Solar can democratize power source

business mirror

sATURDAY, 21 JANUARY 2012 17:51 RIZAL RAOUL REYES / CORRESPONDENT

INVESTING in renewable energy is one of the ways to develop energy security in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Solar Power Alliance Inc. (PSPA) founder and spokesman Tetchi Capellan.

In a recent interview with the Business-Mirror, Capellan said the PSPA would be urging the government to craft a more realistic 20-year solar development that would highlight the progress achieved by the solar industry and harness the full potential of solar power in the Philippines.

Under the current plan, solar was assigned 15 megawatt (mw) per year until 2030, which “ignores the potential of solar for the country, and disregards the innovations recorded in solar technology.”

In her paper presented to the House of Representatives’ Energy Committee, Capellan lamented that there was no attention given to the role that ordinary consumers can contribute in increasing the capacity in the Luzon-Visayas grid.

“It took no notice of the thousands of roofs in urban locations that can accommodate solar systems. If only 10 percent of the rooftops in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, General Santos, and other cities install solar kits, daytime consumption can be covered by solar energy,” she said.

Although the cost of developing solar energy is still exorbitant, Capellan said the country must continue to develop solar energy because the prices of oil and coal keep on increasing which becomes a detriment to many global economies, including the Philippines.

“Given the rising cost of fossil fuel, investing in solar now secures our future,” she said.

The price of crude oil has been consistently on the rise. In 2003 it climbed from $30 per barrel to over $130 in the spring of 2008.

Meanwhile, the price for a ton of coal has tripled since 1996. As far as uranium for nuclear power is concerned, it has increased 17-fold within six years.

“Thirty-three percent of the energy we use is imported. The National Renewable Energy Board reported that for every $10 increase of coal prices, there is a corresponding rise of 21 centavos in electricity bills per kilowatt. Given these statistics, the best insurance against future price rises is, therefore, faster and broader development of homegrown renewable energy,” she said.

Capellan said the archipelagic nature of the Philippines is perfect for the deployment of solar energy because it does not require building power grids around the country to provide electricity nationwide.

She said using solar energy could help alleviate spikes whenever there is a system peak in a certain area because it can be transported to avert power shortage.

Only solar energy can be deployed fast to increase the capacity in Luzon, and immediately supply the needed power to augment the so-called peakers.

Capellan cited the case of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company Inc. (Cepalco), which reported that Mindanao always experiences yellow and red alerts because four power plants are usually on forced outages. The grid could not adequately supply the power requirements on the island because the gross reserves, estimated at 250mw, are simply not available.

In these times where electricity prices in the market can go as high as P35 per kilowatt hour (kWh) based on the September 2010 report of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the National Rural Electrification Board reported that solar power can reduce these market prices to as much as P3/kWh with the infusion of an additional 200 megawatts of solar power.

“Government can save P1.2 billion as solar displace the expensive diesel-fired power plants,” said Capellan.

“Further, solar can make every individual person an independent power producer. Anyone who installs a 3-kw solar kit on his rooftop saves at least 20 percent in energy consumption a month. These independent power producers also contribute to reducing the importation of expensive diesel,” she said.

Capellan said solar provides solution by “democratizing” the access of power in the small power utility group (Spug) areas where expensive diesel-oil based power is extensively used.

“The Spug areas should be a focus for solar-energy deployment to promote the development of small islands and the alleviation of poverty in off-grid and remote locations,” she said.

Other forms of renewable energy are geothermal, wind, biomass and ocean waves.

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In Photo: Technicians from First Philec Solar Corp. are installing solar panels.