Solar Group: Solar Rooftops can help alleviate power crisis

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Installation of solar rooftop systems at home and in businesses can help alleviate the recurring power crisis in the country, the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA) said. 

In a statement, PSSEA is urging the government to deploy solar rooftop panels in homes and commercial establishments as a source of their power supply and be spared from power interruptions. 

PSSEA added that encouraging, homes, offices, and factories to install solar panels will “accelerate the generation of more electricity.” 

With solar rooftop installations, power demand can be shaved off from the national grid, especially during peak demand months in the summer season when solar power can be fully optimized, the group added. 

PSSEA stressed that if five percent of households have installed solar rooftops, around 673 megawatts (MW) can come online within 12 months. This would provide a breather to the grid, and would be an immediate solution versus developing utility-scale solar farms that take around three years to deploy. 

The solar alliance group released a four-point policy agenda to help accelerate the deployment of solar rooftop panels, these include the removal of the 100 kilowatt (KW) cap for the net-metering, a simplified application process for incentives, a standardized protocol for local government unit permit insurance, and access to financing. 

Data from the Department of Energy said that the Philippines consumed 106.114 million megawatt hours (MWh) of power, wherein 32.96% was used by the residential sector, 19.90% by the commercial sector, and 26.03% by the industrial sector.