Solar Energy Profiles by Solar Magazine

The solar energy industry has gained significant development over the past few decades, while making vast and impressive contributions to accelerating the transition to renewable energy, better addressing the climate change and creating a greener living environment for human beings. However, from a global perspective, the solar development is uneven–many regions in the world which have huge solar potential along with many benefits to residents lack a robust ecology comprised of various aspects including strong social awareness, consistent governmental support, mature technology systems, effective policies and regulations, and adequate capital. These regions are mainly in developing areas, like Africa, Asia, and South America, occupying a large proportion of the world’s population. In the meanwhile, there are still some 1 billion people across the globe have no electricity access; most of these people are living in rural communities of the areas mentioned above–many practices have proven that solar energy deployment is an ideal means to alleviate energy poverty.

Aiming to make the public to get to know more about and obtain good understandings of the potential, states, and obstacles of the solar energy development in these regions and areas, Solar Magazine launches the Solar Energy Profiles column and will publish profiles for different countries regularly. We will concentrate our efforts on the developing as well as the less developed countries first since they have received less attention. We hope that these profiles composed of official statistics, market analyses and expert insights can catch more attention from international policymakers, development organizations and associations, technology professionals, and investors to form a strong cohesion to accelerate the solar energy deployment and address the energy issues.

We first zoom in on the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) whose population has reached 651 million by 2018...

	Thailand Solar Energy Profile The first ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member state to institute the equivalent of a feed-in tariff (FiT), more solar power capacity has been installed in Thailand than in any other of the 10 ASEAN members. Thailand has the one of the largest, and the most diverse, bases of renewable energy resources of any ASEAN nation, according to national and international assessments, which means there’s plenty of room for growth...[Read more]
	Vietnam Solar Energy Profile Solar and other renewable energy resources figure to play a growing role in the country’s energy mix, but transitioning to an economy and society centered on emissions-free, environmentally friendly energy resources appears more than likely to take a back-seat to ensuring economic growth continues, accompanied by an increasing reliance on coal- and natural gas-fired power generation....[Read more]
	Indonesia Solar Energy Profile Solar energy and Indonesia seem almost ideally suited for each other. Indonesia has yet to tap into its abundant solar energy resource potential in any significant way, however. A member of ASEAN, a party to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Climate Agreement, the Indonesia government has set a target of renewable energy providing 23% of electricity generation by 2025 and 31% by 2050...[Read more]
	Malaysia Solar Energy Profile Malaysia has emerged as an international hub for the manufacture of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, wafers and modules. The southeast Asian nation has been comparatively slow to take up solar energy at home, however...Looking ahead, prospects look brighter. Malaysia’s government has set a goal of renewables accounting for national power generation capacity by 2030...[Read more]
	Singapore Solar Energy Profile Singapore continues to advance towards achieving its renewable energy and climate change goals, installing rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on public housing, and more recently with the launch of floating solar energy R&D initiatives and project development. The country could be doing more, faster, according to some, more specifically when it comes to policy-making and adoption of solar energy in the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector, however...[Read more]
	Philippines Solar Energy Profile An archipelagic nation with a population of 100 million-plus people spread across some 7,641 islands, the Philippines has set some ambitious renewable energy and climate change goals, but it’s lagging well behind in its efforts to reduce its dependence on coal and shift the national energy mix towards readily available, distributed renewable energy resources and digital, clean energy technologies...[Read more]
	Cambodia Solar Energy Profile Cambodia’s economy is growing fast, and so is its demand for energy. Decisions made today regarding sources of fuel and power generation will determine whether or not this ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member country will set itself on a path of sustainable energy and development, or increase its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and exacerbate climate change...[Read more]
	Myanmar Solar Energy Profile Solar energy is just beginning to gain some traction in Myanmar, a country that has been gradually opening up its economy and society to the world since 2011. Demand for energy has been growing fast, in parallel with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member’s economy, and solar energy is competing against a variety of conventional, as well as alternative low- or zero-carbon, energy resources for its share of Myanmar’s energy mix...[Read more]