Ayala Land, DoubleDragon installing solar panels in malls

MANILA, Philippines - Property developers Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and DoubleDragon Properties Corp. are joining the solar power bandwagon.

ALI is installing a 1.5 megawatt (MW) rooftop solar power system in its 9.3-hectare MarQuee mall in Pampanga, while DoubleDragon,  the property joint venture of the founders of grilled chicken chain Mang Inasal and fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp., is embarking on a much bigger solar venture.

“We’ve been awarded projects with Ayala Land and DoubleDragon. Solar power is really hot these days, everyone wants one and everyone is trying to see how they can integrate solar into their developments,” said Leandro Leviste, president of Solar Philippines, a leading solar panel provider in the country.

ALI’s planned rooftop solar power system is expected to match SM North Edsa’s solar plant in terms of size.

In November last year SM became the  largest solar-powered mall after its North Edsa parking building was outfitted with 5,760 solar panels and 60 inverters covering over 12,000 square meters.

DoubleDragon, in partnership with the SM Group, meanwhile, is looking to energize all of its planned chain of community malls with solar power.

CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CMCCI) targets to complete 25 CityMalls by end of 2015 and 100 CityMalls by 2020, as it hopes to have the largest branded community mall chain in the Philippines.

CMCCI to date has secured 20 sites for its community malls.

“All of their branches will be solar-powered-25 this year and 100 in the next five years,” Leviste said.

Leviste said CityMall’s first branch in Capiz, which was completed in December last year, has already been installed with a 568-kilowatt (kW) rooftop solar system.

Upcoming solar-powered CityMalls are expected to have an average of 600 kW of generating capacity, he added.

Rooftop solar power systems are seen to augment the malls’ power requirements and are expected to operate for over 25 years and offset an estimated 40,000 tons of CO2.

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), another mall developer, last week inaugurated its 1.2 MW rooftop solar system in Robinsons Place Palawan.