity company PLN will use solar panels, which could reduce a household’s electricity bill by 30 percent. (bbn)