SERIS opens lab to develop and test solar panels

SINGAPORE — In a boost to Singapore’s solar energy sector, the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) has opened a new solar panel development and testing laboratory today (July 18).

The 1,700 sqm facility, built at CleanTech Park at the cost of S$6 million, is described by SERIS as the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia.

It comprises of a research and development (R&D) pilot production line for solar panels, and a testing centre where photovoltaic (PV) modules — which solar panels are called — can be tested and certified according to industrial standards.

Companies and researchers can send new solar panels to the lab for testing before making it available in the market. Climatic chambers are also present at the lab to place panels in a simulated tropical climate.

Speaking at the laboratory’s launch this afternoon, SERIS Chief Executive Officer Armin Aberle said SERIS is developing a ‘Singapore Module’, a solar panel which can last longer in the tropics than the best modules commercially available today.