Quantifying the Techno-Economic Potential of Grid-Tied Rooftop Solar Photovoltaics in the Philippine Industrial Sector

Patrick Gregory B. Jara, Michael T. Castro, Eugene A. Esparcia and Joey D. Ocon
Additional contact information
Patrick Gregory B. Jara: Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Michael T. Castro: Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Eugene A. Esparcia: Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
Joey D. Ocon: Laboratory of Electrochemical Engineering (LEE), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: The industrial sector is a major contributor to the economic growth of the Philippines. However, it is also one of the top consumers of energy, which is produced mainly from fossil fuels. The Philippine industrial sector must therefore be supported economically while minimizing the emissions associated with energy consumption. A potential strategy for minimizing costs and emissions is the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules on the rooftops of industrial facilities, but this approach is hindered by existing energy policies in the country. In this work, we performed a techno-economic assessment on the implementation of rooftop solar PV in Philippine industrial facilities under different policy scenarios. Our study considered 139 randomly sampled industrial plants under MERALCO franchise area in the Philippines. Under the current net metering policy, 132 of the evaluated facilities were economically viable for the integration of rooftop solar PV. This corresponds to an additional 1035 MW p of solar PV capacity and the avoidance of 8.4 million tons of CO 2 emissions with minimal financial risk. In comparison, an expanded net metering policy supports the deployment of 4653 MW p of solar PV and the avoidance of 38 million tons of CO 2 . By enabling an enhanced net metering policy, the widespread application of rooftop solar PV may present considerable savings and emission reduction for energy-intensive industries (electrical and semiconductors, cement and concrete, steel and metals, and textile and garments) and lower generation costs for less energy intensive industries (construction and construction materials, transportation and logistics, and food and beverages).

Keywords: rooftop solar PV; net metering; Philippines; industrial sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/19/5070/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/19/5070/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:19:p:5070-:d:420553

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().