Lopez Group unit to install Phl's 1st solar facility on rooftop

MANILA, Philippines - First Philec Solar Corp., a subsidiary of the Lopez group, has launched the first solar facility to be installed on rooftop.

The facility is now open at the First Philippine Industrial Park in Tanauan, Batangas. 

In a statement, the Philippine Solar Power Association (PSPA) said the opening of the facility is a significant proof of the viability of solar energy in the country. 

“It demonstrates how solar electricity can be deployed in months, shows the adoptability of solar plants to grid conditions, and how solar energy can be used for industrial and residential purposes,” PSPA president Tetchi-Cruz Capellan said.

The First Philec solar facility has a 180KW grid capacity. Its construction started in September this year and was was inaugurated two months after. 

It uses photovoltaics modules provided by Sunpower Phils and is also capable of testing the effectiveness and resilience of the modules. 

Cruz said local and foreign solar manufacturers can test panels in the Tanauan plant for optimal output in a tropical environment.

PSPA expects more interest on solar rooftop installation in the months to come. 

Capellan said, “with First Philec Solar leading the way, foreign investors with huge renewable energy portfolio will start looking at the Philippines again as a possible investment destination.”

Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. Inc. (Cepalco) already has a 1MW ground-mounted solar plant in Cagayan de Oro. It is looking to expand their existing capacity to 20MW in two years.

Solar power is considered as a key factor in overcoming the power crisis in Mindanao. 

Recent studies by the Manila Observatory (MO) have indicated that Mindanao will be drier in the years to come lessening the effectiveness of RE sources like Hydropower, which supplies 70 percent of the power to the island.

The Congressional Committee of Science and Technology (COMSTE) urged government to harness solar energy, take advantage of our national policy as enshrined in the Renewable Energy Act, and pitch for significant foreign investments on the huge potential of solar power in the Philippines.

“We should be able to forge collaboration with the private sector and develop more energy projects that can take advantage of the Renewable Energy Act,” COMSTE chairman Senator Edgardo Angara said.

“Mindanao has the highest percentage of un-electrified barangays in the country, if we are able to apply solar energy effectively, the potential upside is enormous,” Angara said.

Shigero Niki of Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, who heads the Solar Research and Testing Laboratory of Japan, said the solar facility in Batangas as a major development and expressed interest in sending PV for testing in the Philippines, noting that a testing facility here would be able to identify the proper engineering and technology for PV arrays and components which would be ideal for tropical conditions.