The Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance (PSSEA) is calling for an acceleration of investments in rooftop solar power to protect the national economy from price shocks caused by geopolitical instability in the Middle East.
PSSEA founder Tetchi Capellan said on Sunday that utilizing solar rooftops will allow the government to hedge against the dollar-denominated volatility of the global oil market.
Capellan said the shift toward solar is no longer just an environmental movement but a fundamental pillar of national economic security that helps stabilize the Philippine peso by reducing the current account deficit.
“As the global oil supply remains fraught with geopolitical risk, the ability of every Filipino household and business to ‘hire the sun’ provides the most durable defense against the next inevitable crisis,” Capellan said.
A study on the country’s solar potential found that about 1.8 gigawatts of capacity can be harvested from existing rooftop space.
The data show 1.3 gigawatts is located in Luzon, almost 500 megawatts in Visayas and about 61 megawatts in Mindanao. Capellan said that current installations remain below 1 gigawatt, leaving significant room for growth to fully harness the potential of the sector.
The alliance estimates that every kilowatt of installed rooftop solar reduces the national requirement for imported coal and diesel. This shift could potentially save the country up to $2.2 billion annually in current account deficits and reduce diesel subsidies by $200 million per year.
Data from the group indicate that the levelized cost of energy for rooftop solar has become highly competitive compared to traditional sources.
While Manila Electric Co. rates reached P13.47 per kilowatthour last year, rooftop solar offered an alternative ranging from P2.50 per kilowatthour to P5.30 per kilowatthour including financing.
Capellan said this price is competitive against coal-fired power at P3.80 to P5.50 per kilowatthour and imported-diesel-fired power reaching P15 to P28 per kilowatthour.
The alliance suggested that investing in solar may be more cost-effective than a proposed state-managed Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Senate Bill 1934, filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, proposes a 90-day national stockpile of crude oil. Capellan estimated that constructing and maintaining a 30-million-barrel reserve would cost approximately $660 million or P37.2 billion in its first year.
“While a petroleum reserve is a depreciating physical stock that must be constantly replenished at market prices, a solar reserve is a productive asset that yields energy for 25 years with minimal ongoing costs,” Capellan said.
She said the economic value of diverting petroleum reserve funding toward solar incentives may be greater than the value of the oil itself in the long term.
