Telsa runs an entire island on solar power. Using 5328 solar panels and 60 Telsa Powerpacks, Ta’u, part of American Samoa, with less than 600 residents, now runs 100% using solar power. The battery packs can run for three days without sunlight. Isn’t this cool?
It’s so cool to be able to run an island, a small civilisation, totally using solar power. Maybe Singapore can start with using Pulau Ubin as a test case to power a town using solar energy 100%, as there are only 38 residents living in 24 houses as in 2012. As Singapore aims to become a Smart City, this might be one area for Singapore to explore.
Singapore main island have many HDB flats. Previously, I thought we could better make use of these rooftops and maybe have rooftop gardens. However, safety as well as loading could be issues since the rooftops were built not with the intention of having people or heavy loads moving around. Later, I thought why not install solar panels on rooftops of HDB flats? In 2015, HDB awarded the largest solar panel installation to SolarNova, a government-led solar lead demand programme] to cover 831 Housing & Development Board (HDB) blocks, and eight Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Public Utilities Board (PUB) sites. We might be on our way to power a town, if not the whole of Singapore using solar power.
