ESDM Invites Young Generation to Participate in Solar Electricity Initiative

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) together with the Renewable Energy Society (SRE) invites the younger generation to become clean energy activists in order to accelerate the use of New and Renewable Energy (EBT), especially solar energy.

Through a webinar series titled Solar Power Initiative Movement, young people will be provided with technical-commercial knowledge and experience regarding rooftop solar power plants, or solar rooftops. This webinar is held every Friday afternoon, starting June 11, 2021 with discussion topics that can be seen on social media Instagram @kesdm. Later, these young people are expected to be able to actively encourage the use of solar rooftops in Indonesia.

“With the current challenges, the realization of renewable energy utilization is around 11%. According to the National Energy Policy, it is targeted to increase to 23% by 2025. On the other hand, of the total potential for renewable energy of around 400 Giga Watt, 50% of them or the largest is solar energy. This is an opportunity for the younger generation to actively participate in accelerating the use of Indonesia’s solar rooftop,” said Ariana Soemanto, Coordinator of Communication and Public Information at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources at the first webinar series (11/6).

This webinar series invites the younger generation to become clean energy activists. “First, learn the science. In the webinar series we learn A to Z about PV mini-grid, including policies, components and installation of PV mini-grid roofs, economic calculations, savings and commercialization. Participants are expected to participate starting from the first to fourth webinar every Friday afternoon,” Ariana continued.


After participating in the webinar series, potential participants can also be given further training. Furthermore, after mastering their knowledge, the participants are expected to be able to implement their knowledge by approaching and collaborating with potential markets to install solar rooftops. “Later we will do further assistance, including networking,” he added.

The first webinar, Friday afternoon (11/6) presented 2 Expert Resource Persons who discussed “The Challenges of PV installations: Case Study for Solar Rooftop PV”, namely Dr. Ing Eko Adhi Setiawan, Director of the Tropical Renewable Energy Center, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, and the second Ir. Linus Andor Mulana Sijabat, IPU. FIRSE, Director of Business Strategy and Portfolio of PT Len Industri (Persero).

Eko said that the energy sector is the right place for innovation for the younger generation. This step is continuously encouraged in an effort to improve technical understanding, finance, and experience in developing business in the EBT sector, especially solar energy. “Precisely right now, everything is moving, the utility company is thinking how to survive and be able to play in the energy sector in the future with technology that makes (price) cheap. The experience of thinking and innovating will stagnate if we don’t develop it from now on,” he said.


Based on Eko’s research, Vietnam is a good example in encouraging the massive solar panel industry. The utility-scale Solar PV development has been given the flexibility to mobilize funding from all sources, including foreign funding and has been exempt from income tax for the first four years to allow the private sector to build on the transmission line. “The impetus for this development is not in the context of technology, but interesting policies (for investors). They are not concerned about local content,” he said.

On the same occasion, Linus described technically the comparison of solar PV tariffs that are increasingly competitive from year to year. In fact, he predicts that in the next five years 20% of the existing power plants will come from solar power. “In 2015, the tariff (PV) from IPP was around 25 cents per kWh, now many people can sell it at 6 cents per kWh. So, if you use PV, the decrease can be drastic,” he explained.

Rooftop solar power generation, continued Linus, is also able to reduce emissions. Linus also takes into account how PLTS Roof is able to make electricity bills more efficient. “If you install 1 kW, you need a 6 square meter roof, it can save Rp. 2.6 million per year,” he said.


The second to fourth webinars will continue next week every Friday afternoon, with expert resource persons and more practical technical discussion materials that complement each other. For more information, continue to follow Instagram @kesdm social media . (US)