Green Energy for More Livable Jakarta

Name: Green Energy for More Livable Jakarta
Uploaded: 2021-10-23T06:42:24Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Two installed solar power panels on the rooftop make the community shelter look conspicuous. They were installed at the end of March, each measuring one by two meters.

Two installed solar power panels on the rooftop make the community shelter look conspicuous. They were installed at the end of March, each measuring one by two meters.

Francis Vishnu Wardhana Dhany

· 6 minutes read

Green campaign needs to be promoted further, not only to make Jakarta a more environmentally livable city, but also to empower residents socially and economically.

The vehicles were seen cramming the Jagorawi and Cililitan Toll Road on Tuesday (19/10/2021) afternoon. Not far from the busy traffic, a dozen of elementary school-aged children were drilling Quran recital at the community gathering shelter in the Jagorawi neighborhood, Kebon Pala subdistrict, in East Jakarta.

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The community shelter is located among the densely packed residential houses in the RT 001, RW 003 neighborhood. The houses are colorful and mostly semi-permanent, built from plywood.

Two installed solar power panels on the rooftop make the community shelter look conspicuous. They were installed at the end of March, each measuring one by two meters.

The residents have since benefited from the solar power panels, whose maintenance is handled by ten young people who have been trained from the neighborhood.

Bagas Septiansyah, head of Jagorawi Karang Taruna, a youth organization, said that the residents felt privileged to have the solar power panels, aware that the environmentally and financially friendly electricity generator had before exclusively belonged to high-rise buildings and elite housing complexes.

“The residents feel excited. The electricity bill for community activities at the shelter has decreased. Some residents have been trained as technicians," he said.

The 700 watt-peak solar panels with on-grid and hybrid systems have been installed specifically to support the community activities, such as meetings, online learning, Quran recitation, entertainment and celebrations.

The panel operation, with a 1,300 volt ampere power meter, has saved electricity costs up to Rp 100,000 (US$7) per month. The saved amount means a lot to the residents, who mostly work as street vendors, scrap collectors and laborers.

Passing two, three islands in one row – an Indonesian idiom the equivalent of "killing two birds with one stone” is probably the reason behind the initiative launched by the Institute for Essential Services Reform and the Jakarta Citizens Forum, in collaboration with ATW Solar, who installed the solar panels as well as training the residents in maintenance.

They provide the residents with green energy for free while hoping some become interested in having solar panels installed in their homes.

Knowledge and benefits

Rahmudi (23), one of the trainees, said that local residents may not be able afford solar panels because of the expensive installation cost, but at least they had gained the knowledge about rooftop solar power generation technology (PLTS), including the components, installation networks and safety induction.

“It’s important that we can obtain the knowledge and enjoy the benefits of solar panels," said the logistics courier in East Jakarta.

The government is targeting the installation of 1 million rooftop PLTS. Data at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry show that the number of rooftop PLTS users reached 4,028 customers as of July, with a total capacity of 35.56 megawatt-peak.

The Indonesian Solar Energy Association estimates that the installation of a rooftop PLTS costs between Rp 15 million and Rp 20 million per 1 kilowatt-peak (kWp) for a maximum use of 30 years.

Despite the high installation cost, the solar power panel is worth the money given the operational period that after seven to ten years, the user can enjoy cheap, clean and environmentally friendly electricity.

If 1 kWp can produce 4 kilowatt-hour (kWh) a day, the energy produced for a month is about 120 kWh. This amount, when multiplied by the non-subsidized electricity tariff of Rp 1,444 per kWh, can save Rp 173,000 per month or more than Rp 2 million per year. For seven years, the saved spending on electricity will reach some Rp 15 million.

Rooftop solar panels reduce the gas emissions and the dependency on coal and fossil fuel oil for power generation. Based on data from state electricity company PLN, the Jakarta distribution unit had 4.7 million users as of 2020.

Of the total, 4.3 million were household customers, 5,912 industry plants, 306,839 business entities, 44,765 social institutions, 6,459 government buildings and 8,825 public street lighting.

The users are connected to 19,674 megavolt amperes with 32,166 giga watt-hours of electricity consumption. Meanwhile, the average electricity use is 6,764 kWh with the average tariff of Rp 1,261 per kWh.

Electric ride

In addition to a shift to rooftop solar PV use, a number of Jakarta residents have started using electric bikes for mobility, which not only reduces congestion and air pollution in the capital, but also provide relatively low travel cost.

Didit Hidayat (42) has regularly used an electric bicycle in the past year to get from his home in Kebayoran Baru to his office in Kuningan, South Jakarta. He said he had shifted to the green mode of transportation to save operational cost amid the pandemic, which brought cuts in his salary, in the allowance for parking and meals.

"Not bad. I don't pay for gas, parking and motorbike taxes. The savings are adding up, albeit not much. I can try various routes to TMII, PIK and others [without financial burden]," he said, referring to Indonesian miniature park in East Jakarta and Pantai Indah Kapuk area in North Jakarta.

He sold his motorbike because he hardly used it and has joined a network of electric bicycle users. Among their activities are discussions over bike maintenance and rides together.

Widi (21), a resident of South Jakarta, has also switched to electric bikes since March. He and his mother alternately use the bike they bought for Rp 5 million either to work or go shopping. This appears to have motivated a neighbor to switch to electric bikes too.

"It's saves money because and it doesn't use fuel. It can help reduce pollution too,” he said.

The Jakarta air quality monitoring report throughout 2020 by the Environment Agency showed that air quality and pollution were at moderate levels.

AirVisual once ranked Jakarta's air pollution as the worst in the world. The use of solar power panels and electric bicycles deserves to be promoted further so the city can become healthier and more liveable.

(This article was translated by Musthofid)

Editor:

naranasrullah

kompascetak urban life green energy Indonesian Solar Energy Association