As this sweltering summer season triggers elevated energy consumption, having greater electrical energy payments needs to be anticipated.
Installation of photo voltaic panels in properties supply an answer to economize in addition to to go “green.”
A supply of renewable power, photo voltaic panels are an necessary strategy to fight local weather change. They produce clear “electricity that keeps us from burning greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels,” Scicence.org says, which suggests putting in photo voltaic panels and switching to a renewable power like photo voltaic may also help cut back greenhouse fuel emissions, a key step in mitigating local weather change and holding world warming to 1.5C.
But photo voltaic panel set up is not low cost.
According to Patrick Panlilio, chief working officer of Meralco’s wholly owned renewable power firm Spectrum Inc., the price of putting in a 3.8-kilowatt (kW) photo voltaic producing system would roughly quantity to P350,000 to P400,000.
This is beneficial for a buyer who has an electrical invoice amounting to round P7,000 a month.
Sounds heavy on the pockets, however the fee, says Panlilio, “is already inclusive of everything — the materials, installation cost, legal documentation, net metering application, and etc.”
It’s an funding
Businesswoman, DJ, and social media influencer Cecile Zamora was bracing for an costly photo voltaic panel set up so she was pleasantly stunned “it’s a lot more affordable now.”
“I thought it was going to be in the millions,” she tells GMA News Online. “But I spent less than P400,000.”
She switched to photo voltaic final 12 months, after she noticed a good friend had photo voltaic panels in his home. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. When I built my house 19 years ago, solar wasn’t allowed pa. But when I saw my friend, JJ Acuña, he’s an architect, had solar panels in his house, I got inggit,” she mentioned.
It was a fast course of for Cecile, who requested her for good friend’s suggestions. “He recommended his supplier, Solaready. I called the number and had the supplier come in, to determine where best to put the panels,” she mentioned.
In completely, it solely took 2 days in complete, Cecile continued, including she was glad in regards to the course of.
“I know you don’t get your returns right away but I wanted to do something for the environment. And I also didn’t want to be spending that much money on electricity,” Cecile mentioned.
Perhaps its finest to consider switching to photo voltaic power as an funding. According to the Panlilio, “Conservatively, it’s safe to assume that a proper solar installation will reduce a customer’s electricity bill by at most, half of what they are consuming beforehand.”
“This is particularly true especially if they are a heavy user during the daytime. If the customer’s previous bill amounts to around P10,000, they can expect to reduce it by at most P5,000 once the solar system is installed,” Panlilio said.
Cecile compared her electricity bill from April 2022 with her April 2023 bill: “In April 2022 it was round P32,000. This 12 months it is at P19,000,” she said.
Her home solar system is something of a hybrid. The solar panels generate electricity from the sun to power her house in the daytime. “And then Meralco is available in at evening, when there isn’t a solar,” she said.
“Even if it is cloudy, basta there’s solar, my electrical energy will come from the photo voltaic panels. I do know some folks have additional batteries to energy their properties at evening however me, I nonetheless depend on Meralco for nighttime electrical energy.”
Net metering
Users of photo voltaic panels may slash their electrical energy payments by incomes invoice credit by means of the web metering program.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), web metering permits prospects of distribution utilities to put in an on-site renewable power facility (similar to photo voltaic panels) not exceeding 100 kilowatts (kW) in capability to allow them to generate electrical energy for their very own use.
The DOE mentioned any electrical energy generated that isn’t consumed by the client is mechanically exported to the utility’s distribution system.
“Any unused energy will be exported to the grid thru net metering as allowed by the government,” Panlilio mentioned.
The distribution utility then provides a peso credit score – equal to its retail charge – for the surplus electrical energy it receives and deducts the credit earned to the client’s electrical invoice, which in flip can be used to cut back the invoice, in accordance with the DOE.
A distribution utility’s retail charge consists of technology, transmission, system loss, distribution, subsidies, taxes, and different fees.
“We also highly recommend that customers apply to Meralco’s Peak / Off-Peak (POP) Program. This program will help them save more as it offers the benefit of having lower rates during off-peak hours (9 p.m. to 8 a.m. from Monday to Saturday, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.on Sunday),” Panlilio mentioned.
According to Meralco, the POP technology charge is cheaper at P3.55 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for off-peak hours versus P5.69 per kWh for non-POP prospects, saving as much as P2.14 per kWh.
“When combined with a solar installation, customers will be consuming the energy generated by the solar PV (photovoltaic) system during peak hours, when the rate is higher, and only rely on the grid during the off-peak hours, when the rate is lower. This is really beneficial,” Panlilio mentioned.
Return on funding
Panlilio mentioned that ROI or return on funding could fluctuate relying on prevailing electrical energy charges within the buyer’s service handle.
“In Metro Manila, average ROI is around five to six years. Once the customer recovers their investment, all generations made thereafter by the solar installation will come as a net positive for them,” he mentioned.
The Spectrum official mentioned that by the fifth or sixth 12 months of the photo voltaic panel system’s operation, prospects can totally take pleasure in financial savings from their photo voltaic funding.
To set up a photo voltaic panel system, Panlilio mentioned prospects can use Meralco’s buyer touchpoints such because the official web site, social media pages, and buyer hotline 16211.
Alternatively, there are lots different photo voltaic panel suppliers you might name — like Solaready — which can be then hooked to the Meralco grid.
With summer season temperatures persevering with to soar, warmth indexes hitting harmful ranges, and PAGASA already issuing an El Niño alert, maybe it’s the finest time to shift to photo voltaic power. — LA, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
