Spectrum to scale up solar rooftop installations for customers
By Myrna M. Velasco
Spectrum, a wholly-owned solar power firm of Manila Electric Company (Meralco), will be scaling up on its solar rooftop installations -- primarily for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, so it can help address the tight power supply predicaments of these energy-intensive users.
In a recent Philippine Solar PV Energy Summit, Spectrum Chief Operating Officer (COO) Patrick Henry Panlilio, indicated that the company is targeting “around 20 megawatts for this year to be installed...we’ll be partnering with mostly C&I customers.”
He explained solar rooftops have been helping C&I customers “alleviate the supply problem, companies and buildings have their own portion of generation, so it can lessen the dependency on the grid. The excess energy can be exported back to the grid through the net metering program, so this can be used also for additional supply.”
The Spectrum executive further noted “solar power is one of the best alternative sources of energy since it can really alleviate power supply concerns; and it relatively has short-term timeline to build compared to other power plants.”
Panlilio nevertheless conveyed that residential customers are also their key prospects in the rollout of end-to-end service in the solar rooftop solutions sphere – since many Filipinos are now turning also as ‘green campaigners’ when it comes to meeting their electricity needs.
“We hope to capture a major business in the DIY (do-it-yourself) and reseller market so we are pushing our efforts to realize this,” he stressed.
The Spectrum executive added “definitely the demand for solar rooftop, especially the residential segment had increased over the pandemic, since they are mostly working from home, students are doing online schooling, so this helped in their energy consumption in terms of savings.”
Panlilio similarly laid down that “based on net metering data that we have, the forecast is: the adoption will actually grow around 30-40 percent in the segments of residential and small commercial. So for our growth, we’re also targeting to grow by that rate, 30-40 percent. We hope that in this year, since this is considered a rebound year and as things normalize, and people are getting more aware of getting sustainable -- and companies advancing their sustainability agendas, definitely we can play a big role in helping them achieve that.”
To consumers who already shifted energy supply sourcing via solar rooftop installations, it had been vouched that the major advantages they gained had been cost savings; the ability to generate their own energy, hence, turning them into pro-sumers or producer-consumers; having secure investment; as well as patronizing green energy source that could aid the world’s carbon reduction goals to stave off global warming conundrum.
Panlilio highlighted that beyond solar rooftops, Spectrum is also a viable partner in the establishment of micro grid solutions; as well as in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) needs of solar power projects.
“We have the capability to build microgrid and utility-scale systems and actually implemented successful cases in the islands of Isla Verde and Cagbalete,” he said, in reference to the microgrid solutions that the company had spearheaded in these jurisdictions in Batangas and Quezon provinces.
Panlilio asserted that instituting microgrid solutions “will be a major part of our thrust in the coming years -- especially after the recent enactment of the Microgrid Law and with the continuous demand for clean renewable power from the grid.”
He emphasized that many companies are currently “actively investing to address some of the supply deficiencies...this is something we are strongly considering and to be the energy partner of choice given our long back ground and expertise through our parent company (Meralco).”
Panlilio explained, “Since we can design, we can also build end-to-end. And we also have strong capability for operations and maintenance. O&M is a major area for solar facility owners. And I am proud to say, our offered services are extensive and embedded in our processes is our Meralco DNA.”