SOLAR ENERGY and

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS
IN VIETNAM

Prof. Le Chi Hiep

Director, Program on Renewable Energy & Energy
Conservation (VNU-HCM)
lechihiep@gmail.com
lechihiep@vnuhcm.edu.vn

Berlin, October 9, 2009

 OUTLINE

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

2. SOLAR ENERGY and ITS APPLICATIONS

IN VIETNAM

3. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS IN VIETNAM

4. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION

1. GENERAL INFORMATION
VIETNAM

Population – 85.8
millions (2009)
Area – 332,000km2
Capital – Hanoi
Latitudes and Longitudes of several
main provinces/cities in Vietnam
Location Latitude Longitude
Ha Giang 22o54’N 105oE
Hanoi 21o03’N 105o54’E
Hue 16o29’N 107o36’E
Da nang 16o03’N 108o12’E
Qui Nhon 13o47’N 109o15’E
HoChiMinh City 10o45’N 106o41’E
Phu Quoc 10o12’N 103o58’E
Ca Mau 9o11’N 105o09’E
Installed electric generating capacity (9GW,
2004).

In 2004, Vietnam generated 40.1 billion

kilowatthours (Bkwh) of total electricity, of which
52 percent was supplied by conventional
thermal sources and 48 percent came from
hydroelectric sources.

Electricity demand has increased steadily in

Vietnam during the last decade, but the
country’s per capita energy consumption
remains one of the lowest in Asia.
2. SOLAR ENERGY
and
ITS APPLICATIONS
IN VIETNAM
Mean Annual Sunshine Hours

North: 1800 – 2100 hours of sunshine a

year, on average.
South: 2000 – 2600 hours of sunshine a
year, on average.
MONTHLY MEAN SUNSHINE HOURS
(Hours/day)
Location: HANOI (21o03’N, 105o54’E)
January 2.2
February 1.6
March 1.4
April 2.7
May 5.3
June 5.2
July 5.9
August 5.3
September 5.4
October 5.3
November 4.2
December 3.5
MONTHLY MEAN SUNSHINE HOURS
(Hours/day)
Location: DANANG (16o03’N, 108o12’E)
January 4.4
February 5.1
March 3.4
April 6.9
May 8.3
June 7.9
July 8.3
August 6.7
September 5.8
October 4.7
November 4.0
December 3.6
 MONTHLY MEAN SUNSHINE HOURS
(Hours/day)
Location: HOCHIMINH City (10o45’N, 106o41’E)
January 7.9
February 8.8
March 8.8
April 7.7
May 6.3
June 5.7
July 5.8
August 5.6
September 5.4
October 5.9
November 6.7
December 7.2
MONTHLY MEAN SOLAR RADIATION
(kWh/m2/day)
Location: HANOI (21o03’N, 105o54’E)
January 2.24
February 2.40
March 2.53
April 3.46 Annual Mean
May 5.23 Solar Radiation:
June 5.31
3.93kWh/m2/day
July 5.59
August 5.10
September 4.79
October 4.18
November 3.45
December 2.97
MONTHLY MEAN SOLAR RADIATION
(kWh/m2/day)
Location: DANANG (16o03’N, 108o12’E)
January 3.5
February 4.3
March 5.2
April 5.8 Annual Mean
May 6.4 Solar Radiation:
June 5.9
4.85kWh/m2/day
July 6.5
August 5.7
September 5.2
October 4.2
November 3.1
December 2.5
MONTHLY MEAN SOLAR RADIATION
(kWh/m2/day)
Location: NHA TRANG (12o15’N, 109o11’E)
January 4.66
February 5.29
March 5.69
April 5.91 Annual Mean
May 5.90 Solar Radiation:
June 5.66
5.15kWh/m2/day
July 5.66
August 5.51
September 4.92
October 4.42
November 4.04
December 4.15
MONTHLY MEAN SOLAR RADIATION
(kWh/m2/day)
Location: HOCHIMINH City (10o45’N, 106o41’E)
January 5.1
February 6.3
March 6.6
April 5.7 Annual Mean
May 5.0 Solar Radiation:
June 4.9
5.2kWh/m2/day
July 5.1
August 5.0
September 4.8
October 4.5
November 4.3
December 4.6
 Location: Ho Chi Minh City, April 28th, 2005
"Average Solar Radiation" in "10 Minute Summary" of "Current" database at "28-004-2005"

1000

900

800

700

600
W/m2

500

400

300

200

100

0
9AM 12PM 3PM
28 Thu Apr 2005
 Location: Ho Chi Minh City, June 28th, 2005
"Average Solar Radiation" in "10 Minute Summary" of "Current" database at "28-06-2005"
900

