How to find out the amount of solar energy your rooftops generate through Javascript and Google Maps
Being asked about renewable energy in Singapore is one of the occupational hazards in my job when I travel to other countries to speak in various conferences. This is especially when I start talking about our efforts to use energytech to help drive energy efficiency and sustainability.
There are normally a few things that surprises people when I talk about renewable energy in Singapore. The first is that we’re almost entirely dependent on natural gas with 95.3% of electricity in Singapore being generated from it. Solar is our only source of renewable energy and it contributes only around 1.3% or 174.3MW of Singapore’s energy generation capacity.
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The second is that there is literally no other source of renewable energy other than solar. Singapore’s wind speeds are not high enough to install wind turbines. Commercial wind turbines operate at wind speeds of around above 4.5m/s but the average wind speed in Singapore is only about 2m/s. Singapore’s narrow tidal range and calm seas are great for our ports but that also means harnessing tidal energy is out. None of Singapore’s rivers flow fast enough for hydroelectric generation and…