2.4 Other Applications - V

2.4 Other Applications

These include about 257 communal battery charging stations, PV powered vaccine refrigerators, PV powered incubators (for hatching chicken and duck eggs), PV powered streetlights, lighthouses of the Philippine Coastguard and the newly commissioned 28 kWp centralized plant providing electricity to 200 households of Pangan-an Island, Cebu Province. These additional PV installations have an estimated aggregate capacity of about 45.2 kWp. Limited market opportunities appear to exist for most of these systems. PV battery charging stations appear to be most suitable for most economically depressed areas since most rural people own a battery and have it recharged in the nearby town. One battery charger can provide sufficient power for a single fluorescent tube for 2 weeks before being recharged. Powering a small TV set by battery is an even more popular application in the rural areas.

2.5 Wind Energy Systems

2.5.1 Windpumps

The country has a good potential for wind energy applications. As of 1999, there were about 368 recorded units of operational windpumps and 9 wind turbine systems throughout the country. Multi-bladed windpumps have been in the country since the beginning of the century. They are mostly used for irrigation of agricultural farms and for domestic water supply. Currently, there are seven local manufacturers and suppliers fabricating and marketing windpumps in various areas in the country.

2.5.2 Wind Turbine Generators

A wind resource analysis and mapping study was conducted for the Philippine archipelago by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (US-NREL) using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The purpose of this study, a first of its kind undertaken for the Philippines, is to identify potential wind resource areas and quantify the value of that resource within those areas. The wind resource in the Philippines is strongly dependent on latitude, elevation, and proximity to the coastline. In general, the wind resource is best in the north and northeast and lower in the south and southwest of the archipelago.

The wind mapping results show many areas of good-to-excellent wind resource for utility-scale applications or excellent wind resource for village power applications, particularly in the northern and central regions of the Philippines. The best wind resources are found in several regions: the Batanes and Babuyan Islands north of Luzon; the northwest tip of Luzon (Ilocos Norte); the higher interior terrain of Luzon, Mindoro, Samar, Leyte, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Palawan, eastern Mindanao, and adjacent islands; well-exposed east -facing coastal locations from northern Luzon southward to Samar; the wind corridors between Luzon and Mindoro (including Lubang Island), and between Mindoro and Panay (including the Semirara Islands; and extending to the Cuyo Islands).

Over 10,000 km ² of windy land areas have been estimated to exist with good-to-excellent wind resource potential. Using conservative assumptions of about 7 MW per km ², this windy land could support over 70,000 MW of potential installed capacity. Considering only these areas of good-to-excellent wind resource, there are 47 provinces in the Philippines with at least 500 MW of wind potential and 25 provinces with at least 1,000 MW of wind potential. However, additional studies are required to more accurately assess the wind electric potential, considering factors such as the existing transmission grid and accessibility.

Some of the wind turbines in the country include a 10 kW stand-alone system in the Northern Philippines serving 25 households. It is being planned to be connected to the grid by a local electric cooperative. Another 25 kW stand-alone system in Batangas Province has 6 different loads with different priorities depending on the amount of power produced and is without a battery storage. A 3kW stand-alone system was put up by a local telecommunication company (PT&T) as a power supply for its relay station in tandem with a diesel generator.

There are only two known suppliers of small wind electric systems (a few hundred watts). For larger units direct contact with foreign manufacturers is being done by interested users.