Give incentives for solar firms to cut costs, Akmal urges govt

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh has urged the government to incentivise solar companies to expand installation services and drive down costs, making solar power a more sustainable option for households.

Akmal said the government should help more households switch to solar energy so they can reduce their electricity bills on a sustained basis.

He said greater competition among solar providers would help bring down installation costs and make it easier for more households to adopt solar energy.

“Healthy competition could help lower prices and make solar installation more affordable,” he said.

Akmal, the Merlimau assemblyman, said if the government continued to rely on assistance to offset higher electricity generation costs, the country’s financial burden could increase when fuel prices rise.

Investing in helping people adopt solar energy could reduce households’ reliance on electricity supplied by the grid in the long term, he said.

Akmal was commenting on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement yesterday that several ministries would meet with the Energy Commission and Tenaga Nasional Bhd to discuss measures to mitigate the impact of higher electricity bills amid the haze and hotter weather.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said the recent haze and hotter weather had led to increased electricity consumption among some households.

He said this caused their monthly usage to exceed the 600kWh threshold, consequently making them subject to the Automatic Fuel Adjustment mechanism.

The two ministries involved in the meeting, scheduled for today, are the finance ministry and the energy transition and water transformation ministry.

Earlier this year, the government introduced the Sustainable Rebate and Incentive Assistance Home initiative, which offers Malaysian households cash rebates of up to RM3,000 for installing rooftop solar power systems.