ADB opens $100-M facility for solar rooftop projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to participate in the installation of numerous solar rooftops in commercial and industrial buildings locally.

This as the multilateral financing institution is making available as much as $100 million in the next five years to install solar panels with an aggregate capacity of more than 100 megawatts (MW).

Seethapathy Chander, director general for Regional and Sustainable Development Department of the ADB, said they expect to install solar panels in rooftops with a total generation capacity of 10-15 MW this year.

“It can cross 50-100 MW easily next year. There is a potential,” Chander said, adding that prices of solar panels are going down, making the projects viable.

“This is a very good solution for large buildings in the Philippines,” Chander said.

Sohail Hasnie, senior energy specialist of the ADB, said the agency can provide as much as $100 million in funding for the installation of solar panels in rooftops in buildings.

The funding will be available in the next three to five years, said Hasnie.

The ADB inaugurated yesterday its solar rooftop power project, which is so far the largest roof-mounted installation in the Philippines and can generate peak power of 571 kilowatts (kw) of green energy.

The solar project will provide approximately 3.5 percent of the electricity needs of the ADB headquarters in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

ADB said the rooftop project shows the viability of a large scale solar power project in buildings.

“Fortunately the Philippines has very good land that is productive. Our strategy for the Philippines is to use rooftop or other spaces available for industry use,” Chander said.

To date, only ADB’s 571-kw solar panel project is the only ADB-sponsored renewable energy project of such scale in the Philippines.

ADB has so far invested $2.1 billion in renewable energy projects in Asia through co-financing such ventures under its Asia Green Energy Initiative.

“Everybody knows that the price of solar technology is going down. The expertise in the installation and production of the technology is critical,” said Helen Ting, chief operating officer of Propmech Corp.

ADB’s solar rooftop project was built by Propmech, a local company engaged in solar PV panel distribution and installation. The company won the project in an Asia-wide bidding.