The World Economic Forum stated in January that the current energy crisis is causing inflation and reducing economic growth. Taking immediate measures backward, such as increasing the amount of coal used to generate electricity and providing widespread subsidies for consumption, would also be dangerous.
The report, Securing the Energy Transition, put out a thorough strategy plan to make security and resilience the core elements of a system that is transitioning to alternative energy sources.
Investments in renewable energy should be prioritized and consumption efficiency should be increased and utilized as solutions.
Three issues with energy insecurity are present in the Philippines, according to The Working Paper Series by ADBI published in 2019: 1) a rapid increase in electricity consumption; 2) a frequent shortfall in electricity supply; and 3) a difference in the pace of electrification between urban and rural areas.
In order to address the issue of unreliable power supply that frequently disrupts life in Filipino households, big companies are now working to make solar technology more affordable for families in the middle class.
Among the companies leading this initiative is Ginlong (Solis) Technologies, which recently unveiled its S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter in the Philippines during the Future Energy Show 2023. The company aims to empower more Filipino families by providing them with easy access to solar power technology.
According to Solis After-sales Support Engineer, John Karlo de Guzman, "Our focus is to help middle-class Filipinos gain access to renewable energy technology. By introducing the S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter, we are enabling households to have a reliable and uninterrupted power supply, ultimately improving their quality of life."
Solis' newest technology, with enhanced generator connections and management features, acts as a fully independent power center to satisfy the needs of the Filipino residential and C&I markets, where power disruptions occur owing to increased power consumption, particularly during the summer.
“So we know that in the Philippines, there are some power interruptions lately, especially in summer. So using S6 hybrid on-grid, you won’t experience power interruption when the distribution utility [can’t] supply power from the grid,” de Guzman said.
The S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter from Solis is equipped with expanded connectivity and control capabilities, allowing for easy integration with generators thanks to different input ways and automatic on/off management. It also includes an automatic UPS switch, which allows households and businesses to handle power outages.
The product has five operating modes; the work mode, where the inverter is in energy storage mode, and uses the available PV power to support home loads; the self-use mode stores excess PV power unto the battery; the feed-in-priority mode which would export the excess PV power after the home loads are supplied; the off-grid mode where the systems can be used in cases where power is not connected to the grid; and the back-up mode, which can be used during the self-use or feed-in-priority mode.
As electricity prices continue to rise, the installation of Solis’ new product, equipped with a solar PV system, can help generate savings in a residential home.
“Using the generator and PV itself with the S6 inverter, I think it can [save] up to 60 to 80% of the monthly consumption or monthly electrical bill,” de Guzman said.
Furthermore, the S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter can be connected to smartphones via bluetooth or WiFi, allowing Filipino households to easily navigate through the product depending on their current needs.
The S6 Advanced Power Hybrid Inverter can also accommodate up to six connections in parallel, with a maximum total load of 48 kilowatts (kW), with a 10-second 200% surge backup overload capability.
The hybrid inverter is compatible with lead-acid and lithium batteries, with multiple protection features, allowing the product to be as flexible as possible.
“This flexibility avoids over-specifying higher capacity inverters, PV arrays, generators, and batteries than necessarily required, with considerable CAPEX and OPEX savings over our competition. Users can be confident of a seamless supply during grid interruptions, even for the most sensitive electronic equipment,” Solis Country Manager James Frank said.