Researching Social Acceptability of Renewable-Energy

Technology in Malaysia
Ali Wadi Abbas Al-Fatlawi a*,b,c, R. Saidura,b, N.A. Rahim a*,d
a
University of Malaya Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre (UMPEDAC),
Wisma R&D Building, Level 4, 59990 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,(Email:aliwadi_77@yahoo.com)
b
University of Malaya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c
University of Kufa, Department of Material Engineering, Iraq
d
Renewable Energy Research Group, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

Keywords: Survey; Social Acceptance; Malaysia; Policy;
Solar Energy, Renewable-Energy
Abstract
Nowadays, many countries are working toward increasing the
adoption of renewable energy (RE), even though fiscal
support incentives to reduce the capital cost of RE. Solar
photovoltaic applications in Malaysia are not popular despite
the government having declared the feed-in-tariff (FIT) as one
type of support. Hence, there is a need to investigate the
social acceptance of people in Malaysia to improve regulatory
and policy initiatives designed to promote implementation
solar renewable energy. The methodology used is a survey
questionnaire comprising 14 questions and internally includes
questions at three levels. Our survey confirms that the level of
interest in solar PV is good, but a considerable number of
people are still not aware of the fiscal advantage when
deciding to install a grid-connected solar photovoltaic system
(PV) under the current support program. However, around
36% are potentially ready to begin the PV project but require
a loan to reduce the starting capital cost of the PV project,
even if the loan stipulates sharing the benefits of the FIT in
advance. From our perspective and according to the survey
results, some suggestions are highlighted that could be highly
beneficial to reforming the current policy or reinforcing any
future policies.
1 Introduction
The main purpose to formulate any renewable-energy policy
is to ensure the long term availability of environmental-
friendly sources of energy [1]. Meanwhile, many studies have
found that the actual design of support mechanisms will be in
a position to guarantee a maximum of investment security,
which can reduce costs of renewable energies from 10% to
30% [2]. Several scholars worldwide agree that implementing
renewable-energy technologies and achieving a government
energy policy is not feasible without social acceptance [4].
Wüstenhagen et al. pointed out that it is hard to achieve the
goal of renewable energy development with low levels of
social acceptance; therefore it should be taken during the
policy making. He developed a three-dimensional model for
Renewable-energy social acceptance, including community
acceptance, market acceptance and political acceptance [5].
Del Río et al. mentioned that local residents’ social
acceptance of renewable energy is influential not only to the
renewable energy project itself, but also to the success of
sustainable development in that region [6].
Recently, many studies were developed for measuring social
acceptance in a particular context. For instance, Jan et al.
studied the public acceptance of renewable energies (wind
energy, biomass plants and large-scale ground-installed grid-
connected PV systems) in Germany. The survey employed
about 394 participants. The qualitative data analyzed
demonstrated the relevance of the operating company's
commitment on the local level through the participation of the
general public. In addition, the plant location choice was
among the more relevant aspects for acceptance in the
implementation process [7]. In China, Yan et al. examined the
social acceptance of solar-energy technologies. A total of
1271 questionnaires were distributed and returned. The results
indicate considerably high levels of social acceptance and
public awareness regarding solar water heaters. Though,
another major application of solar energy, such as solar PV
energy, has not gained a high level of social acceptance and
awareness in Shandong [8]. In Finland, Moula et al.
investigated the social acceptance of renewable-energy
technologies. The survey included 50 participants, and 14
multiple choice questions covered various issues in two
categories. The first group was the participants’ background
and the second regarded the people’s willingness to invest in
renewable energy. According to the results, 62% of the
people were willing to pay extra to obtain green energy.
However, more than 52.4% of the people thought that the
public sector could take the first step toward renewable-
energy production [9].
In Malaysia, solar energy is still not popular despite the
government having declared the feed-in-tariff policy as a type
of support to promote renewable-energy applications,
especially grid-connected PV [3]. In the present work, social
acceptance is deemed an important subject that may help with
the extensive implementation of renewable-energy energy
technologies in Malaysia. A survey was developed to analyse
the people’s level of awareness regarding the adoption of
solar PV energy through government incentives. It will be
shown how Malaysian people regard general issues such as
global warming and renewable energy, as well as their
willingness to pay for clean energy, and their acceptance of
renewable energy. In this context, the results of the developed
study will provide a treasure trove to strengthen any future

1
policies and formulate regulatory frameworks to encourage
the widespread adoption of renewable energy projects.
2 Methodology of Social Acceptance
The methodology used to investigate social acceptance is the
survey questionnaire. It comprises 14 questions and extra
questions on personal information, such as name, age,
education and city. Internally, the survey includes questions at
three levels. The first level is to test people’s knowledge of
general issues, such as global warming; the second level is
meant to test what the people’s notions and knowledge are
regarding solar energy potential in Malaysia. The third
questionnaire level includes more technical questions
developed to measure the success of informative promotional
features. These are displayed in printed and electronic media
by the government and associated commercial sectors to help
people gain sufficient knowledge regarding the feed-in-tariff.
In this context, the survey was distributed to the general
public with different levels of knowledge and standards of
living, such as workers, business people, employers,
shoppers, employees, and people living in different states.
The data was collected from 580 respondents, and their
response expectations and prospective carry a weight in
highlighting obstacles and setting fresh key parameters for
modifying current policies or developing new successful solar
energy policies. The survey questions and results will be
presented in sequence through a subsequent discussion.
3 Results and Discussion
After collecting the results from 580 participants and
analyzing them, it appears from the background information
that the participants covered most Malaysian cities. However,
71% were educated, while 29% were not. The ages of the
participants are as follows: 63% were 18-25 years old, 35%
were 26-40, while the rest were above 41. In fact, it was good
to see that most participants were young people, as it is
necessary to understand how the future is anticipated in terms
of renewable energy and global issues for the entire world.
The survey started with very general questions about the level
of interest regarding common issues on the environment and
climate change. The purpose of these questions was to
illustrate how people relate with these important issues
besides show the participants the necessity for sustainable
energy for a better environment. Hence, the first question
was “Are you concerned about environmental issues?” The
results show that approximately 93%, or the majority of
respondents want to save the environment, while 4% are not
interested about environment matters as they feel they may
have no direct impact. Out of the respondents, 3% left this
question unanswered.
The second question in the same context is “Have you heard
of global warming/climate change? And do you know what it
means for Malaysia as it has a long coastal line?” According
to the results, 95% of the people heard about climate change
but 31% do not know what it means for a country with a long
sea boundary such as Malaysia. Overall, the results indicate
the people in Malaysia are aware about environmental issues.
2
But there is still a need for support programs to demonstrate
the potential hazards resulting from global warming with the
irreversible effects from rising sea levels due to the rapid
melting of polar ice caps that can reshape and also diminish
all coastal regions of the world.
Regarding measuring the level of interest in renewable
energy, question three was “Do you like renewable energy?
If yes, what type of renewable energy do you like?” Here,
different opinions were presented, but 81% as the majority
preferred solar energy application, as shown in Table 1.
Along the same lines, the results of question four “Which
type of renewable energy is suitable for Malaysia?” show that
84% of the participants believe that solar energy is suitable
for Malaysia, while only 6% feel that wind energy is suitable
for Malaysia. Nuclear, geothermal and tidal energies received
responses of 4%, 2% and 2% respectively, as shown in Table
2.
Frequency Percent
Solar Energy 472 81%
Wind Energy 60 10%
Nuclear Energy 24 4%
Geothermal Energy 8 1%
Tidal Energy 13 2%
People don’t like 0 0%
People has no opinion 3 1%
Total 580 100%
Table 1: Results for “Do you like renewable energy? If yes,
what type of renewable energy do you like?”.
The fifth question in the survey was intended to test people’s
background regarding renewable energy resources: “Do you
think that solar radiation in Malaysia is promising for solar
energy applications?” The results show that 63% of the
participations believe that solar radiation is promising for
solar applications, while 5% do not think so because of the
partially cloudy days and continuous rain, which are
characteristic of the weather in Malaysia. However, about
31% of the people had no opinion or were unsure about solar
resources. This reflects the fact that there is a need for
resource studies regarding the potential of renewable energy
resources in local settings.
