St. Scho joins list of solar power users

MANILA, Philippines - St. Scholastica’s College (SSC) in Manila has joined the growing number of establishments that have installed solar panels in their buildings for their power requirements.

In a ceremony yesterday, SSC turned a portion of its rooftop into a 96-kilowatt solar power facility that can generate 38.88 percent of the daily requirements of the school’s St. Cecille Hall at 813 kilowatt-hours.

“This will bring us P400,000 savings per month, which will be equal to P4 million per year said,” SSC president Mary Frances Dizon said.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said with the school’s solar panel installation, SSC joins the ranks of other schools such as Manuel L. Quezon University, Mapua Institute of Technology, and La Consolacion College-Manila, in utilizing renewable energy.

Through the initiative of the Department of Energy SSC tapped Filipino-owned Propmech Corp. to outfit their rooftops with a solar power plant. SSC’s power plant will operate through the net-metering mechanism of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which will allow the school to sell its excess energy back to the grid.

Since SSC’s consumption is at its peak during the day when classes are ongoing and offices are operating, their solar PV system earns them the best savings, Propmech said.

SSC signed a memorandum of agreement with the DoE and Propmech for the installation of solar PV net-metering facilities on their campus earlier this year.

The DoE hopes to double the country’s total renewable energy installation of 5,521 megawatts.

For the schools project, the DOE aims to install up to 100 kW rooftop solar PV systems to help schools lower their power costs.

Propmech is a Filipino-owned business and a local solar PV system provider. Several of Propmech’s projects include the ADB solar power plant, the Rural Electrification Program of the Philippine government, as well as Meralco’s solar PV system installed at the Meralco Fitness Center.