PAMPANGA, Philippines – Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm of the Gokongwei group, launched its latest solar-powered mall here Monday.
RLC president Frederick Go said the solar plant with a capacity of 2,883.2 kilowatts or 3.13 million kilowatt-hours of power a year, is the world’s biggest solar-powered facility.
“The sprawling design of Robinsons Starmills and the wide open surrounding space make it ideal for a large scale solar power facility,” Go said.
The facility translates to 25 percent in energy savings in the monthly electricity bills of Robinsons Starmills.
The company tapped Solenergy Systems Inc. as EPC contractor for the project, which consists of 10,880 solar panels covering 1.75 hectares of roof space.
Starmills will harness more than 2.88 megawatts of power during peak hours, Solenergy said.
Go said RLC is continuously looking for ways to adopt sustainable practices and minimize its carbon footprint by steadily shifting to the use of renewable energy.
“The thrust to install solar power facilities in all of its malls “demonstrates the company’s commitment to help protect the environment from the adverse effects of carbon emissions,” Go said.
He added that solar power facilities require minimal maintenance and produce no emission as they consistently produce energy for at least 25 years.
Robinsons Starmills is a popular destination in San Fernando because of its outlet concept which brings popular brands under one roof for shoppers looking for great deals.
It also houses an inter-regional bus terminal, making it a meeting point for various destinations in NCR, Central and Northern Luzon.
Aside from the recently completed facilities in Robinsons Starmills and Angeles, Go said RLC will also be operating new solar power plants in its malls in Tacloban and Bacolod.
Go said once completed, RLC will have 10 malls with solar facilities with a total capacity of 12.5 megawatts, resulting to an annual yield of 14.6 million kilowatt-hours.
“All our future malls will also be designed to ensure that the shape and layout of the roofs will allow the most efficient installation of solar panels to make the most of the power provided by the sun so that we will be using even less electricity from the grid,” Go said.