The sixth survey question concerned the level of interest,
specifically in photovoltaic (PV) applications of solar
renewable energy. The question was “Are you interested in
solar PV applications?” The results signify that the level of
interest in renewable energy is relatively moderate, with only
about 51% of respondents interested in solar photovoltaic
applications. Roughly 14% of the respondents were not
interested, and 33% had no opinion. Following questionnaire
collection, it was noted that the respondents were still
confused about the usage of solar photovoltaic energy and
some did not even know what solar PV is. Thus, we took
some time to explain what photovoltaic means and what its
purpose is. Hence, it can be concluded that although 81%
liked the use of solar energy in Malaysia, 51% of them liked
solar energy specifically. Besides 51% who liked solar Freq. Percent
energy, 35% people liked solar PV application in particular. Yes, but do not have enough money. 210 36%
This is clear from the results of question seven “Which type
of solar application do you prefer or is implemented in your Yes, but do not have enough space. 66 11%
own home?” It appears that 35% of people liked photovoltaic Yes, but have no money and no space. 215 37%
electricity, as shown in Table 3. No, would not like. 89 15%
No answer 9 2%
Total 580 100%
Frequency Percent Table 4: Results for the question “Would you like to start
Solar Energy 487 84% photovoltaic-generated electricity in your home?”.
Wind Energy 36 6%
Nuclear Energy 25 4% Table 4 additionally shows that the ratio of respondents who
would not like to use solar PV in their own homes is 15%,
Geothermal Energy 13 2%
which is very close to the ratio of respondents who were not
Tidal Energy 13 2%
interested in solar PV (14% from question six). Hence, based
No opinion 6 1% on the questionnaire results, we can conclude that the number
Total 580 100% of people who have the potential to invest in solar PV
Table 2: Results for “Which type of renewable energy is application is less than 36%, people who would not like to
suitable for Malaysia?”. invest in PV application are less than 15% and the ratio of
people who have a space problem is approximately 48%.

Frequency Percent Survey questions 10, 11, 12 and 13 were developed to

Photovoltaic electricity 204 35% measure the respondents' knowledge about the Feed-in-Tariff,
which was created by the government to enhance renewable
Solar-heated hot water 158 27%
energy application. Question 10 asked the participants: “Have
Solar-powered space cooler 40 7% you ever heard about the Feed-in-Tariff, and what does it
Solar-heated pool 11 2% mean?” Surprising results were obtained, where 70% of
Not any one 168 29% respondents have not heard about the Feed-in-Tariff program,
Total 580 100% and 15% knew about it but did not know what it meant.
Table 3: Results for the question “Which type of solar
application do you prefer or have in your home?”. In the same context, question 11 in the survey was “If you
have heard about the Feed-in-Tariff, do you think that the
government’s incentives are enough to start photovoltaic-
Question eight regards the contribution of solar energy generated electricity in your home?” The results of this
awareness. Hence, we asked the following question: “If one question show that although the percentage of respondents
(or more) solar energy project was carried out in your region, with knowledge about the Feed-in-Tariff program was only a
would it contribute to solar energy awareness?” The result mere 15% (question 10), survey question 11 showed that only
show that 71%, or the majority of participants agree it would 9% from those respondents believed that the government’s
contribute to awareness, only 5% do not agree, while 24% incentives were enough to start a project on the photovoltaic-
have no opinion. generated electricity in their homes. Meanwhile, 66% of
people were unsure whether the government’s incentives
were sufficient. This reflects that there is relative failure in
The ninth question was about the obstacles in starting to use the program or media responsible for enriching people’s
solar PV as electricity generated in the participants’ own knowledge about the government's program, especially the
homes: “Would you like to start using photovoltaic-generated feed-in-tariff.
electricity in your home?” The questionnaire indicated that a It was expected for some people to be unsure about the cost
ratio of about 36% of respondents were ready to use solar PV and payback period of solar PV under the government’s feed-
and these respondents had the potential to start solar PV in-tariff incentives. Hence, we asked question 12: “Do you
application, but the problem was always that they did not know how much the capital cost of 1 kWp of grid-connected
have enough money to begin such project. 11% of photovoltaic-generated electricity is?” and question 13 asked
respondents did not have enough space, and 37% did not have the following: “Do you know how many years the payback
either money or space. This means there are still 36% of period of invested money in gird photovoltaic-generated
respondents in Malaysia who have the potential to start a PV electricity under the Feed-in-Tariff in your home town is?”
application because they have enough space, but the problem The respondents were provided with some ranges for the
is only with the capital cost of starting a solar PV project as capital cost and payback periods, such as less than RM7500,
shown in Table 4. between RM7500 and 12500, and more than RM12500 for
capital cost in Malaysian currency, and less than 6 years,
between 6 and 10 years and more than 10 years for payback
period.

