A review on Malaysia’s solar energy pathway towards carbon-neutral Malaysia beyond Covid’19 pandemic

(a) School of Engineering and Computer Science, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, 47500, Selangor, Malaysia

(b) Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Jalan Sunsuria, Bandar Sunsuria, 43900 Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia

(c) New Energy Science and Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Jalan Sunsuria, Bandar Sunsuria, 43900, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia

(d) Graphene Advanced Materials Research Group, Sunway University, 5, Jalan University, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
COVID′19 pandemic has devastated several industries and solar energy is no exception. In its economic relief package, Malaysia has announced approximately US$ 2.9 billion in expenditure for the installation of new grids, LED street lights and rooftop solar panels. The Government will also open the tender for a 1400 MW solar power project in the year 2020, which is expected to generate 5 billion ringgit (US$1.1 billion) in investments. As these measures are intended to sustain the existing growth of solar energy potential in the country, it is vital to assess its status quo. Hence, this paper aims to review the current status of renewable energy in Malaysia as well as the initiatives taken before the pandemic to promote solar photovoltaic (PV) technology to meet the energy demands through the low-carbon pathway.

Cite:

Mahesh Vaka, Rashmi Walvekar, Abdul Khaliq Rasheed, Mohammad Khalid, A review on Malaysia’s solar energy pathway towards carbon-neutral Malaysia beyond Covid’19 pandemic, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 273, 2020, 122834, ISSN 0959-6526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122834.