Since mid-July 2010, a photovltaic system has provided around 50 Malaysian families in Borneo with environmentally friendly power. IBC SOLAR Malaysia and their project partner, Carbon Capital Corporation, installed a 20kWp capacity solar system for a longhouse in which the families live. IBC SOLAR took over the engineering and delivery of the system’s technology. The longhouse is in Kerapa Spak, located in Borneo’s Sarawak region, a 4 hour boat ride and an arduous trek through the jungle away from the closest major city, Betong. In the past, all of the needed energy had to be produced by a diesel generator, however now; the longhouse has an independent source of clean energy.

The highly-developed hybrid system generates electricity for the village community and creates a stable connection to the outside world as it powers a satellite-supported tele¬communications system. The system was handed over to the Malaysian government on July 13, 2010.

The Malaysian longhouses resemble row houses and are made up of several units and each unit houses a family. All of the units are built under a single roof and the entire house forms a social and political community. For a long time, the villagers had been cut off from the outside world during most of the year and were dependent on diesel generators for their power supply. Due to the long transportation route for fuel, energy was strictly rationed, consumed only for the essentials.

Now a battery system saves solar power for the hours when the sun isn’t shining. A solar powered satellite-supported VSAT communications system provides the villagers with a connection to the outside world via telephone and internet.

The managing director of IBC SOLAR’s Malaysian subsidiary, Ahmad Nazri Ibrahim, explained: “With the new hybrid system, the entire longhouse can be illuminated. Even the community room can be instantly lit with 21 lamps, the surrounding area with 7 more. The system’s advantage: It will deliver emission-free power for at least the next 25 years, with only minimum maintenance work. So the village community will be reliably provided for.”

The project started in November 2009 and challenged the partners logistically. The PV components and building devices had be transported on the difficult route to the village.

Udo Möhrstedt, founder and CEO of IBC SOLAR, explained at the official handover of the system: “Malaysia is one of the big solar module producers, exporting the major share of their modules. I would like to encourage the Malaysian government to support more photovoltaic projects, in order to more strongly promote the development of the local infrastructure.”

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