800

700

600

500
W/m2

400

300

200

100

0
9AM 12PM 3PM
28 Tue Jun 2005
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, March 5th, 2009
(Total solar radiation, W/m2)
09:00 323 10:40 255 12:20 886
09:10 494 10:50 249 12:30 725
09:20 489 11:00 650 12:40 791
09:30 638 11:10 1064 12:50 934
09:40 658 11:20 464 13:00 797
09:50 650 11:30 871 13:10 785
10:00 508 11:40 1044 13:20 773
10:10 659 11:50 1031 13:30 838
10:20 503 12:00 497 13:40 453
10:30 629 12:10 957 13:50 474
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, March 5th, 2009
(Total solar radiation, W/m2)
14:00 685 15:40 387 17:20 139
14:10 611 15:50 344 17:30 98
14:20 344 16:00 385 17:40 66
14:30 392 16:10 381 17:50 17
14:40 557 16:20 306 18:00 7
14:50 627 16:30 135 18:10 7
15:00 649 16:40 139 18:20 0
15:10 643 16:50 140 18:30 0
15:20 583 17:00 182 18:40 0
15:30 469 17:10 168 18:50 0
 Solar Applications
Two main applications:

- Solar hot water

- Solar photovoltaics
Solar hot water has been developed since
1990. At the early period, it was very
difficult to get the attention of the
community.

But, since around 1998, the number of

installed solar hot water systems has
gradually increased, especially in Ho Chi
Minh city.
Currently, solar hot water has become one
of products at high competition. That leads
to the increase of the number of
companies doing business in this field.

But, there is so far no full industry referring

to solar hot water. The main components
of the system (solar collector,…) are
imported, mainly from China.
3. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS
IN VIETNAM
 3.1. RESEARCH

Researches referring to solar

photovoltaics have been done from 1975.
 Early research interests

1. Monocrystalline silicon
2. Polycrystalline silicon
3. Amorphous silicon
 Current research interests
Determination of the light- induced degradation rate of
the solar cell sensitized N719 on nanocrystalline TiO2
particles

Thermal degradation kinetics of solar cell dye N719

bound to nanocrystalline TiO2 particles

Fabrication of solar cells based on N719, D520-dyed

nano-crystalline titanium dioxide and investigation of
their performances

Improvement of the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Open-

circuit Voltage by Electrolyte Additives and Cell
Treatment with 4-tert-butylpyridine
The Relationship between Electrochemical Impedance
Spectra and Photovoltaic Performance Characteristics
during the Light and Thermal Ageing of Dye-Sensitized
Solar Cells

Effects of Electrolyte Additives on the Open-circuit

Voltage of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Decomposition and degradation of dyes in solar cells

under prolonged thermal and light ageing

Dye-sensitized solar cell based on nano-crystalline

titanium dioxide
Fabrication of solar cells based on titanium dioxide and
organometallic dyes

Grid connected systems

But, due to many difficulties, the research
on solar photovoltaics is nearly activities of
scientists in laboratory only.
It has not exercised its influence on the
society.
 3.2. APPLICATION

In 1990, the first 300Wp-unit was installed at

Can Gio district, Ho Chi Minh city.

From 1994, solar photovoltaics has been

expanded in the whole country.

Currently, total installed photovoltaics is around

2MWp.
Installed locations:
- Rural areas (PV units were installed at more
than 3000 houses, there have been around
8500 families who can reach PV indirectly by
using batteries charged from stations).
- Cultural centers.
- Medical centers.
- Telecommunication units.
- Traveling boats.
- Post offices
- Ambulances.
- Public lighting systems.
- Traffic lighting systems.
- Battery charging stations.
- Schools.
- Islands.
2000Wp

Reference: http://www.soltechvn.com/vn/
 810Wp

Reference: http://www.soltechvn.com/vn/
Reference: http://www.selco-vietnam.com.vn/index.php?lang=vn
Main features of photovoltaic development in
Vietnam:

- Most budgets funded by international

organizations and several funded by national
agencies (there is so far nearly no personal
budget invested to set up the system).
- It leads to unstable and unsustainable
development.
- All solar panels are so far imported.
Currently, there are only several companies
doing business on photovoltaics in Vietnam.

SELCO-VIETNAM could be considered as the

biggest company in this field (Installed
photovoltaics – 262kWp)
Several related websites for your reference:

1. http://www.selco-vietnam.com.vn/index.php?lang=en

2. http://www.soltechvn.com/vn/
Recently, a factory producing solar panels has
been installed in Long An – near Ho Chi Minh
City.

