Solar panels on rooftops are a common scene across Singapore, but the ones at a multi-story car park in Jurong East have a different story to tell. Underneath the blanket of solar panels on the rooftop of Block 354 Jurong East Avenue, 1 are leafy greens, muskmelons, and even fish and prawns.
It is among the first rooftop projects in Singapore that link renewable energy and urban farming. The Yuhua Agritech Solar (YAS) Living Lab is a nearly $400,000 site for research institutes, companies, and heartlanders to run three-year projects.
When residents were consulted on the uses of the rooftop space in 2021, they said they did not want it to be just another community garden, said Professor Ang Hak Seng, chairman of the Yuhua Community Club Management Committee.
“They wanted to see solutions that can improve yield and better utilize scarce resources by leveraging the latest technology. After consulting Minister Grace Fu, we thought, ‘Why don’t we launch a Yuhua Agritech lab?’”
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