In 2011, Ko Chuan Zhen connected with an old school friend, Ryan Oh Zhi Kang, and another friend from his university, Poh Tyng Huei. The trio started Leaf Energy, the country’s first solar consulting firm to provide consultancy services to clients on ways to reduce their operational costs. Quickly realising that they could offer more, Plus Solar Systems was established in 2013. Plus Solar Systems was a solar energy solutions company that provides engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning work. Since the company’s inception, Ko and his partners’ mission has always been to go beyond traditional solar. They are out to reinvent energy. To do so in a way that progressively advances communities, the team came up with solutions devoted to what they call the ‘Energy Trilogy’ philosophy. This trilogy encompasses energy generation, energy efficiency and energy storage. Plus Xnergy Holding Sdn Bhd (“Plus Xnergy”), a leading clean energy solutionist, pivots business in a rebranding exercise as part of its move to restructure and optimise its business to reinvent energy. The efforts resulted in the creation of Plus Xnergy as the main holding company, with Plus Xnergy Services Sdn Bhd (“PXS”) (formerly known as “Plus Solar Systems Sdn Bhd’’) as its Engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) subsidiary and Plus Xnergy Edge Technologies Sdn Bhd (“PXET”) as its technology focused subsidiary. This is to create more agility and focus in-house to push boundaries of respective areas, towards the redefinition of energy generation and efficiency.
Plus Xnergy is a group of companies that devotes itself through catering solutions in line with the Energy Trilogy, which consists of Energy Generation, Energy Efficiency and Energy Storage. Committed to reinventing energy, the group has both Plus Xnergy Services and Plus Xnergy Edge Technologies as subsidiaries, one arm to provide turnkey solar solutions and to go beyond solar, exploring battery storage, and the other arm to provide AIoT energy solutions. Collectively, the group has achieved a track record of over 686GWh in generated energy savings from clean energy and AIoT that spans across 40+ industries. Plus Xnergy Services has completed over 220MWp of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for notable clients such as AJIYA, Chek Hup, IKEA, Kawan Food, Khind, LY Furniture, Mah Sing Plastics, Secret Recipe, UWC and more. Plus Xnergy Edge Technologies focuses on AIoT energy performance ecosystem where users can source smart energy savings at their fingertips.
Paying it forward
While in university, Ko got his hands on his first solar panel. This was for his final year project and he successfully used solar energy to cool the
temperature inside a car. “At the time, renewable energy was a new concept and there was little information about it. Thankfully, my lecturer had a solar panel for me to use and provided some practical tips on how to work with it,” says Ko, 37. The experience showed him that there was much to learn about this fascinating source of energy. From that point onwards, he was determined to be part of the global clean energy movement. When the opportunity presented itself many years later, Ko gifted his former university lecturer with a solar panel for research. “Without him, none of my
company’s success would have happened. I wanted to thank him”. Ko also gives talks and conducts free engineering workshops to students across the country via the company’s CSR arm, Plus Xnergy Academy. “The message I share with my students is that I’m only where I am today because I benefited from someone else’s skill and knowledge. I want to pass on these skills to the next generation so that one day, they can stand in my place and pass them along to the generation after.” Plus Xnergy Academy aims to build the clean energy talent pool. The academy currently has over 5,000 students and there are plans for growth of up to 20,000 students or more over the next five years. Ko is also looking at bringing this academy to other countries.
Built to last
Initially, Plus Solar Systems started with only four second-hand tables, a handful of laptops and made approximately RM130,000 in earnings in its first year of business. “Malaysia officially introduced the Feed-In-Tariff Policy in 2012. This policy favours companies that use renewable energy sources. Then, I knew that it was the right time to start a solar energy business, but I couldn’t do it alone,” says Ko. The company’s impressive growth, he says, stems from the long hours of hard work and sacrifice invested in the early days by his co-founders, Oh and Poh. At the start, the trio were consumed with closing deals and delivering effectively. They installed solar panels under the hot sun and there were months of going home without a salary. Ko and his team looked forward to the days when small victories would pave the way for bigger ones. This happened in just their second year of business when the company secured a consulting job providing green energy solutions for the Prime Minister’s Office as well as a contract to work on the largest solar-powered car park in Southeast Asia. Now, Plus Xnergy Holding ’s diverse clientele of industry leaders include Mah Sing Plastics, Kawan Food, AJIYA, LY Furniture, Chek Hup, UWC, Secret Recipe, Chuan Sin, BP Plastic and GB Industries. Testimonies include a client who has gained monthly electrical savings of RM50,000 and another who has witnessed a return of investments from their solar investments in four years. Ko reassures his clients, many much older than him, that he will personally take care of their buildings’ solar energy system for up to 25 years. This duration is the warranty period for his solar photovoltaic systems. He states “From the get-go, our purpose was not ‘build-to-sell’ but ‘build-to-last’. We don’t want to be just a solar power installer. Our goal is to become a comprehensive energy partner for our clients in the next 20 to 30 years”.
Growing beyond the borders
Despite the challenging economic environment because of the health pandemic, Ko remains optimistic about the future as clean energy is clearly a growing trend. The team at Plus Xnergy Holding plan to expand their business to two new countries in the Asia Pacific region. The company is already present in Vietnam, one of the hottest renewable energy markets in this part of the world, and their partners there have already put things in motion. “In 2017, solar energy played almost no part in Vietnam’s energy strategy. By end of 2019 however, Vietnam surpassed Malaysia and Thailand to reach the largest installed capacity of solar panels in Southeast Asia. It now has 5 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic projects, far exceeding the 2020 target of 1GW. This is something I believe can also be done in Malaysia,” says Ko. “The pandemic has only hastened our journey to offer more than solar. Now, the company is restructuring in line with our plans to grow bigger, to expand to more markets and to work even more efficiently”.
