After we finished our morning construction site visit we were taken to a mall and everyone was able to grab a bite for lunch. After lunch we loaded back into the bus for an hour long drive to the construction site which is the Wawasan Dengkil Floating Solar Farm. Some students chatted while others napped after being in the sun for the morning. As the road got bumpier everyone woke up to the news that the bus could no longer traverse the road to the site. We had to wait for smaller vehicles to pick us up since the road was narrow and had a lot of pot holes. We also had to go over a small bridge. Some people went in cars or SUV’s but a few of us had the amazing opportunity to go in the back of a truck.

It was important to hold onto the railing or the side of the truck for safety. The ride was only about 400 meters, aside from being hot in the direct sunlight the students enjoyed the ride. Once everyone was at the site we were given a presentation about both the company and the solar farm. The company name is the combination of a name (Wawasan) and a local place (Dengkil). The solar farm was originally a sand quarry. Once they excavated all the sand, the depth was around 30 meters or 98 ft street level. They removed their tools and equipment to let the water fill back into the area. The solar panels are attached to lines and anchored to the bottom of the pond as well as the side of the land to prevent moving.

This solar farm was built after 2020 and took around 18 months to construct. This solar farm has the best efficiency out of any other water solar farm in Malaysia. It powers around 6,000 houses in the area and generates 13 Megawatts. The reason Wawasan Dengkil decided to show us this project is because as civil engineers we are mostly exposed to infrastructure and roads. They wanted to showcase a unique project that has helped out immensely in the area. After the presentation we were able to walk to the solar panels. They had these buoyant blocks that held a walkway to the panels. The wires were on the left and the walkway is on the right.

The blocks would constantly shift and move since it is on the water. It was a balancing act and when you have a few people moving on them it made it more shaky. As we got closer to the panels we saw truly how many there were. They have a few devices such as a solar panel inverter which measures the power of each panel. Once they have a reading that is lower than expected they will go out and examine the panel to make sure it is not covered or damaged. Fish and other sea life live in the pond itself. On average they have around 3 employees working at this specific farm daily.

After a few minutes on the water we switched out with the other group of people waiting since we could only have about 10 people out there at a time. After we waited for the other group to finish, it was time to head back to the hotel. We had to take the cars and trucks back to the bus, and time to go to the hotel.

Blog by Tommy Burke