By planning, its expected capacity is 3MWp/year

(first step) and 5MWp/year (next step).
4. DISCUSSION &
CONCLUSION
4.1. DISCUSSION
There is high potential to exploit solar
energy in Vietnam.

There is also high demand on solar

technologies such as solar photovoltaics
and solar hot water.
(Survey: 50,000 families in southern and
central parts of the country need PV
systems)
Current situation on solar photovoltaics:

1. Solar hot water has been developed

well, especially in the southern parts of the
country. Currently, it is easy to see solar
hot water systems on roofs of many
houses in Ho Chi Minh city.

2. In the meantime, solar photovoltaics

has been almost done by projects. There
have been only a few people who want to
invest the systems by their own budget.
Referring to energy policy, currently there
are good enough macroscopic policies
and roadmap to promote renewable
energy activities in Vietnam.

In June 2009, the draft of the law on

energy conservation was submitted to
the government’s consideration. Hopefully,
the similar draft of the law on renewable
energy could be submitted next year.
According to the current energy policy,
renewable energy including solar energy is
expected to be one of main energy
resources of the country.
But, unfortunately, the current applications
of renewable energy, especially of installed
solar photovoltaics, are still far from our
expected targets.

Although there have been activities referring

to photovoltaics in Vietnam leading to
around 2MWp installed, but Vietnam is still
nearly a blank area in terms of
photovoltaics.
Referring to the current situation, there are
two main questions:

- WHY?
- Do we really need photovoltaics?
YES, we need solar photovoltaics.

But, like everywhere, the first main reason

is always the price.
To set up a photovoltaic system, we often need:
- Solar panel (Kyocera, SolarWorld,…)
- Control system
- Battery (Phoenix,…)
- Converter
- Others

Current mean price in Vietnam (including solar

panel and main components): 8USD/Wp -
10USD/Wp
 That price is too high, it can not get the
attention of the community
We can see:

- Rural area: very high demand on solar

photovoltaics, but because of high price poor
people can not dream of getting it.

- Urban area: good electricity supply from the

national grid. But, if the price is good enough,
solar photovoltaics can also attract the attention
of the people living in the urban area to prevent
unexpected power shortage (It is quite often in
Vietnam, especially in the dry season).
- Currently, there is general macroscopic energy
policy. But, there are so far no concrete policies
such as tax exemption and financial supports,…

- Solar panels and corresponding parts are

mainly imported. There is nearly no industry
referring to solar photovoltaics in Vietnam,
except one factory named RED SUN in Long An
– near Ho Chi Minh City.
 Thus, what do we need to
speed up the application of
solar photovoltaics in Vietnam?

Price reduction:
1. In-country fabrication by local and foreign
investment.
2. Detailed policies focusing on tax exemption,
or tax reduction, or financial supports ….
Development strategy:

Two steps:

1.To promote the application of solar photovoltaics

in Vietnam, we should firstly set up the new
projects, it means we should not wait for the
personal demands paid by personal budgets.

The new projects must be totally different from the

previous ones, which have been often funded by
international or national organizations and have
been installed mainly for demonstration purpose.
The new projects should be invested by people
who are intending to do business in this field.

Under this point of view, the new projects should

not be decentralized and should be connected to
the grid…..

In order to set up the projects, it must be

repeated that we need good financial policies,
hopefully, which would be published in the first
quarter of the next year.
2. Following the success of the first step,
the solar photovoltaics together with its
low price can get the attention of the
community.

After this step, hopefully personal budgets

can be expended to buy solar panels.
“SOLAR ROOF should be considered as
one of main strategic approaches parallel
with the new projects (step 1) to promote
photovoltaic application in Vietnam,
especially at NEW URBAN AREAS”.

There is high potential to develop the

notion SOLAR CITY at NEW URBAN
AREAS.
4.2. CONCLUSION
It’s time to invest and to do business
referring to solar photovoltaics in Vietnam.
Nearly blank market and blank area in
terms of solar photovoltaics are awaiting
you.
Let’s spend several seconds to sweep a part
of the survey done by a German colleague

“Vietnam Needs Investors To Promote Use Of

Renewable Energy Technologies”.

“The Government of Vietnam has been

exploring more and more the possibilities for
investment in the country as they recognize the
toll that electricity shortages nationwide are
causing”.
“The climate of Vietnam is conducive to positive
impacts from solar energy use, and the sun is a
priceless commodity in both summer and winter.
Research information shows that sunshine is
available between 1,800 hours and 2,700 hours
annually”.
“Experts agree that solar energy is a great way
to fill off-grid electricity needs, especially in
areas of a higher concentration of pollution
where mini-grids are not a good idea”.

Sherry Irvin
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION