Philippines set to double solar power capacity this year

Will exceed 5 MW from 2 MW.

The Philippine Solar Power Alliance claims the Philippines could double its installed solar power capacity to 5 MW by the end of this year.

PSPA president Tetchi Cruz-Capellan said the Philippine’ Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of net metering rules will result in a rise in solar rooftop investment. She said net metering is opening a new phase for solar energy.

Net metering allows electricity consumers to engage in the distribution of solar, wind and biomass energy not exceeding 100 kW. Capellan said solar rooftops are the cheapest source of renewable power and are often cheaper than traditional sources of energy.

This makes her optimistic that demand for solar energy will increase exponentially. ERC first approved net metering in July 2012.

She said net metering is basically driven by customers. She is uncertain if demand will be driven by developers or companies but the sustainable driving force is the high cost of electricity.

“The cost for rooftop power is $3 kW. The challenge is to lower that cost. To achieve this, we will try to unbundle and work on the VAT issues related to this,” Capellan said.

In 2010, renewable energy accounted for 28% of all power generated in the Philippines. Most of this total, however, came from geothermal and hydro with solar having a minimal contribution.