Largest solar rooftop panel powers up mall in Biñan

MANILA, Philippines - The largest self-use solar rooftop power plant in the country was launched yesterday at a shopping mall in Laguna.

The 700-kilowatt Central Mall Biñan solar rooftop project is part of the country’s efforts to promote the use of renewable energy and reduce the public’s dependence on coal-fired power plants.

Premiumlink Development Corp., the company operating Central Mall Biñan, tapped Solar Philippines which designed, constructed and installed at zero upfront cost the entire system.

Solar Philippines and Premiumlink signed a purchase power agreement wherein the energy generated by the solar power plant is sold to the establishment for its own consumption, at a rate lower than the usual electricity rates in the area.

With the power plant on its roof augmenting 30 percent of City Mall Biñan’s total energy consumption, the mall’s management is able to save more than P100,000 monthly on electricity bills.

Spreading over 700 square meters of sunlit roof space, the solar power plant is made up of 2,514 top quality solar panels on steel mounting structures that can withstand wind speeds up to 200 kph. The energy generated by the panels is converted into electricity by 87 inverters, ready to be used by the mall tenants, administration and mall goers, Solar Philippines said.

The Central Mall Biñan solar rooftop project is the first solar project granted loan financing by one of the country’s biggest banks, Ayala-owned Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI).

Furthermore, the project is the first solar rooftop to enjoy tax exemptions and tax credits, as Solar Philippines is the first solar solutions provider registered with the Board of Investments (BOI, one of the investment promotion agencies of the government.

Solar Philippines finances solar rooftop installations at zero upfront.

“An all-in-one solar solutions provider, the company is able to design, engineer, construct, install and maintain large-scale rooftop projects. Its current projects include Central Mall Biñan, SM North EDSA, Robinsons Palawan, and City Mall Roxas,” it said in its profile.

It aims to become the first distributed utility with renewable energy in the country. It offers solar solutions for large corporations, small and medium enterprises, and residential areas.