3
The results of questions 12 and 13 were incredible,
considering the respondents of the questionnaire represented
Malaysian people. It can be fairly concluded that about 88%
of Malaysian people do not know the range of the capital cost
of grid-connected PV systems, while more or less the same
amount of people, i.e. 86%, do not know the expected
payback period as a result of investing in this domain. Hence,
beside the capital cost of PV, the lack of knowledge regarding
the government program render most Malaysians uninterested
about renewable energy programs and unwilling to invest in
such programs. It is worth mentioning that information such
as capital cost and payback period are potentially critical to
beneficiaries (e.g. designers, investors, financiers, and home
owners) who are ever so willing to implement any investment
plan in the field of procuring alternative sustainable energies
through the use of the solar PV package.
At the end of the questionnaire, question 14 was developed to
sophisticatedly test the respondents’ answers about sharing
the benefits of selling electricity to the grid with any bank
under the Feed-in-Tariff. To obtain a loan from the bank to
start a PV project, there is one condition: first and foremost,
the loan must be covered by selling electricity over a period
of 5 to 8 years, after which the bank will share the benefits of
all residual periods. The results indicate that 42% of the
respondents agreed with this suggestion. This number is
considered quite good because only 16% disagreed and 42%
of respondents had no opinion. Therefore, it is highly
recommend that the government or any private bank look into
the feasibility of this suggestion as there are many people who
rationally agree with this suggestion.
Conclusions
The relevant surveys conducted repeatedly produced a clear
indication that most people in Malaysia are still not truly
educated as yet in terms of awareness of the need to harness
renewable energy through solar-radiation, or are not fully
aware of the promising use of electricity obtained through the
photovoltaic mechanisms. But there are 2 sides to the same
coin in any comparison and to be more justifiably specific,
this is not only because of the relative failure in education and
training programs but it can also be partly attributed to the
wide economic gap between the haves and have-nots in the
multiracial society in Malaysia -- which represents a similar
situation to other developing countries without exception.
Most people doesn’t have a visibility study regarding the
benefits of the project, while others, around 36%, need the
fiscal support to start a PV project, through a capital cost
loan, even if the loan stipulates sharing the benefits in
advance. Bearing in mind the ultimate consequences of the
uncontrollable contribution of huge amounts of CO2
emissions into the local atmosphere, and in view of this
untenable circumstance, the government may finally have no
alternative except to enact a strict law to fully address the
unpleasant economic social dilemma one way or another in
the interest of humanity locally and at large for the near and
distant future, and above all for future generations.
4
Based on the current scenario, the government of Malaysia
still presents difficulty despite the good incentives under the
Feed-in-Tariff program to enhance and accelerate solar
photovoltaic system application. These incentives mean that
those who possess the capital cost for a PV system with the
available incentives will gain in the payback period reduction.
On the other hand, these incentives will not make sense for
people who have the available space for a PV project but not
enough money to start and who may also not be able to wait
the long payback period to receive the benefits, such as those
living a rustic life in remote, rural areas. Therefore, a better
suggestion for the government of Malaysia is to provide
subsidies to those who have the space but not the money. That
subsidy can be from any bank that shares the payback period
with the people and likewise, the same subsidy would also
enable people to participate in the Feed-in-Tariff program
even if they do not have enough money. The facts mentioned
above comprise the first challenge that willing people are
squarely faced with, while the second challenge is the quality
of solar PV products under the Feed-in-Tariff program. It is
also relevant to consider from the proper perspective that a
market using the cheapest technology cannot keep up
production of the same quality and amount of energy
requirement for the next 25 years. Therefore, it is highly
recommended that people insist on high quality projects when
they decide to go through the Feed-in-Tariff program.
However, solar PV companies must also be obligated to state
the warrantee period of power production because higher
accuracy is needed for power production from solar PV for
any future analyses. This process will make solar PV
investors more confident in their enormous investments. The
third challenge is the degradation of annual Feed-in-Tariff
incentives, wherein the government should stall this
degradation until success of informative promotional features
has been visibly achieved and prominently displayed in the
printed and electronic media by the government and
associated commercial sectors. People in Malaysia should
bear in mind that there is no guarantee electricity prices will
be same 25 years from now due to increasing energy demand
that can also cause an energy crisis, along with the Malaysian
vision to become a successful developed country by 2020. For
the moment, the Feed-in-Tariff represents the better available
solution.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of
Higher Education of Malaysia and the University of Malaya
for the financial support under project no: HIR R000032. We
would also like to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher
Education of Iraq and University of Kufa for their kind
support.
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