In order to reduce carbon emission, and align with the Government's policy, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has integrated various renewable energy applications into the design of public housing estates since 2003. These include grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), etc.
A pilot grid-connected mono-crystalline silicon PV system at Lam Tin Estate has been in operation since August 2009. It could feed in certain amount of renewable electricity to the electricity grid.
In view of the satisfactory performance of the pilot PV system, the HA decided in 2011 to implement grid-connected PV system in all new public rental housing developments to feed in renewable electricity equivalent to about 1.5% to 2.5% of the electricity demand of the building communal area of each domestic block to the electricity grid as far as practicable. Meanwhile, we will continue the search and piloting of other renewable energy technologies for application in public rental housing estates.
Grid-connected photovoltaic systems