Making cents while the sun shines with solar power

Solar panels being installed on a residence. More and more Malaysians are investing in this clean and abundant energy, especially as government incentives allow residences to sell extra electricity back to the national grid. — Filepic/The Star In pic: Students of the Solar Academy Miri Adek, 22 (right) and Ayu Majid, 21, checking the solar panels installed on the rooftop of the Sols 24/7 premises located in Segambut, KL.

For a few years now I have had a decision to make that I’ve been postponing. Should I install solar panels on the house and get free electricity? Or should I just keep things the way they are?

I mean, “free” isn’t quite the right way to say it because it costs money to install the panels. But once they are in place, there is a scheme in Malaysia that allows you to “sell” electricity back to the national grid, offsetting your monthly electricity bill.