The upfront cost of going solar has long been the single biggest barrier for Malaysian homeowners. A new partnership between Public Islamic Bank Bhd and Helios Photovoltaic Sdn Bhd aims to remove that barrier entirely — offering financing packages that cover up to 100 per cent of installation costs, with repayments designed to be offset by electricity savings.
Going solar has always made sense on paper. Lower electricity bills, cleaner energy, less dependence on the national grid. The catch, for most Malaysians, has always been the upfront cost — a lump sum that can reach tens of thousands of ringgit before a single kilowatt-hour is generated. Public Islamic Bank Bhd and Helios Photovoltaic signed a deal in November 2020 to change that equation, and the ambition behind the partnership is significant.
How the Financing Works
Under the arrangement, PIBB will offer financing packages covering up to 100 per cent of solar panel installation costs for private property owners. There is no large lump sum required upfront — instead, homeowners make monthly repayments structured to align with the electricity bill savings generated by their solar system. In practical terms, the system pays for itself while it runs.
The collaboration is built around two existing government frameworks: the Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme, which allows homeowners to feed excess solar power back into the national grid in exchange for bill credits, and the Energy Commission's Self-Consumption (Selco) guidelines, which govern on-site renewable energy generation. Together, these frameworks give homeowners a regulatory pathway to generate their own electricity and monetise surplus production — making the financial case for solar stronger than it has ever been in Malaysia.
"The shift to renewable energy keeps getting delayed because ordinary people either can't afford it, or don't have a roof suitable for panels. A financing arrangement that removes the money barrier changes that equation."
— Datuk Seri Ibrahim Muhammad, Chairman, Helios Photovoltaic Sdn BhdThe Scale of the Ambition
PIBB's CEO Syamsul Azuan Ahmad Fauzi put a number on the partnership's potential at the signing — up to one gigawatt of electricity generation capacity. That figure is not a near-term target so much as a statement of intent about what a well-structured financing-plus-installation partnership can achieve if it reaches scale. One gigawatt of distributed rooftop solar across Malaysian homes would represent a transformative contribution to the country's renewable energy mix.
For context, Malaysia's total installed solar capacity has grown steadily under successive renewable energy targets. Distributed rooftop solar — the segment this partnership directly serves — has consistently underperformed its potential, held back precisely by the financing gap that PIBB and Helios are now addressing.
Aligned with Islamic Finance Principles
The deal also sits explicitly within Bank Negara Malaysia's Value Based Intermediation (VBI) initiative, which pushes Islamic financial institutions to generate outcomes that benefit the broader economy and environment — not just the bank's balance sheet. PIBB positioned this collaboration directly within that framework: a financing product that produces clean energy, reduces household carbon footprints, lowers electricity costs for ordinary Malaysians, and aligns with environmental sustainability objectives.
For Helios Photovoltaic chairman Datuk Seri Ibrahim Muhammad, the logic is direct. The technology has been proven. The government frameworks are in place. The only missing piece has been accessible financing. With PIBB on board, that piece is now addressed — and the pitch to Malaysian homeowners sitting on the fence about solar becomes straightforward: you do not have to pay everything upfront anymore.