TEEAM Series of Technical Talks 02/2024
On July 16, 2024, The Electrical and Electronics Association of Malaysia (TEEAM) organised and ran the second instalment of their industry-centric Series of Technical Talks for 2024. The venue at which the event was held was at the TEEAM Seminar Hall located at No. 5-B, Jalan Gelugor, Off Jalan Kenanga, Kuala Lumpur. The total time duration of the ‘TEEAM Series of Technical Talks 02/2024’ programme was officially listed as 9:00 am to 1:00 pm although the participants were required to come in half an hour earlier to register for the talk.
The Technical Talk started with Welcome Remarks and was followed by the commencement of the first talk of the morning titled ‘Fire Prevention for Solar Energy Systems’. Ms. Tan Ai Peng presented the topic as the Speaker and highlighted how crucial it was to implement fire prevention measures in solar energy systems. This urgent concern is justified by recent and increasing occurrences of solar PV fires by way of rooftop fire incidents.
She explained in detail how there was the need for better fire prevention mechanisms to be in place in solar PV systems as paramount since energy supply systems play an important role in our lives. Even though energy is critical to the sustainable development of our society, the unfortunate reality is that we are facing a scarcity of abundant and affordable energy. This shortage is further exacerbated by an ever-increasing world population which results in an even greater energy demand.
Although we derive the bulk of our energy from fossil fuel sources at the moment, we need to consider the longevity of such traditional energy resources in light of their sustainability. There is a very real possibility of these energy sources depleting in the future as supply decreases and demand increases. An immediate transition to renewable energy resource systems is therefore the answer.
Ms. Tan pointed out that the most practical renewable energy resource in Malaysia is solar energy. This is because Malaysia is blessed with an abundance of sunlight. Hence it is of vital necessity to protect our solar energy systems from frequent solar PV fires.
Ms. Tan Ai Peng’s Background: Ms. Tan Ai Peng has a Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy from the University of Malaya and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economic Finance from University Putra Malaysia. She has 15 years of experience in Accounting and has over 10 years of experience in the solar energy industry. Ms. Tan is the Executive Director of BSL Eco Energy Sdn Bhd. Her focus is on the viability and challenges of increasing solar PV installations.
Participants and attendees then proceeded to a Coffee Break at 11:30 am. The talk promptly resumed at 11:45 am with the presentation of the topic “What are the Challenges and Opportunities in Solar PV Generation?” by Ir. Chew Shee Fuee. In a similar vein to Ms. Tan Ai Peng’s sharing on how viable solar PV installations are in Malaysia due to the country’s abundance of sunlight, Ir. Chew mentioned that Malaysia has a whopping potential of 269GW of solar energy.
But while the proliferation of solar PV installations is increasing on both a large as well as a small scale, the sun doesn’t stay shining in the sky for 24 hours in a day. Furthermore, there is a substantial reduction of solar PV output on cloudy days. As such, Ir. Chew raised some relevant questions for the participants to ponder:
Can the Grid continue to accept more supply of electricity in unending measure from solar PV generators? There seems to be an almost infinite energy to tap from the sun by deploying Solar PV systems. Is it therefore possible to have all building roofs to be fully embedded with solar PV materials?
These pertinent questions and issues raised by Ir. Chew through his talk, the second and final talk of the day, provided the keen participants with a ripe opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities regarding solar PV generation.
Ir. Chew Shee Fuee’s Background: Ir. Chew Shee Fuee holds a BSc (Hons) in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. He has over 30 years of experience in the Electrical Engineering industry, particularly in Control and Relay Protection. Ir. Chew has held significant leadership roles in the past, including President of TEEAM from 2001-2005 and 2013-2017. He is currently the Managing Director of G H Liew Engineering (1990) Sdn Bhd.
TEEAM’s Series of Technical Talks concluded with a Q&A session at 12:30 pm. Half an hour later, 1:00 pm marked the end of the informative event and its entire programme.
