Solar Energy Technologies
Increasing surface area available for solar deployment and the energy yield per unit area.
Last updated on 29 September 2026
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Solar Energy Technologies
Solar energy is currently Singapore’s most viable source of domestic renewable energy. However, conventional deployment opportunities, particularly rooftops, will eventually reach saturation, which may slow further solar capacity growth unless unconventional surfaces can be utilised. Mainstream silicon photovoltaic modules are also approaching their theoretical efficiency limit, which constrains the potential generation capacity per unit surface area. In a land-constrained city-state these two limits compound: there is a finite amount of surface available to build on, and a ceiling on what each unit of surface can generate.
Deployment conditions impose a further requirement. Modules and the structures that carry them must remain durable and cost-effective across their full-service life in a dense urban, tropical environment.
AEDO’s research focus is therefore on increasing both the surface area available for solar deployment and the energy yield per unit area. Our R&D strategy addresses the following challenges:
Increase Solar Deployment Surfaces
Challenge statement: Develop scalable structural systems for large-span and unconventional PV applications (e.g., solar canopies) that reduce installed structural cost by at least 15%, with demonstrable reductions in material use and embodied carbon and improvements in installation productivity, relative to an equivalent conventional steel solution. Solutions should demonstrate a credible pathway towards materially reducing total installed PV system cost.
Enable Scalable and Grid-Compatible High Efficiency Solar Deployment in Singapore
Challenge statement: Develop high efficiency (>30%), lightweight, flexible solar PV modules that achieve an LCOE ≤S$0.10/kWh, while demonstrating scalable manufacturing and long-term durability under Singapore’s dense, urban tropical environment. Target performance should include <1%/year power degradation over a ≥25-year service life, resistance to sustained high-temperature/high-humidity conditions (e.g., 85°C/85% RH), mechanical flexibility and fatigue resistance, and stable performance at commercially relevant module areas (≥1 m²), with minimal efficiency loss from cell to module.