WeGen: Solar rooftops also a solution for energy
By Eireene Jairee Gomez – July 1, 2021
from The Manila Times
WeGen Laudato Si’ (WGLS), a Philippine-based next-generation technology company, has a solution to help make electricity available to all Filipinos at affordable costs – solar rooftop installations in small to big communities.
Speaking at The Manila Times forum titled “Propelling Renewable Energy Against Climate Change” on Wednesday, Charlie Ayco, President of WeGen, discussed how the country can propel renewable energy against climate change.
As things stand now, Ayco said the government seems to work towards a “centralized” renewable energy generation, which is primarily comprised of large solar farms and wind farms, by which power is supplied directly to the grid in megawatts. But a centralized approach, he said, will not necessarily bring down the cost of electricity in the Philippines and make electricity rates competitive.
“Even if we shift into renewable energy using this approach, the landed cost of power on the part of the customers will remain to be high,” Ayco said.
The government should instead puruse renewable energy transition through a “complementary” approach, according to Ayco.
Instead of large power plants to supply electricity needs of the country, “we are proposing that we build hundreds and thousands of small solar installations which are integrared into one system through net metering and energy aggregation.”
He cited Germany for having 1.5 millions of rooftop solar installation that are all aggregated by a software. “It’s the maestro that orchestrates all of these small installations into one big system so that it can be sold to the neighbors, to the grids and to any energy customers.”
To do this, he said WeGen will distribute energy resources primarily through rooftop installations. Under such system, power is directly supplied to the consumers. “Our approach is to do it behind the meter because when you do it that way then the consumer of the electricity will immediately enjoy lower electricity. In fact, they can also help the grid through net metering.”
There are about 22.4 million units of houses in the country, Ayco mentioned. “If we can just convince 4 million of them to put up 5 kilowatts on their roof, that is a total of 5 gigawatts. That is the total power that is removed from the grid. There is no more problem with increasing the capacity of the grid because the grid can work in its current limitations.”
More importantly, Ayco noted that power consumers become “prosumers,” as they become producers and consumers of electricity, thus, democratization of energy.
