LOCAL SOLAR power producers are preparing to install power facilities that can generate some 300 megawatts (MW) over the next three years, buoyed largely by the abundance of resources and anticipation for feed-in tariffs.

According to the newly organized Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA), it will aggressively pursue the establishment of solar plants in the country due ?to the high sun irradiation? of the Philippines.

?[The] solar plants, as well as the presence of the world?s largest solar panel manufacturer in Laguna, will make the Philippines a solar hub in Southeast Asia,? the group added in a report it submitted to the government.

The alliance was convened by two Harvard-educated energy leaders: Ramon Abaya and Tetchi Capellan.

Abaya is president of Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. Inc., which owns and operates the sole 1-MW solar plant in Cagayan de Oro. Capellan is part of Intensity Inc., which installed the biggest number of solar home systems in off-grid Mindanao?a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Investments in the solar energy sector may get additional boost once the government?s feed-in tariff for renewable energy takes effect, PSPA said.

Feed-in tariffs are regulated incentive structures that pay premiums for electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, ocean, hydro and biomass.