Tai Keng Avenue Solar Installation: 12 kWp of Bifacial Panels, $3,720 a Year

A 12 kWp system of AIKO NEOSTAR 540W bifacial panels, commissioned and exporting on install day, on a pitched metal roof at Tai Keng Avenue. Here's what was actually installed, and what a system like this saves.

What was actually installed at this home?

AIKO NEOSTAR 540W bifacial panels, rail-mounted flush to the existing pitched metal roof profile. The system totals 12 kWp and was commissioned and connected to the grid on install day itself, with no extended gap between physical installation and the system actually generating.

Why bifacial panels for this specific roof?

Bifacial panels capture light on both the front and rear faces, generating a modest additional yield from light reflected off the roof surface, on top of the direct sunlight a standard panel already captures. See AIKO's ABC and N-type panel technology for how this specific panel line's cell design works.

A metal roof's reflective surface is a genuinely favourable match for this technology, more so than a darker tiled or concrete surface would be, which is part of why this panel choice suited this particular roof rather than being a universal recommendation for every installation.

How was the system actually mounted?

Rail-mounted flush to the existing metal roof profile, following the roof's own pitch rather than sitting on an elevated tilt frame. This is the standard, lowest-friction approach for a pitched metal roof already facing a reasonable orientation, since it needs no additional structural hardware beyond the mounting rails themselves.

Staying flush to the roof also kept the installation under the 1-metre elevation threshold that would otherwise trigger a separate URA planning permission requirement, a genuinely useful simplification this roof's existing pitch made possible.

How much does this system actually save?

Around $310 a month, roughly $3,720 a year, based on Sunnify's projection for this 12 kWp system at the Q3 2026 EMA regulated tariff of S$0.3478/kWh, 25% self-consumption, and an SCT export credit of S$0.2581/kWh. These are the same real-world assumptions applied across every documented Sunnify installation, not a best-case figure specific to this property, and they reflect the same tariff and export credit any comparably sized landed home system would be measured against.

Does a bifacial system actually cost more than a standard one?

Generally yes, bifacial panels carry a premium over standard monocrystalline panels, and whether that premium earns its keep depends on the specific roof's reflectivity and the household's own usage pattern. See how different panel brands and technologies compare for the wider set of tradeoffs worth weighing before choosing a premium panel line over a standard one.

At a comparable 12 kWp size, this system's projected savings sit close to a standard monocrystalline system on a flat roof at Lim Ah Pin Road, suggesting the panel technology choice here was made on roof-fit and durability grounds rather than a meaningfully different savings outcome.

What would a similar pitched metal roof need to consider?

A metal roof's typically lighter weight and simpler rail-mounting profile makes it one of the more straightforward roof types to install on, without the waterproofing complexity a tiled roof or a membrane flat roof can add. See solar on a Singapore terrace house for how roof type more broadly shapes a system's design and cost.

Run the full roof suitability checklist to assess your own roof, and the Sunnify solar estimate to see what a similar system could save on your property.