by: Hartatik
Magelang, Central Java — “Give me 10 youths, I will surely shake the world”. An inspiring sentence shouted by the Father of the Nation and first Indonesian president Soekarno, also known as Bung Karno, reminded that young people will one day bring big changes to a nation.
Yes, Bung Karno’s dream is very relevant to the present, where Indonesia is currently entering an era called the demographic bonus. Based on the BPS population census, the number of productive age population in this era (2020-2035) is at the highest rate. Of the total population of 297 million people, 64% are of the productive age which is dominated by Generation Z (of age 8-23 years).
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) together with the Society of Renewable Energy (SRE), a youth group invites young people to become clean energy activists, in order to accelerate the use of New and Renewable Energy (EBT), especially solar energy.
Through the Gerilya program (Solar Electricity Initiative Movement), the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources together with SRE is targeting students who are members of the Merdeka Belajar, Kampus Merdeka (MBKM), an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology which aims to encourage students to master various sciences or vocations that are useful for them before entering the workforce.
“Young people who are members of the Gerilya program are equipped with commercial technical knowledge and experience regarding rooftop solar power plants. Later, they are expected to actively encourage the use of solar panels in Indonesia,” said Zagy Yakana Berian, Founder of the Society of Renewables Energy (SRE) after the inauguration of PLTS Balkondes Karangrejo, Magelang Regency, Thursday (24/3).
SRE was initiated in 2019 and thousands of its members come from 40 universities throughout Indonesia. This year, SRE got the opportunity from Pertamina to implement its knowledge and skills to expand access to the use of solar panels through Solar Power Plants (PLTS).
One of them is at Balkondes Karangrejo, Pertamina-assisted Energy Independent Village. Seven students, members of SRE, participated in the PLTS construction core team. In addition there are 20 additional students who help install PLTS and expand Balkondes promotions through social media.
The seven engineering students are Jason Christopher Hernowo (ITB student), Mohammad Irvan Faauzi (ITB), Luthfian Ramdhan (Tidar University), Muhammad Iqbal Sugiharto (Udayana University), Mutiara Bening (PEM Akamigas Cepu), and Singgih Jalu (Diponegoro University).
“There are 10 Energy Independent Villages in Indonesia, Pertamina’s foster partners that we are assisting. Two of them are in Magelang Regency, namely Wringinputih Village and Karangrejo Village, Borobudur District, utilizing PLTS with a capacity of 1.32kWp each or equivalent to 1,200 Watts,” said Berian, a final year student majoring in Mechanical Engineering at ITB.
He continued that the PLTS trial in the two villages, is hoped to educate the public that clean energy can support daily activities. In fact, the use of this PLTS can be wider, such as for irrigation of rice fields that are not covered by the PLN electricity network so that they continuously produce the whole year.
“When we build (PLTS), we involve and interact with the community. It turns out that they don’t know what a solar panel is. But when we told them that the benefits were good, the response was positive. This is the message that we want to convey to the community, if they can live with clean energy,” he added.
Mutiara Bening, a member of the core construction team, explained that in the past week, the use of the on-grid PLTS has been tested for electricity needs for Balkondes Karangrejo. The portable PLTS is able to supply electricity to several lamps, induction cookers, refrigerators and air conditioners (AC).
“In the meantime, it is used for electricity needs in the Balkondes kitchen. In the future it can be developed to meet the electricity needs of local residents,” said Bening.
PLTS was chosen as an energy source because of its abundant potential and the most modular technology is solar panels. Advantages of PLTS which consist of four portable solar panel modules, is that they can be placed on the ground with an elevation of 30 degrees. In the future the on-grid system can be changed to off-grid so that it can be used at night. In addition, the investment for installing PLTS is relatively affordable, which is around IDR 25 to 30 million (USD 1,740 – 2,090).
Meanwhile, Muhammad Heli Rofikun, Head of Karangrejo Village, explained that his village is one of the pillars of Borobudur Temple tourism. Balkondes is also one of the mainstays of Karangrejo Village tourism in providing original village income for the village administration.
In addition to PLTS which has received support from Pertamina’s CSR, Karangrejo has also received facilitation from the state gas network (PGN). The 3,900-meter-long gas pipeline network is able to meet the needs of 204 household natural gas network connections for residents around the site, in the hamlets of Kretek and Bumen.
