Renewable energy by definition is type of energy that never expired or depleted and can be

used repeatedly. Renewable energy is not a something new to the world but it has been a talk
of the town recently. With the current quantity energy resources like coal, fuel and others are
decreasing each year, we need to find new energy resources not only renewable but also
efficient and safe to the environment and the people.
Firstly, Solar energy system. Solar energy system is a system that uses sunlight and turn
into electric energy. For many years, many have regarded the sun as possible source of
electrical power. Recently, we can harvest the sunlight in a huge amount and turn it into source
of energy thanks to the technological advancement of solar panel. There are two methods to
collecting and concentrating solar energy; uses of parabolic mirrors and solar panel. The
disadvantages of this system is that we need a constant and high concentration of light for about
6 hours a day to produce a high amount of energy. This power system is not suitable for the
country that has a high density of cloud. Although, we can see that solar energy system is useful
as alternative source but it also come with some downside especially to the environment. Solar
energy system use a lot amount of land, which is, can lead to habitat loss and degradation of
many species of animals and plants. It is estimated that solar energy system uses about 3 to 10
acres per megawatt. That is a lot of space especially when the world is currently facing food
shortage.
Next, Geothermal power system. Geothermal power system is a system that uses thermal
energy to produce energy. Deep down of earth there is magma flows. This magma may cause
steam vents. By channel, a cold water a few metres above the magma channel, the water will
turns into form of steam and turn the turbine. The steam will be cooled down through
condensation process and return back to the water reservoir. For setting up geothermal power
plant, we do not actually need a volcano, but we can dig some holes deep into the surface of
the earth. The environmental effect of this power system, it can affect the water quality. The
geothermal sources may contain heavy substances such as arsenic and mercury, which can
contaminated the water. If this water leaked into river or lake, this can be hazardous to humans
and animals who may consummated from the water sources.
After that, wind systems. Wind systems use the wind flow to produce energy. This is usually
by allowing wind to flow through a large blade and turn the motor. The unequal warming of
the Earth’s surface by the sun makes wind. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind
into clean power. At the point when the wind turns the turbine's sharp edges, a rotor catches
the kinetic energy of the wind and evolve it into rotating movement to drive the generator. Most
turbines have programmed over speed-overseeing frameworks to shield the rotor from turning
crazy in exceptionally high breezes. A small wind system can be connected to the electric grid
through the grid or off grid. This make wind systems useful for the countryside area, which
sometimes there is no electrical energy supplies. Just like other power systems before, wind
systems also bring some effect to the environment notably to the wildlife especially birds and
bats. Multiple of cases of death of birds and bats were reported due to crash into the spinning
wind turbines. This will lead to the degradation of some bird species in the area where the wind
power plant is located.
Then, we also have tidal power system. Tidal power system is a system that uses the rise
and fall of water along coastal areas. At the different time of year, the depth of the tidal water
varies greatly. This is due to the position of the moon and sun relation to the earth. Therefore,
the gravitational force actually produce the energy. Luckily, the same pattern is observed year
after year. The basic principle of this system is that the turbines is turn when the tides is rise
and the fall of the tides. The environmental effect of this system is the coastal erosion. The
alteration of currents and waves may affect the onshore and near shore. This is actually
happened during after the completion of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. The change of currents cause
the erosion on the multi-billion synthetic island.
Lastly, Biomass system. Biomass is an organic material that comes from plants and animals.
When biomass is burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. Biomass can be
burned directly or converted to liquid biofuels. One of the examples is animal and human waste,
which can be converted into biogas and be used as gas for cooking. This can be done by putting
them into a special vessel called anaerobic digesters. Microorganisms break down
biodegradable material in the absence of the oxygen. The environmental effect of this system
is that smell pollution. The collection of waste and organic scrap can produced an unappealing
smell, which may can lead to the whole area around the factory to be affected by this smell.
Based on my research, the suitable renewable energy to be implemented in Malaysia is solar
energy system. This is due to the availability of resources that is sunlight can be obtained
throughout the year. As a country that near to the equator, Malaysia naturally received enough
sunlight. As average, Malaysia received about 6 hours of sunlight per day. This would be
suffice since the average solar panel product out there only need at least 4 hours of sunlight.
Technically, almost all places in Malaysia are suitable for solar power plant but we need to
consider many factors such as topography, the amount of rainfall and others. Below is the
sunlight hours received in all states in Malaysia.

According to SEDA, the trend shows that the production of energy from solar energy
increases from 5321.15 MWh in 2012 to 463425.80 MWh in 2018. Taking the case example
of Kompleks Hijau Solar developed and operated by renewable energy company Gading
Kencana, their facility in Melaka produced 8MW which capable of powering 1800 houses
every day. Under the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) scheme, the company will be paid 80 sen per kWh
of electricity. Another example is eight MW solar farm by Cypark resources. The utility scale
solar project capable of producing about 11,712 MW of green energy annually for the next 21
years and with annual value more than RM 11 million. We can see that solar farm does not
produce much power to power up every single houses in Malaysia. Therefore, the technique
we should apply is that, we need to localize solar power plant in every area and supply the area
with the power produced instead of one main solar power plant. By this, we can increase the
efficiency of the power distribution and allow everyone to use the cheaper, greener energy. The
initial cost for build the solar energy system may vary depending on area. For a single home
use, 4kWp solar PV system costs around RM50, 000 in 2013. There is also company that
offering packages for solar panel system. One of them is FitSolarPanel Malaysia. One of the
packages is Min Entry Package. The package consists of 5-kWp PV system with estimated
electricity per month of 525 kWh, which will bring customer RM 705 per month with ROI of
16.1% and break-even of 6.2 years. The start-up cost might be expensive for people but with
the break-even of 6.2 years, the customer can enjoy the benefits since most of the PV panel has
a life-capacity of 10-20 years. The benefit of installing PV solar system is easier to generalize
if the system is large enough. Maintenance cost including general site maintenance, electrical
inspection, panel washing and others range around RM 100 per kW per year. Most of the PV
solar panel design already consider cleaning maintenance aspect by allow it to be “self-cleaned”
by the rainwater or water with its slanted design.
References
 https://www.solarsystemmalaysia.com/tag/cost-of-solar-energy/
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 http://fitsolarplan.com/
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despite-14618188
 https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/10/19/tenaga-unit-to-offer-
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 https://amledin.com/portfolio/commercial-community-residentlal-2/
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 https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cypark-resources-bags-rm450m-jobs-build-
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 https://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-
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 https://www.envirocitizen.org/blog/2017/07/31/environmental-impact-of-geothermal-
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 https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/buying-and-making-
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 http://www.met.gov.my/pendidikan/iklim/iklimmalaysia
 https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/features/2015/03/09/solar-farm-boosts-
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 https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/12/05/largest-solar-park-
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 https://themalaysianreserve.com/2019/02/18/solar-energy-project-enters-3rd-phase/
 https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2017/10/339496/sabah-sarawak-jadi-
hab-biomas-negara
 Electrical Power Systems Technology, Third Edition 3rd Edition by Dale R. Patrick
(Author), Stephen W. Fardo
 Electric Power Systems 5th Edition by B. M. Weedy (Author), B. J. Cory (Author),
N. Jenkins (Author), Janaka B. Ekanayake (Author), Goran Strbac (Author)