Financing for your home Solar PV systems

When solar rooftop FiT scheme was introduced in 2011, many prospective applicants lamented the difficulty in getting financing for the installation of home solar PV. Although cost has gone down quite substantially, price for a typical 4kWp solar PV system is RM40,000, which is still expensive.


Here comes the answer, or at least an alternative

Recently, Alliance Bank Bhd came up with Home Complete Plus-Solar Panel Financing , a scheme developed jointly with the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA). It's a kind of personal financing scheme for solar panel.

While not in any way trying to promote the financing scheme, here is a brief overview and features of the loan (Kudos to Alliance Bank for taking the first mover’s risk by offering financing solution for solar PV in homes):

Competitive interest rate for installation of Solar Panel Up to 90% margin of finance Monthly repayment could potentially be set-off with Feed-in Tariff payment

Tenure                     : Up to 10 years
Age requirement      : 21 - 55 years of age
Minimum income   : RM3,000 per month
Loan limit               : Up to RM150k
Interest calculation : Term loan, Reducing balance

Financing type : Single borrower only
No collateral or guarantor needed
Landed property owner only


"I have been informed by SEDA Malaysia that for now, most of the houses which have solar PV systems installed and are able to benefit from the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme are those where the majority of the financing comes from house owners." - Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili during the launching.

Other than Alliance Bank, SEDA is currently in talks with Bank Negara on approaching another three banks, mostly local, to participate in the scheme.

Read more: http://www.thegreenmechanics.com/2013/06/loans-for-home-solar-pv-systems.html#ixzz2YdWS0F4o

Sole survivor of elephant poisoning, Joe, is doing well

KOTA KINABALU: Baby elephant Joe, the sole survivor of a poisoning that killed a herd of 14 Borneo pygmy elephants, is out of the woods.

The calf has gained weight and is now socialising with other elephants at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park here.

“He is very healthy and has gained over 100kg in the past few months, from 90kg when we rescued him, to almost 200kg now,” said Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan.

He said Joe, who is also called Kejora by some here, had even made friends with another rescued animal, four-year-old elephant Pikang, which was brought to the zoo after it was found with half its trunk missing during a wildlife operation in Lahad Datu six months ago.

Dr Sen said the animal was believed to have been injured when its trunk was caught in an old trap.

The story of Joe caught international attention after he was photographed nuzzling his lifeless mother at the Gunung Rara forest reserve, about 140km from Tawau, on Jan 25.

Dr Sen said investigations into the elephant poisoning incident were still ongoing although the authorities now know what poison was used to kill the animals.

“However, we are still unable to identify who the culprits are.” Dr Sen also said Joe could spend his whole life as a permanent resident of the zoo because he was now used to being around humans.

Nevertheless, Joe was a very happy elephant, he said.