PETALING JAYA: The Solar Accelerated Transition Action Programme, or Solar Atap, introduces greater flexibility and stronger market alignment, and will help to improve the overall attractiveness of rooftop solar adoption, say industry players.
Malaysian Photovoltaic and Sustainable Energy Industry Association (MPSEA) president Justin Sim said Solar Atap is a natural progression from the previous Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme that ended on June 30.
“The NEM framework played a pivotal role in establishing Malaysia’s rooftop solar market by enabling consumers to offset electricity consumption through self-generation.
“With Solar Atap, it removes fixed quota limitations while retaining appropriate safeguards.
“The new scheme also allows solar installations of up to 100% of maximum demand,” he said.
Last Friday, the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry said Solar Atap will start on Jan 1 to utilise rooftop spaces for generating renewable energy.
As the regulator of the electricity supply industry, the Energy Commission has prepared the Solar Atap guidelines, accessible on its website from Dec 31.
Sim said Solar Atap introduces market-based energy offset mechanisms and provides a more adaptive framework to support long-term rooftop solar growth.
“The transition reflects the maturity of Malaysia’s rooftop solar market. With Solar Atap, it introduces the flexibility and market responsiveness to support the next phase of growth.
“This programme empowers consumers to optimise self-consumption while aligning rooftop solar development with national energy transition goals,” he said.
Sim said MPSEA believed that Solar Atap addresses previous key limitations by improving investment confidence, expanding participation across residential, commercial and industrial segments, as well as supporting Malaysia’s aspiration to achieve 70% renewable energy capacity by 2050.
A solar photovoltaic (PV) industry player, Edmund Loo, said Solar Atap represents a significant improvement over NEM 3.0 and offers a more attractive framework than the existing self- consumption scheme.
Loo, who is a former association elected committee member, said one of the most important developments is that Solar Atap will remain in effect until further notice.
“This provides much-needed policy certainty as the absence of a quota allows industry players to plan, invest and scale with greater confidence, thereby accelerating nationwide solar PV adoption.
“For commercial and industrial users, it removes several technical limitations previously imposed, including the restriction of 60% of fuse rating combined with the 85% power factor requirement for low-voltage consumers.
“Under this new scheme, system sizing can now be aligned up to 100% of a site’s maximum demand, offering greater design flexibility and enabling more meaningful energy cost optimisation for businesses,” he said, adding that he hoped no additional requirements will be introduced.
As for residential consumers, he said more details are needed on the export rate applicable under Solar Atap.
“To encourage household solar adoption, maintaining a one-to-one export offset mechanism will support more attractive payback periods and enable innovative and affordable financing solutions for homeowners.”
