Power firm pushes solar electrification of homes

CEBU, Philippines - The Visayan Electric Company aims to electrify more homes with solar power.

Veco chief operating officer Sebastian Lacson said “going solar means not only helping protect the environment but also saving money on electricity bills.”

The power distribution firm, with franchise area spanning from Liloan to San Fernando, Cebu, is the first distribution utility in the country to promote the use of solar energy to its customers through their “Green Energy for a Brighter Future” campaign.

Veco Solar is a joint project with Enfinity, which is the sixth largest developer of solar photovoltaic projects in the world and a market leader in Europe.

The initiative carries the objective of providing a helping hand to the government to protect the environment against pollution.

To date, Solar Enfinity has powered at least four residences while Veco currently has 60 pending applications from residential owners who wished to use solar panels for the electricity requirements at home.

Lacson is encouraging customers to invest in solar power generation to reduce power consumption at home.

The solar PV panels will be installed in the roof where free energy from the sun is turned into direct current electricity, which is then carried to a wiring through an inverter and converted to alternating current electricity used around the home.

The energy produced during the day is used to power appliances, and at night when the system is not producing energy, electricity is supplied by Veco in the normal way. A bidirectional meter records not only the total electricity consumed but also the total electricity produced by the panels.

Lacson said a consumer who invests in solar energy will become a producer of power with a maximum limit of 1,000 watts. If the consumer uses less than the maximum limit, Veco will pay for the difference.

A typical one-kilowatt peak PV system installation produces 112.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or about P1,300 in electricity cost.

The solar package costs P150,000. The consumer can recover the amount in seven to eight years. Beyond that, the consumer can earn a profit, Lacson added. (FREEMAN)