JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Demand for rooftop solar panels has increased sharply in recent years as more companies and households turn to solar energy to meet their electricity needs, an executive of a rooftop solar panel leasing and service company has said.

The managing director of rooftop solar panel leasing company PT Xurya Daya Indonesia (Xurya), Eka Himawan, said in Jakarta on Wednesday (Feb 26) that the number of companies that used solar energy had increased sharply because solar energy helped reduce electricity costs by up to 20 per cent.

“Demand for solar panels has increased significantly and we’re at a phase where it’s getting hard for supply to keep up with demand, ” Eka said.

Xurya, which was established in 2018, offers leasing and installment services for rooftop solar panels. The company has provided leasing and installation services to 20 companies engaged in the retail and manufacturing industries.

Despite the rising growth rate, distrust over solar panel’s safety among manufacturing companies poses as a challenge for Xurya, he said.

“Many companies think that electrical currents from solar panels could disrupt their electrical equipment It’s totally untrue, ” he said.

Users of solar panels in Indonesia increased from 351 users in January 2018 to 1,580 users in December 2019, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s data shows.

The total electricity produced from rooftop solar panels increased to around 4.92 megawatt as of December 2019.

Meanwhile, the ministry’s renewable energy technical subdirectorate head, Martha Sibarani, said the government hoped the industrial sector could help boost the country’s renewable energy share toward the national energy mix.

“Most solar panels have been installed on houses. If industries and businesses also use solar panels, then we’re sure that the share of renewable energy would spike, ” she said.

The increased use of the solar energy is expected to support the government’s efforts to achieve 23 percent renewable power production energy mix by 2025 as mandated by the General National Energy Planning road map. The country closed 2019 with a 12.36 per cent renewable mix, far less than the 17.5 per cent annual target on the road map. – The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network.

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