2.1 Solar Home Systems - V

2.1 Solar Home Systems (SHS)

Currently, an estimated 3,455 SHSs have been installed in various locations in the country. With the real costs of PV project development above the affordability level of most of the rural population (a complete SHS costs between US$600-800), international cooperation is necessary in the realization of such projects. Systems have been installed through private companies, local cooperatives (multi-purpose, agricultural, credit, etc.) as well as Rural Electric Cooperatives. The technical potential for SHS is difficult to define and will strongly vary with the system price offered. At present, about 5 million rural households have no access to electrical power and could, in principle, be electrified through SHSs. However, given the on-going conventional electrification by grid-extension and other competing alternative options, combined with limited affordability and accessibility of remote rural households result to date in a commercial potential of only about 500,000 SHS.

2.2 Solar Water Heaters (SWH)

SWHs are mostly used for residential applications (bathing and household uses). Residential SWHs of 200-400 liter capacities are prevalent in affluent households in posh subdivisions. Most of these are imported from Australia albeit there were some local enterprises before which ventured but were not successful in manufacturing and marketing SWHs for domestic purposes.

Industrial SWH technology appears to have failed because the initial systems (e.g. for a large chicken dressing plant) did not live up to the expectations due to poor quality of installations and lack of technical back-up services. Besides in all industrial SWHs conventional back-up systems were necessary. In such cases the investment had to be justified only with the conventional energy saved (electricity, bunker fuel, LPG) in the back-up system.

At present, there exist about 432 SWHs for residential and industrial applications. Among this is a hotel which has installed a SWH system that supplies the hotel’s hot water needs.

2.3 Solar Photovoltaics (PV)

About 3,957 systems of various PV applications are located in the country with an equivalent capacity of 567 kilowatt-peak (kWp). These installations are largely attributed to the initial efforts of the Philippine-German Solar Energy Program (PGSEP) in the 1980’s. The program’s objective was to demonstrate the technical viability of using PV for electrification. The project likewise demonstrated and tested various PV applications ranging from telecommunication, battery charging stations, PV-powered video cinemas, refrigerators, incubators, streetlights and others.

To date, mostly mono- and poly-crystalline modules have been utilized. Amorphous silicon panels have generally been used in very small applications. The archipelagic nature of the country with many remote islands and islets as well as presence of remote dispersed small communities in many mountainous areas of the Philippines make the PV technology a very promising option for electrification of remote rural areas.

A number of local firms in the country are now involved in system integration, design, installation and distribution of PV modules and products. Most of the products especially PV panels are imported from countries such as US, Australia, Germany and Japan. There is also some local capability in the manufacturing of balance of systems and solar batteries.

2.3.1 PV for Telecommunications

PV seems especially attractive for back-to-back relay stations for telecom companies in the country since most of them operate in their own backbones. From the engineering’s point of view, such relays are often situated at optimal locations with grid power not readily available (e.g., mountain tops). Two companies (RCPI and PT&T) have pilot tested over a period of almost 10 years to supply power to their telecom system. The system generated around 2 kWp and backed up by 3 kilovolt amperes (kVA) diesel for emergency purposes. The performance of the PV systems were generally even better than expected. Two traditional stations of 4.5 and 5.7 kWp have been added over the years. The potential market for PV for the telecommunication industry would amount to an estimate of over 100 PV supplies with a capacity of 3 kWp at least. About 119 systems with a total capacity of 94 kWp have been recorded.

2.3.2 PV for Water Pumping

PV for irrigation purposes is still considered too costly. Since the PV power supply would stand idle in the large part of the year, other uses would have to be identified in order to make such projects financially viable. However, PV powered drinking water pumping appears to be more promising. Up to now, various cooperators of DOE have installed some 126 systems nationwide with a total capacity of 174.8 kWp. One site (Bagtik, Cebu Province) may hold the world record for PV with the highest head (121 m). However, the economic feasibility of the drinking water project is not clear and depends on local conditions (presence and depth of subsurface watertable), on willingness to pay for water, etc.