Illuminating The Frontier, Outermost, And Disadvantaged Regions, PLN Launches Renewable Energy SuperSUN, Lights Up 24 Hours Without Blackout

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - PT PLN (Persero) presents the Sorong Ultimate for Electrifying - Surya For the Country (SuperSUN) innovation to electrify villages in the foremost, outermost and underdeveloped areas (3T).

SuperSun is a solution to the geographical challenges of rural locations in the 3T area, where there are still 346 completely dark villages and 4.061 pre-electrified villages.

"With the spirit of the G20, we hope that there will be more strong youth initiatives to support Indonesia's clean energy transition, not only at the national level but globally," said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif in a statement received by VOI, Monday, March 28.

Arifin appreciated PLN in supporting the younger generation to be actively involved in the development of EBT through PLN's SuperSUN Innovation.

"I express my highest appreciation to PLN for its support for young people," added Arifin.

PLN Executive Vice President Technology & Engineering, Zainal Arifin said, SuperSUN is a program to electrify 3T areas that no longer have to depend on fuel.

Through the SuperSUN program, PLN is able to electrify 3T areas with renewable energy that is cheaper and can be installed directly without a large investment.

The breakthrough by PLN personnel in Sorong stems from the condition of Yarweser Village, Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua, which is pitch black and left behind because there is no light at night. Some houses have private generators and spend IDR 50 thousand to IDR 100 thousand for lighting for only 6-12 hours.

"The millennial employees of PLN UP3 Sorong, UIW Papua, and West Papua conducted research and experiments to produce an innovation, namely electrifying villages far from the power plant or in the 3T area," said Zainal.

SuperSUN is like a generator that uses solar energy as fuel. Therefore, there are no emissions from combustion gases released by SuperSun. This tool can be operated in a hybrid way from renewable energy and runs 24 hours and is anti-blackout.

This innovation is equipped with lithium battery storage, this tool can also be used to charge electric motors and meet household electricity needs such as induction cookers or other electronic devices.

Zainal said that the implementation of SuperSUN is quite simple and is already connected to the customer's device so that it is monitored online and in real-time starting from the 2G (EDGE) network.

"SuperSUN also does not require an operator and a large area of land, its operating and maintenance costs are also lower," he said.

At the prototype implementation stage, on March 9, 2021, the test results of the SuperSUN prototype device showed very good performance in Yarweser Village using a 900 VA prepaid kWh meter.

Then, the device is used for the installation of 30 potential customers with an installed power of 900 watts to 2.000 watts and requires an investment cost of around IDR 370 million.

According to Zainal, this figure is lower than the use of electric tubes and electric energy charging stations (SPEL), PLTS Communal, PLTMH, PLTBayu, and PLTD.

"Future implementation will involve local students and young people to learn how to install micro PLTS and micro storage devices for 100 families," he said.

Zainal added, the presence of SuperSUN has proven to provide many benefits and supports the energy transition program run by the government in order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. PLN will implement SuperSUN innovation in a number of areas massively because it is very easy and fast to implement.