Solar System for my House by Solana Tec Sdn Bhd, Johor

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In April 2024, my friend Dr Alvin shared that he has applied and installed solar system in his house. It helps to cut down the electricity bill.

Since my electricity consumption is relatively high (from RM600-RM1k range), so I decided to install the solar system in my house as well. Use the same service provider from my friend, Solana Tec Sdn Bhd.

I made a booking with the boss, Mr Lee, on the 17th April 2024, and he came to do the site inspection at my house the next day. Very efficient I must say. He used DJI drone to do a survey on the roof top, and done the work within 20 minutes. I got a quotation from him on the very same day after the site survey.

You may contact their sales at WhatsApp link below:

https://wa.link/4gko9q

As my house is using single phase power supply from TNB, so there is a limitation of the power that I can harvest from solar. Initially I wanted as many as possible to cover the entire electricity bill (RM900), but now I can only install upto maximum 6.655kWp (11 panels x 605W), or around RM350 saving per month (639kWh/month). Ok, that’s half the bill, but most importantly, if my electricity is over 1500kW, then there is a Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) charge.

~99% of residential customers under Tariff A with a total monthly consumption of 1,500 kWh and below will continue to enjoy RM0.02/kWh ICPT rebate. For residential customers under Tariff A with a total monthly consumption exceeding 1,500 kWh, ICPT surcharge rate of RM0.10/kWh will be applicable.

https://www.mytnb.com.my/announcements/entry/implementation-of-imbalance-cost-pass-through-icpt-rates-july-december

My April 2024 bill was RM957.26 in total due to the hefty ICPT charge of RM151.30. With the installation of solar system, I hope it can save on the total consumption to below 1500kW monthly, so that I won’t have to pay for the hefty ICPT charge. That’s saving not just on the electricity but also on the ICPT charge, both ways.

I signed up for the package of 6.655KWP Solar PV System at RM21,200 price. 10% deposit required upon confirmation, then 60% after they have the hardware ready. Final 30% after they done the installation.

Timeline

26th April 2024 – Paid 10% deposit

8th May 2024 – Layout drawing by them. Initially they suggested that panels 1 1 1 1 1 to be put on the North roof, but I told them that S roof has better sunshine. So, don’t listen blindly, sometimes we need to give our own opinion and suggestions as well.

23th May 2024 – NEM Approval (RM4,000 rebate)

23th May 2024 – 60% invoice issued, I paid on the next day

7th June 2024 – Solar Panels and Inverter installation done

11th June 2024 – They requested for the final 30% payment, but I told them to wait till TNB to install new meter, then only we can test to confirm if their installation is completed or not.

1st July 2024 – TNB installed new meter (this is required in order for TNB to receive the power from the solar panel). Installation is fast, only took 15 minutes for the TNB contractor to change the meter.

I turned on the Solis Inverter right after that.

The good thing of this solar system is that you can monitor the power generated from the solar system during day time. Night time it is off by itself.

2nd July 2024 – I noticed that my Solis system keep getting cut off from time to time. According to my friend, it is because of the input power from TNB that is too high. Over 260V, the Solis inverter will auto cut off to save itself.

3rd July 2024 – Same problem

4th July 2024 – update from Mr. Khalis Solana Tec

Sorry Mr @Shashinki Camera just now I upgrade again the over grid setting(reconfigure). Since I got see the voltage from TNB is around 268v. So I set more than it to avoid the over grid alarm happens again.

This voltage become higher normally because of the demand around your house. So TNB need to give higher to support the electric around your house.

Normally for single phase house the voltage is around 230-245v. So we configure the inverter to 260v and this is the default setting for the single phase inverter.

But for your house I need to set a bit higher due to high voltage from TNB

6th July 2024 – Got a few alarms today, but overall still good. I msg the team to request setting the voltage of Solis inverter to allow higher input, no reply from them.

9th July 2024 – I asked about the claim of RM4000 from NEM, and got immediately reply from the team (Nurelia Masturina). My bad of forgetting to click the claim email from TNB that was sent to me on the 6th July 2024.

Solaris Email by TNB from email :-

myTNB@tnb.com.my

Can refer attachment and click button CLAIM SOLARIS REBATE NOW

Done the claim form on the same day.

10th July 2024 – Paid the final 30% bill to Solana Tec Sdn Bhd.

17th July 2024 – Got the RM4,000 rebate in my bank account.

Since 7th July 2024, all things are running well.

One thing I noticed from the graphs above, the maximum power received from the solar system is capped at 5kW. I checked with Mr. Lee, and realized only that single phase house can only use maximum 5kW inverter. Hence my Solis inverter is only 5kW capacity.

From 26th April requesting for the solar installation till final installation of TNB meter on the 1st July 2024, it took 2 months 5 days. Not too bad.

Investment / Financial Calculation

Solar System = RM21,200

NEM rebate = -RM4,000

Total investment = RM17,200

Monthly Saving = RM300-350, annual saving = RM3,600-RM4,200

Investment return = 3600/17200 = 20.93% (low side) to 4200/17200 = 24.42% (high side)

The above calculations haven’t included the ICPT saving that I will get if I used my electricity more than 1500kW monthly, that’s another RM150 saving per month. Keeping the same amount of money in the bank will only yield 3-4% FD returns.

Malaysia being a country that has no 4 seasons and only sunny and rainy days, we enjoy abandon sunshine throughout the year. If got the extra money kept inside the bank, I think this is a very worthwhile investment.

Update 08 Oct 2024

Due to some technical issues, although my solar system was commissioned in July 2024, but the actual and final utilization of the solar energy saving was in September 2024. So I updated the savings below for reference.

July and Aug bills are not reflecting the actual usage or saving, as both months use some electricity generated by solar power during day time. Hence these two months were not reflecting with or without solar system. Hence only June, May, April are the actual reflection of e-bill of my house.

An average bill of RM825 for April, May and June 2024, down to RM324.25 in September 2024, that’s RM500.55 saving or 60.67% saving. Meaning that I am paying only 40% from the normal average bill.

Say an average of RM500 saving a month, my total investment of RM17,200, it takes 34 months to get back my Return of Investment (ROI). That’s 2 years 10 months, or round it up to 3 years.

Good investment IMO.