The Indonesian Engineers Association (PII) and the Center for Technology & Innovation Studies (CTIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen human resources and joint studies on semiconductor and solar cell technology to develop industry Semi Conductors and Solar Cells from upstream to downstream in Indonesia.

The signing of the MOU was carried out between the General Chair of PII, Dr. Ir. Danis Sumadilaga and Head of CTIS, Dr. Ir. Wendy Aritenang, witnessed by CTIS Advisor Prof. Indroyono Soesilo and Co-CEO of the Indonesia Solar Energy Research Center (ISEREC), Professor Michael Goutama, in Jakarta, Friday, November 15 2024.

On that occasion, Danis Sumadilaga emphasized that in accordance with Law No.11/Th.2014 concerning Engineering, one of PII's main tasks is the continuous professional development of engineers and engineering development.

That is why at the G-20 Summit, namely the Summit of 20 Countries with the largest economies in the World, in Bali, November 2022, PII has pioneered the formation of the Group of 20 G-20 Countries to develop the professionalism of engineers, known as Engineering 20, or E-20.

One of the implementations of E-20 is the development of the Semiconductor and Solar Cell Industry in Indonesia with an "End To End" or "Upstream - Downstream" approach.

Utilizing the plan to export 1000 Mega Watts of solar electricity from the Riau Islands region to Singapore, the E-20 collaboration is being implemented. The domestic solar panel industry is vibrant and solar panel production, which currently only reaches 500 MegaWatts, will soon jump to 11 GigaWatts, or 11,000 MegaWatts. PLN has just inaugurated its solar cell factory, with production of 1 GigaWatt.

In order to increase human resources who will handle the solar cell and semiconductor industry, PII collaborates with the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), which is part of the National University of Singapore (NUS), and together they form the Indonesia Solar Energy Institute Research Center (ISEREC).

PII then collaborated with various universities and research institutions in the country, one of which was CTIS.

CTIS Board of Trustees, Professor Indroyono Soesilo, on that occasion welcomed the PII - CTIS collaboration, considering that CTIS has senior experts who can contribute their experience to the realization of a world-class semionductor and solar cell industry, which is ready to enter the world supply chain in this industry.

Indroyono said that the idea of ​​developing a semiconductor industry in the country had been pioneered by the Minister of Research and Technology/Head of BPPT, Prof. BJ Habibie in 1978, who assigned Professor Samaun Samadikun and Professor Barmawi, both from ITB-Bandung, to build a prototype for the solar cell industry in the country.

The Solar Cell and Semiconductor Laboratory was then built by LIPI in Puspiptek – Serpong, West Java, and in 1992 it succeeded in building prototypes of domestically produced waffers and solar cells.

However, this industry will only be realized after almost 40 years of work by Indonesian experts themselves, considering that, at that time, there was no domestic market.

Now, Indonesia is ready to enter the era of the semiconductor and solar cell industry with domestic market strength and also encouraging exports, first to Singapore and then overseas by positioning itself as one part of the global solar cell and semiconductor industry supply chain.

ISEREC is currently compiling a Road Map for this industry in Indonesia as well as research into measuring solar irradiation in several locations in the country in order to obtain optimum energy for building solar cell power plants. NUS-Singapore has also started offering Doctoral Program scholarships for Doctoral candidates from Indonesia.

This plan was welcomed by the Director of the Education Fund Management Institute (LPDP), Dr. Andin Hadiyanto, who was ready to support it through the LPDP Co-Funding program. If NUS prepares 5 Doctoral Scholarships, LPDP will prepare the same number of scholarships, so that there are 10 Doctoral candidates from Indonesia to NUS. Incidentally, NUS and LPDP already have a Cooperation Program.

At the same time as the signing of the MOU between PII – CTIS, the ISEREC Secretariat was also inaugurated with ISEREC Secretary Dr. Andhika Prastawa.

Present at the MOU signing ceremony were, among others, the Chancellor of the Indonesian Institute of Technology (ITI), who is also the former Head of the Agency for the Study and Application of Technology (BPPT), Dr. Marzan Azis Iskandar, Chair of the CTIS Energy Committee and Former Head of BPPT, Dr. Unggul Priyanto, Former Chair of the National Aeronautics & Space Institute (LAPAN) Prof. Harijono Djojodihardjo, Chair of the CTIS Telecommunications & Informatics Committee, who is also former Director General at the Ministry of Communication & Informatics, Dr. Ashin Sasongko, Indonesian solar energy experts, such as Dr. Arya Rezavidi, Dr. Martin Djamin and Ir. Wisnubroto, as well as representatives from BRIN and 11 March State University. ***