Lopez unit launches first solar kit for household, commercial use

MANILA, Philippines - First Philec Solar Solutions (FPSS), a unit of the Lopez Group, has expanded its solar business in the country by launching the first solar technology kit tailored for residential and commercial use.

FPSS president Dan Lachica said the full rollout of the solar kit, which provides its users with an alternate energy source from solar power that promises long-term savings on electric consumption, is targeted in the last quarter of the year in time for the approval of the feed-in-tariff (FIT).

FPSS is an end-to-end provider of photovoltaic (PV) systems that generates electric power from sunlight. The use of solar energy is commonly used by the commercial or utility industry as an alternate energy source but is now also made available for residential use.

FPSS offers three kinds of solar kits: one-kilowatt grid-tied system, one-kw off-grid system and 10-kw grid-tied system which are scalable depending on customer requirements.

The kit, which will be sold at P200,000 each, will allow savings of up to 15 percent of the electricity use of customers.

The one-kw grid-tied and off-grid systems intended for residential and commercial use could last for more than 20 years while entailing low operational costs.

Lachica said they would also target to offer the solar kits to off-grid customers in far flung areas with no electricity or those in the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

“The launch of this residential solar kit is an evidence of the company’s commitment to provide safe and sustainable energy that will contribute to a reduction in global carbon emissions and supply clean electricity,” Lachica said.

On the other hand, Derrick John Tolentino, project manager of FPSS, said they are now talking with local government units (LGUs) which need off-grid power systems.

The kit allows solar panels installed on roofs of homes and buildings to convert the sun’s energy to electrical energy through an inverter that converts the DC output of solar panels into AC power that can readily energize appliances.

This system sends excess energy back into a grid which therefore reduces over-all electrical consumption.

“We believe that the market in the Philippines is ripe to appreciate the energy that comes from the sun, more so, value the benefits that it delivers such as home value appreciation, environment preservation and savings generation from electric consumption,” Lachica said.

“The benefits of the investment for a kit such as this far outweigh the cost that will be incurred upon purchase. The future is worth going to this direction where in zero fuel and zero wastage is applied,” he said.

The availability of this solar technology to residential owners gives more people the access to a clean, reliable and renewable source of energy.