Solar rooftop seen as solution to PH power crisis

By Myrna M. Velasco – September 15, 2022, 3:10 PM
from Manila Bulletin

The installation of solar rooftops on homes as well as businesses is seen as a key solution to the recurring power crisis that has been tormenting the country’s power grids, according to the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA).

The organization said commercial and industrial (C&I) users as well as Filipino homes can be spared from experiencing distressing rotational blackout if they would opt for solar rooftop as alternative source of their electricity services.

PSSEA emphasized “encouraging homes, offices and factories to install solar on their roof will accelerate the generation of more clean electricity.”

With solar rooftop installation, these consumers generating their own power supply – or the so-called ‘prosumers’ can depend on their generated electricity when the sun shines; while on periods when the skies are overcast or at night time, they can draw electricity service from the grid.

If there is battery storage supporting their solar rooftop facilities, the consumers would be able to gain further leverage because they can tap into that stored electricity at sundown or even during rainy days.

Solar rooftop installations could shave off power demand in the grid – especially during the peak demand-months of summer because that is when solar generation would also be optimized. On that premise then, the available supply in the grid can be re-channeled to other users; because the ‘pro-sumers’ can already provide for their own power needs.

As illustrated by PSSEA, “if government targets solar rooftop in 5.0-percent of households, a potential of 673 megawatts can come online within 12 months. This will provide relief to the grid and is certainly an immediate solution compared to the development of utility scale solar which takes three (3) years to deploy.”

The group, in particular, has unveiled its four-point policy agenda to accelerate the deployment of rooftop solar – and such include: the removal of the 100-kilowatt cap for net-metering; simplified application of incentives; standardized protocol for LGU permit issuance; and access to financing.”

It qualified that “the continuous decline in the cost of solar panels shortens the payback period of rooftop solar to four (4) years.”

PSSEA added “no other financial instruments promise such returns considering the savings to be generated for the remaining 20–year life of the solar panel after payback.”