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An AI-generated image of solar panels hanging between industrial buildings at 15 Woodlands Loop.
PHOTO: EDP APAC
Shabana Begum
Published Oct 27, 2026, 04:00 PM
Updated Oct 27, 2026, 06:57 PM
SINGAPORE – From laying out mobile solar panels to hanging them between buildings, Singapore is finding unique ways to squeeze as much power from sunlight as possible, to meet its new 2035 solar target.
The authorities are pushing ahead to meet the renewed target of harnessing 4 gigawatt-peak (GWp) of solar energy by 2035, by working with government agencies, companies and even home owners.
These were among plans to step up the country’s solar push announced by Minister of State for Energy, Trade and Industry Gan Siow Huang on Oct 27, at the Singapore International Energy Week.
Work is also under way to trial solar panels that resemble clay tiles for installation on heritage buildings without greatly altering their look.
The target 4GWp of solar energy represents about 5% of Singapore’s electricity demand projected for 2035.
The country now generates about 2.3GWp of solar energy and aims to reach 3GWp by the end of 2030.
To encourage more private home owners to install solar panels on their roofs, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) will partner the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore to develop a digital portal.
The portal will provide solar-related information and services, help home owners connect with solar installers and explore group purchase opportunities, said EMA on Oct 27.
There are more than 8,000 residential solar installations now.
In tandem with the push for more private-home solar installations, EMA will embark on a research collaboration with the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) to study and map the capacity of local electricity networks, to accommodate more solar installations in landed housing estates and cope with more power flowing from solar panels back to the grid.
On Oct 27, EMA also launched an initiative to handle the demand for solar energy across all public and government buildings.
A panel of solar installers will be appointed to help government agencies assess the solar potential of their premises and develop tailored solutions.
By amassing demand across agencies, the initiative can create greater economies of scale and also come up with the best solutions for sites with different tenures, operational needs and conditions, said EMA.
Agencies can also explore innovative solutions such as solar roofs at carparks and replacing windows or building facades with special solar panels.
Singapore has installed rooftop solar equipment on more than 5,000 HDB blocks and public buildings through HDB’s SolarNova programme and other efforts, Gan noted.
To further identify where and how the country can maximise solar energy, EMA will collaborate with the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore to “assess solar deployment opportunities across diverse types of surfaces”, the authority said.
Apart from HDB, industrial developer JTC Corporation has been another major player in Singapore’s solar deployment – it is responsible for 45% of the country’s current solar capacity, with panels across the industrial estates it manages. It also runs the country’s largest ground-mounted solar installation on Jurong Island.
JTC is now piloting innovative ways to harness the renewable energy from unconventional spaces in its industrial estates.
An AI rendering of solar panels suspended between buildings.
PHOTO: EDP APAC
It includes a project where solar panels will be suspended between two existing industrial buildings at 15 Woodlands Loop. Renewable energy company EDP APAC will build and test this overhanging solar structure over 15 months from October.
Such structures come with engineering and operational challenges, said JTC. For one thing, the overhang structure must safely carry its own weight and that of the panels while withstanding wind forces at height.
JTC also announced an innovation call on Oct 27 seeking portable solar solutions at construction sites with limited access to the national grid. One solution could be deploying solar panels from containers with mobile energy storage systems.
“This solution will help many temporary worksites that have limited or no access to the power grid and currently rely heavily on noisy and pollutive diesel generators,” said Gan.
On the research front, EMA is partnering the Singapore Land Authority and CSEM, a Swiss technology innovation centre, to pilot the use of solar photovoltaic (PV) roof tiles on heritage buildings.
Clay-like solar panels installed on the roof of a building in Switzerland.
PHOTO: FREESUNS
Designed to resemble traditional clay roof tiles, the solar PV tiles enable a larger roof area to generate clean electricity while retaining the character of older buildings, said EMA.
“We are really pushing all boundaries and surfaces, literally, and capturing every opportunity to harness solar across Singapore,” said Gan.
But she noted that there are limits to the amount of solar energy Singapore can harness, due to land scarcity and intermittency because of cloud cover.
Gan said that at most, solar energy can meet 10% of Singapore’s electricity needs by 2050, the year the country has pledged to reach net zero in its carbon emissions.
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