These are solar panels, sitting on a roof in the sun- in this case the roof of a building on the North Campus of Foundation University. In Dumaguete, as far as I know, only FU has made a strong commitment to solar electricity.
These panels are not much to see- they don’t vibrate or rattle or smoke. They just sit quietly in the sun, pouring out power for the school beneath them, running computers, lights, and aircons during daylight hours.
There are many reasons to go solar: The usual call is for replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy to lower carbon emissions. But there are no carbon emissions from power plants in Dumaguete.
The problem here is that the local power grid is seriously overloaded. The population has almost doubled here in the last ten years, and all the new populations need more power. Often the local power supply isn’t enough.
Transformers are overloaded, there aren’t enough lines. In crowded areas, fuses blow, brownouts happen frequently. Anything that can reduce the draw from the local grid is a definite gain- and is financially wise as well.
You draw less from the grid, and you pay the power company less. But first you have to buy the solar panels, and they’re not cheap. Just One of the panels you see here, a three by four foot size, will cost you P16,000.
Foundation University has installed 141 panels to provide power for their entire north campus. It would take at least eight of these panels to provide partial power for a medium size family house. That’s P128,000. Plus the cost of inverters and installation.
And Noreco would still have to be paid at night. Clean, renewable power is still too expensive for ordinary homeowners. But demand is there, so that will probably change.
In 1908, Automobiles were expensive toys for the rich, and there weren’t many of them around. Ordinary people, to get where they were going, took streetcars and buses, or walked. Then, in 1909. Henry Ford invented the Model T.
Ford’s idea was to make cars so cheap that anyone could afford one. It was a good idea. Ford sold millions of model T’s. And the more he sold, the cheaper they got.
Everyone is waiting for a 21st century Henry Ford- someone to to make solar power so cheap that even ordinary people can get off the local power grid.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
