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Few weeks ago I was invited to join a tour to visit the Kumpulan Melaka Berhad (KMB) newly opened 5MW Solar Farm in Melacca. The trip was organized by SEDA Malaysia, which is working together with bloggers and journalists to show the public the advantages of their Feed-in Tariff to boost the capacity of installed renewable energy in Malaysia.
(The details of what we saw in the solar farm has already been documented by other bloggers, like in this post by Mohd Azham).
When we arrived to the Solar Farm (after few hours of ass-numbing bus trip from KL, all the while watching the 11th Hour), one of the first things that struck me is the Beauty of the Solar Farm, the arrays of Solar Panels stretching for few hundred meters, and then merging with the surrounding landscape. It is one of those views that it is very difficult not to take a picture to, and then taking another and another one, all the while thinking “you already have this pic, what to take another one for”, but still triggering the shutter nonetheless.
So here some pics of the KMB Solar Farm in Melacca:
KMB Solar Farm as seen from the facilities’ rooftop
KMB Solar Farm as seen from ground level
KMB Solar Farm building (with photographers on rooftop)
(If you haven’t had the chance to visit a Solar Farm, KMB keeps its doors open for visitors to learn more about what they do and how they tap into solar energy, and in particular for University Institutions to carry out research. Contact KMB here.)
Against the myth “Solar panels will make my roof ugly”…
So yes, I believe that Solar Farms are pure Beauty.
Some people argue that solar panels make roofs look ugly. I think it is actually the opposite, the can actually make your house look nicer than before, more if you happen to have an ugly, deteriorated roof… why clean it, just conceal it behind the solar panels!
So below I have compiled many pictures from all around showing the Beauty of Solar Panels, each pic showing its source. Let’s hope we can soon find these pictures more and more all over Malaysia!
The Beauty of Solar Panels in images
Merging gracefully with the surrounding nature, like the Kyocera solar farm in Japan:
Making stunning Solar buildings, like the Sanyo ark for the solar century in Japan:
Simply blending into a house rooftop:
Making the most of unused office / factory / market / etc rooftops:
… all the while making the building cooler, so less A/C is needed!
And they not even need to be placed on the roof! In this case, the PVs were placed vertically alongside the building:
Providing shade to cars in Parking Lots:
Source: http://mcgurn.com/mcgurn7.htm
Preventing evaporation of water, like in this Canal in Gujarat, India:
Who says they must be flat? Check these Honeycomb-Shaped ‘Beehive’ Solar Panels:
Or these Curved Solar Shingles which make installation easy on curved tiles:
And in the future…
Solar panels won’t even be visible, since thanks to Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) they will be actually part of the building itself!
And, who knows, even cars might come integrated with Solar Panels! Like this experimental Ford model:
Lastly, a reminder of the coal alternative…
How “beautiful” are Coal Power Plants, like this one from from Xuzhou, China…
