Barriers to Deploying Solar Panels in New Buildings, and Private Residential and Commercial Spaces

4 Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the policy basis for providing the Electric Vehicle Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI) but declining equivalent capital subsidies for residential rooftop solar panel installation; (b) what are the (i) take-up rates of the EEAI and (ii) proportion of private households that have installed solar panels; and (c) whether the Ministry will introduce comparable capital grants or property tax rebates for residential solar panels.

5 Dr Choo Pei Ling asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry in view of the energy crisis, whether the Government will consider (i) mandating the installation of solar panels for all new buildings and estates and (ii) providing greater incentives for existing building owners to install solar panels.

6 Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what has the Ministry assessed to be the key barriers to deploy solar panels in private residential and commercial spaces, including spaces managed by Management Corporations Strata Titles; and (b) whether additional measures, such as grants, financing support, property tax reliefs or regulatory adjustments, are being considered to address these barriers.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Speaker, may I provide a combined reply to oral Parliamentary Question Nos 4 to 6 as well as written Parliamentary Question No 4 in today's Order Paper as they cover the same subject?

Mr Speaker: Yes, please proceed.

Ms Gan Siow Huang: Thank you. Mr Speaker, there has been strong growth in solar adoption over the last few years. We have achieved two gigawatt-peak of installed solar capacity island-wide and have set an increased target of three gigawatt-peak by 2030. For private residential buildings, the number with solar panels has increased more than four times in the last five years, from around 1,400 in 2020 to around 6,900 in 2025. This corresponds to about 8% of all private residential buildings.

The growth in solar deployment has been driven by favourable economics. Solar panel costs have come down over the years and the payback period for rooftop solar can be five years or even less. The Government has also introduced measures that can help to further reduce the payback period for eligible building owners. For example, eligible private buildings can tap on the Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings 2.0, which helps building owners lower the upfront cost of energy improvement works, such as solar panel installation. Depending on the overall carbon abatement achieved, eligible building owners can benefit from grant support of up to 50% of the cost of their energy improvement works, capped at $1.2 million.

Some jurisdictions have made it mandatory for new buildings to install solar panels. In Singapore, we have no plans at this stage to mandate solar panel installation on buildings because some building owners may prioritise other rooftop uses, such as greenery, or their rooftops may not be suited to solar installation due to factors, such as shading from neighbouring tall buildings.

The Government strongly encourages all building owners to install solar panels if this is feasible. With ongoing global uncertainty in energy prices, solar installation can provide building owners with savings and greater predictability on their electricity bills while contributing to Singapore's overall energy resilience. In recent weeks, some solar vendors locally have reported an increase in interest in solar panels among private building owners. This could be partly because of the recent increase in the regulated tariff for electricity and also perhaps some anticipation of further increase in the tariff.

For building owners who may be concerned about the costs of installing solar panels, some solar vendors offer “rent-to-own” or “solar leasing” models that allow building owners to enjoy the benefits of solar installation with little to no upfront cost.

Mr Kenneth Tiong has asked on the Electric Vehicle Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI). The EEAI was implemented in January 2021 to encourage the early adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by reducing the gap in total upfront cost between an EV and equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. The EEAI parameters have tapered with narrowing upfront costs capped over the years and will cease from 1 January 2027. As of March 2026, more than 55,000 electric cars and taxis have benefited from the EEAI.

The Government will continue to push for solar deployment in Singapore and will consider further measures if necessary to accelerate solar adoption in Singapore.

Mr Speaker: Mr Kenneth Tiong.

Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat (Aljunied): Thank you, Speaker. Residential rooftop solar generates clean energy and reduces household dependence on imported natural gas and provides a hedge against energy price shocks – benefits that EVs, which add demand to the same gas-dependent grid, do not provide. I note that the Minister of State has mentioned the Green Mark scheme. Despite the Green Mark scheme, 92% of eligible rooftops are still without solar panels.

So, my first supplementary question is, why does she believe that that is currently the case? And my second supplementary question is, would the Ministry consider providing more of the same type of upfront support available for EV purchases to accelerate residential solar adoption?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: Mr Speaker, as I have mentioned earlier on, the economic conditions now are actually very favourable for private property building owners to consider solar installation, primarily because the solar technology has improved in terms of efficiency and also the cost of installation has come down substantially. So, if you compare it with a few years ago, there was hesitancy in private building owners to adopt solar deployment, but now we are, indeed, seeing a much higher interest among private building owners, including residential properties. And we believe that the economics will drive faster adoption.

Having said that, we will monitor closely the rate of adoption and the Government is prepared to consider additional measures, if necessary.

On the point about EEAI, actually EEAI works in a certain way. It assumes that the consumer wants to buy a vehicle and is choosing between different types of vehicles. And in this case, the EEAI nudges the consumer to consider an EV, even though an EV could be more costly than an ICE vehicle.

