SINGAPORE: When a downpour persisted for days during the rainy season last December, Mr David Mohan was dismayed to find water dripping from his kitchen ceiling for days on end.

Pails placed below the leak would be filled within “three to four hours”, which meant that Mr Mohan and his wife had to take turns waking up during the night to empty the pails.

“It was like raining in my house,” said the 66-year-old retiree, who lives on the top floor of one of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks along Tampines Street 21. 

At that time, solar panels were being installed on the block's rooftop.

“Before the (installation) works, there were no leaks. We don’t know what happened,” Mr Mohan told CNA at his home last month.

He turned to the town council and later HDB for help. While his leaking ceiling was patched in January, Mr Mohan remains worried about whether the leak had caused any damage to the false ceiling in his kitchen, as well as a built-in cabinet located near the leak. 

Mr Mohan intends to get a contractor to conduct a thorough check when the installation of solar panels at his block is completed. 

At least three other residents who live on the top floors of several blocks in the area told CNA that they experienced leaks, mould growth and water patches on their ceilings as the installation of solar panels was carried out.

In response to CNA’s queries, HDB said on Monday (Oct 7) that inspections by the solar panel installation contractor for HDB blocks in Tampines Street 21 had identified ceiling cracks and leaks, among other issues, before installation commenced.

These were being fixed on a "goodwill" basis by the contractor, sometimes in tandem with the installation works. 

HDB also said that contractors commissioned for all its solar panel installation projects “are not allowed to drill or puncture” the rooftops of HDB blocks.

“Instead, it is mandatory for the solar panels to be weighed down by concrete ballasts placed on felt pads,” its spokesperson added.

These felt sheets serve as a “protective membrane” for the roof and create an additional layer “aimed at preventing water leakage into the rooftop surface underneath”.

“Therefore, any subsequent ceiling leakage is unlikely the result of solar panel installation and more likely due to the natural deterioration of the roof’s existing waterproofing membrane or coating,” HDB said.

The HDB blocks at Tampines Street 21 were built between 1982 and 1987, with the majority built in 1984.

The installation works at Tampines Street 21 are part of the government’s SolarNova programme, which has seen solar panels being fitted on the rooftops of thousands of HDB blocks throughout Singapore to harness clean energy and make housing estates more sustainable.

Under the programme, solar energy is used to power common services in HDB estates, such as lifts, lights and water pumps, during the day.

On average, this enables the HDB blocks to achieve net-zero energy consumption for the common areas, and can help town councils to moderate increases in operating and maintenance costs, authorities have said.

When CNA visited the Tampines HDB estate last month, installation work appeared to be ongoing at six HDB blocks. The noise of drilling could be heard intermittently at Block 256 throughout the day. 

According to a resident of Block 256, the solar panel installations began in late November last year and lasted until March before restarting recently on Jul 31. The installation work is set to go on until the end of this month, based on the paper notices pasted at the lift lobbies of blocks 255 and 256.

One resident of a top-floor unit of block 256, who asked to be anonymous as he is a tenant, has observed “patches” appearing on his kitchen ceiling in recent months. The washing machine and one of the ceiling lights in the kitchen also “stopped working” on separate occasions and had to be replaced. 

The resident said he had asked the construction workers at his block to take a look at his flatplea8, but was told they were “unable to identify the cause” of the ceiling “patches” and the electrical issues.

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