Engaging on a different ‘solar system’

A FIRM believer of renewable energy, Equator Energy Corp. CEO Bards Fabula says solar panels can solve the country’s energy production problem. JILSON SECKLER TIU

For engineer and entrepreneur Bards Fabula, CEO of Equator Energy Corp., engaging on a different “solar system” may actually help solve the country’s looming energy production problem.

“Our electricity is expensive because the supply is small… just basic law of supply and demand, and what we need is to resolve this,” Fabula said. He added that the sustainability of diesel- and coal-feed machineries’ energy production may not last long.

A no-brainer solution will be to venture on renewable energy, Fabula said. However, he noticed that these are not getting ample support from the government and private energy sectors. In the Philippines, 25 percent of the total energy production comes from renewable energy sources like solar, wind and biomass, while 75 percent comes from the coal-feed.

“Based on statistics, the Philippines is producing around 72 billion kilowatt hour every year, while Japan is producing about a trillion already. And we just have the same population,” he said. Fabula gained interest in solar energy back in 2013 when he was finding ways to reduce his business’ electric consumption.

Fabula noted that in the United States, people are only paying P3.4 per kilowatt hour, while here, Filipinos are spending P12 per kWh—more than P8 difference.

“We are being charged more and that P8 difference, if accumulated, can already feed our families enough,” he said, noting that with traditional source of power, the country is dependent with the international price, wherein production costs also increase.

Through solar energy, Fabula said the country can solve this problem especially with the climate the country has, making it more efficient. He said that with one megawatt solar-size, when installed here in the Philippines, will produce 130,000 kWh per month—a double of the actual production.

Another problem is with the implementation of Republic Act No. 9513, or the “Renewable Act of 2008,” where it states under Section 15 that “power generated from renewable sources of energy shall be subject to zero-percent value-added tax (VAT).” But according to Fabula, this is not followed by authorities.

“The 12-percent VAT is applied when we import the materials, so tax is reflected to the end-user, plus the input duties,” he said. “We’re controlled by big players and we’re getting discouraged because of this.”

In addition, Fabula said interested investors become frustrated with the net metering system. All 15 solar panel installations that signed up with Equator Energy and applied for net metering are still on pending approval.

Net metering, one of the projects run by Meralco, is a consumer-based incentive scheme that enables customers to harness available renewable energy resources and generate power through an on-site facility.

Meralco senior communications associate Michael Garcia explained that to apply for net metering, the customer must be an eligible on-site renewable energy facility and has good credit standing in electricity bill payment. Technical details of the on-site renewable energy facility would be required as major inputs to the Distribution Impact Study (DIS) to be conducted by Meralco.

The DIS evaluates the feasibility of interconnecting the customer’s renewable energy facility to the distribution network and assesses the impact to the system in terms of safety and system reliability.

“In less than two years, Meralco was able to energize a total of 78 net metering customers with an aggregate installed photovoltaic capacity of 645.81 kWp [kilowatt peak],” Garcia said.

He added that as mandated by law, Meralco, as a distribution utility, is required to lay the groundwork for physical and commercial arrangement needed for the program, but it is subject to technical considerations.

Fabula, on the other hand, said the process is slow, which is why applicants are getting impatient with the program. “We’ve been producing electricity in excess to be transferred to them only to find out that we’re not being credited because our net metering application is not yet approved.”

However, even with these problems faced by renewable energy producers, Fabula still believes that it will change the energy situation in the Philippines.

Fabula said: “The only setback is that solar panels have an expensive capital expenditure but if you compare it to other [energy-producing] machines, it has the lowest levelized custom-energy. It’s only a matter of education.”

According to him, solar panels, depending on the quality, may take seven to eight years of payback time but will run until 25 years with zero-percent maintenance. The only requirements are a wide-roof area and electricity bill for the consumption.

“In a rough estimation, if all the houses here in Metro Manila have solar panels installed in their roofs, it would be more than enough to solve our problem,” he said. “If only the government is aware of it.”