But for building owners, here, we are talking about catalysing a purchase, a new purchase. And there are various considerations. It is not just about the cost. It is not just about whether there is an incentive from the Government. But some of the private residential building owners have also expressed some other considerations. For example, some are concerned about whether it will affect the integrity of the waterproofing for the roof. Others have also said that they are unsure about the reliability of the solar panel installation vendors. And of course, there are some building owners who prefer to keep their rooftops for other purposes and preferring not to install solar panels. Even if you have a grant, it may not nudge them to go for the purchase.

I think it is important that we understand the issue closely and look at what it takes for us to be able to effectively nudge private building owners to go towards solar installation.

Mr Speaker: Dr Choo Pei Ling.

Dr Choo Pei Ling (Chua Chu Kang): Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Minister of State for the response. I have three supplementary questions.

First, as a small country that cannot take energy security for granted, could the Minister of State share whether Singapore may increasingly move towards designing future developments and estates to be more solar ready from the outset, so that we strengthen our long-term resilience rather than rely on retrofitting later on?

Second, could the Minister of State also elaborate on whether there are opportunities for closer collaboration and coordination across agencies involved in energy planning, urban development and building design, so that solar deployment can be integrated more systematically upstream in future developments?

And third, as Singapore scales up solar deployment over time, how is the Ministry strengthening our local ecosystem of manpower, technical expertise and supply resilience to support this transition in a sustainable and long-term fashion?

Ms Gan Siow Huang: Mr Speaker, the first two supplementary questions are somewhat related, so I will answer them together. Indeed, the Government agencies are working closely together to look at how we can make solar installation in Singapore easier and more cost-effective for the building owners. New buildings are required to meet standards under the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA's) Code for Environmental Sustainability of Buildings, with solar being recognised as one of the acceptable carbon-reduction measures under the Code.

The broader theme is about sustainability. Solar installation is certainly one of the means. There are also other things that building designs can take into account, where it is more practical, for example, energy consumption, the building design and ventilation. There are several things that building owners can adopt and not be limited to just solar. Of course, we believe that solar, because of its cost effectiveness, going forward, there will be more adopters of this technology.

We will continue to push the boundaries whenever possible and to explore more innovative solar deployments in Singapore, such as at car parks and bridges and even in between buildings.

I also want to highlight another example of how our agencies are working together to simplify regulations to make it easier to install solar panels. Last year, the Singapore Civil Defence Force reviewed the fire safety requirement for one-hour fire separation for roof-mounted solar panel installations. The simplified fire safety requirements exempt more than half of all solar panel installations on metal-roofed buildings, and this basically allows eligible business owners to save up to 30% on total construction costs.

So, it is both regulatory codes and also review of existing regulations for us to move both new buildings and existing buildings toward higher adoption of solar as well as other environment sustainability measures.

On the third question on strengthening our local ecosystem, that is a really good question. We have been working on that for a long time with our institutes of higher learning (IHLs), both for pre-employment training for the graduates as well as for continuing education and training for adults who have graduated from our IHLs. There is a skills framework for energy and power that is developed jointly by the Government, industry, the unions and the IHLs.

Specifically, for solar, SkillsFuture Singapore also partners Sembcorp Solar as a SkillsFuture Queen Bee since 2024. This is to uplift other companies in this sector in training their workers and for us to be able to generate that talent pipeline that is needed to sustain this ecosystem.

Mr Speaker: Mr Edward Chia.

Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui (Holland-Bukit Timah): Thank you, Speaker. I received feedback from private property owners and Management Corporations Strata Title (MCSTs) on concerns and uncertainties with regard to procurement, financing structures and even things like warrantees on waterproofing, reliability and maintenance, something which the Minister of State alluded to earlier; and in the case of MCST, the high threshold for approvals to adopt solar energy.

So, hence, I would like to ask the Minister of State, will the Ministry first assist to streamline the MCST approval process so that we can drive and accelerate solar adoption on private property, such as condominiums? Second, for all private property owners, to develop a simple starter kit with standard templates on procurement; financing option, such as power purchase agreements; also matters on maintenance, roles and responsibilities of vendors and warrantees; and also, importantly, provide a white list of vendors so that private property owners will have the confidence to engage vendors. This will all drive a wider adoption and accelerate solar adoption in private properties.

Ms Gan Siow Huang: Mr Speaker, BCA had conducted a public consultation to review various aspects of the Building Strata Management Act, and this includes the proposal to lower the resolution requirement for third-parties solar ownership models. They are exploring a reduction from 75% to possibly 50%. This will be helpful and we are awaiting BCA's completion of this review. On the suggestion to have a starter kit for private property owners, especially residential owners, that is a very good idea. We will seriously consider it.