Metro Manila schools to tap solar power

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) is launching the use of solar panels in Metro Manila schools amid an expected surge in electricity demand in the coming years.

DOE Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said solar panels will be installed in March on the rooftops of the initial batch of seven private schools. The schools will pay the solar panel providers a certain fee for every megawatt capacity used. The contract has a 10-year term after which the panels will be owned by the schools.

Petilla said the schools will save P2 per kilowatt hour as the power produced by the solar panels will be about P9.50 per kWh, lower than the P11.50 rate of the Manila Electric Company. The schools are projected to produce 2.4 megawatts from the initial 1 MW forecast.

The energy chief said once all schools in Metro Manila are included under the program, they are projected to produce some 270 MW capacity. He added that households will also included in the program but their rate would be higher at about P10 per kWh due to their smaller capacity.

DOE earlier said that Luzon-wide rotational power outages are possible this year given the higher electricity demand. Petilla said a one or two-hour power outage in any of the peak hours- 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.- is the worst case scenario for Luzon this year.

Several power plants are currently under construction to provide additional capacity, but these are not expected to finish even early next year. DOE data shows that additional capacity for 2014 is about 20 MW while it is 146 MW in 2015.