German-Filipino supplier PHILERGY harnesses solar energy in a coal-loving Philippines
FEB 2021 — It’s about time to overhaul the Filipino electricity sector. As of mid 2020, electricity rates in the Philippines were the second highest in all of Asia largely due in part to a monopolized reliance on imported diesel, oil and coal. If you live in the Philippines, ask your neighbors how much their kilowatt rate is. Chances are you’ll get completely different answers.
Imported coal nearly accounts for half of the Philippine energy mix and is expected to be 53% by 2030 when 22 pending approved plants come online. Not only do coal-fired power plants release more greenhouse gases per unit of energy produced than any other electricity source, but global trends in power generation have also been geared toward decarbonization. We see this today with China and South Korea moving away from coal. It’s evidently clear that Southeast Asia is rapidly becoming one of the last remaining battlegrounds for fossil fuel. The journey to explore alternative sources of energy has been an arduous one, with extreme community pushback leading to a 2019 landmark Supreme Court ruling against Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation that resulted in voiding power supply agreements after uncovering “ambiguous bidding practices and unfair retail competition”. But this pushback alone isn’t enough to justify coal reliance elimination. Politics aside, Filipino coal advocates still argue that the fossil fuel provides a stable source of energy at the lowest cost. In the midst of a global pandemic and global economic retraction, the big question still remains: if not coal, what then?
Mag solar na tayo!
The potential of solar energy in the Philippines is huge—not just in energy production but also in positively impacting our environment. Within the Philippines, 15 square meters of roof covered with solar panels can save up to P7,400 (USD$152) a month and neutralize 31 kilograms of CO2 emissions for which you would usually need 930 trees (1 hectare fully covered). In 2021, the Philippines economy only invested 3.9% of its energy capacity on solar. However, of the other renewable options making up this percentage investment (geothermal, hydro, biomass, etc), solar energy has been consistently increasing by about 40 times over the past 5 years. In accordance with the Department of Energy (DOE), Filipino solar energy capacity is projected to increase to 9GW (Gigawatt) by 2035 and the overall renewable energy capacity (geothermal, hydro, biomass, solar) will bump up five percent to a total of 35%.
In 2011, German native Jochen Staudter and his business cohorts started a small hotel in the Philippines. They immediately were shocked with the electric bills and starting asking questions. How is it possible that they were paying so much money for electricity? With the Philippines being a tropical country with lots of sunshine, why hasn’t harnessing solar power been an area of discussion already? Little did they know that a decade later their new company PHILERGY would be celebrating over 900 solar roof installations around the island nation.
Jochen Staudter, aka Solar Joe, PHILERGY German Solar’s Managing Director, has been featured in Tatler Asia’s Generation T List for 2020 for encouraging solar energy use in the Philippines.
“The Philippine government continues to invest in coal and fossil fuels because there is a lobby with money behind it. If the world continues to use coal as an energy, it will only last an additional 110 years. We want to make Filipinos aware of the fact that they can pay less while at the same time being sustainable.”
If you’re over 30 years old, these aren’t changes that will directly affect you. But your kids or your grandchildren? Most definitely. From a geographic view, the Philippines is a strong candidate for solar power. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Philippines has an average solar energy potential of 4.5 kWh/m2 per day. The Filipino government has made a significant attempt in terms of encouraging the implementation of solar power within the country. Throughout the past decade, several renewable energy acts contained policies that promoted renewables. A feed-in tariff was implemented as well as commercial incentives toward companies to encourage them to implement renewable energy through tax exemptions. These policy changes have provided strong encouragement for private Filipino companies to look toward solar. But is incentivizing the private industry to manage solar energy enough to sway a coal-loving Philippines?
A Solar-Powered Philippines For The Masses
According to the "Accelerating the Deployment of Renewable Energy Mini-Grids for Off-Grid Electrification" study, the level of household electrification in the Philippines stood at 89.6 percent, leaving 2.36 million households without electricity. Advocating solar energy as a viable option for those below the poverty line could make large scale change and provide more local jobs. This is exactly what Chinese funded solar power stations have been doing, with a mission to electrify remote Philippine villages. While this is great for advancing a struggling lower class that has lost opportunity for government aid, the shocking reality is that China's State Grid Corp now has a 40% stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the country's lone power transmission line. China has part-owned the Philippines' national grid since 2009 potentially a posing as a security threat where China could decide to cut power in the Philippines at any time. Even Japanese multinational electronics company Panasonic announced in January 2021 that it would withdraw from solar cells and panel production as the former leading maker faces stiff competition from Chinese rivals that can produce the goods at a lower cost. Nevertheless, in today’s world, winning customer trust isn’t always about lower cost and mass production. While there are so many options for the 2021 consumerist, the emerging winner always seems to be the one that provide us with a high quality reward.
Is there a quality difference between German and Chinese solar panels?
Perth Solar Warehouse made a comparison of German made and average Chinese solar panels production to illustrate quality differences in the market. From minus 40 to 85 degrees Celsius conditions, German-made products passed 9125 cycles which equals 25 years while the Chinese one made 200 cycles (0.5 year). Maritime climates using salt sprays were also tested which resulted European dominance over Chinese production – 100% in comparison to 2%. The average Chinese solar panel could work indoors, under mild conditions while those made in Germany were fully functional even in extreme outdoor environments. While PHILERGY is usually 10-15% more expensive than competitors, they openly say “[they] guarantee high quality German engineered solar panels and [they] have worked with [their] producer for many years to perfect [their] product.” German solar naturally started earlier around 20-25 years ago. In Asia, the trend is relatively new with China quickly swooping in to make profit through mass market production and sales. But with all that production, an even bigger long term problem needs to be addressed.
“If solar panels are so clean, why do they produce so much toxic waste? Solar panel disposal problems will exponentially grow in two or three decades and wreak the environment. The panels produce a huge amount of waste and are not easy to recycle.”
The average lifespan of a solar panel is 25 to 30 years. After a solar panel gives out, a replacement is put in—but what happens to the old panel? Researchers with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) undertook a study for U.S. solar-owning utilities to plan for end-of-life and concluded that solar panel “disposal in “regular landfills [is] not recommended in case modules break and toxic materials leach into the soil” and so “disposal is potentially a major issue.” As more countries move towards solar, it will be increasingly difficult to scale to the needs of sustainable disposal and in the long term, solar may not be as clean as experts initially thought.
In Australia, there are more than 2.3 million rooftop solar power systems—one of the highest in the world. As many of these systems were built in the early 2000s, the majority of these panels are reaching end of life. A ticking time bomb, experts are scrambling to stop the more than 100,000 tons of solar panels predicted to enter the country’s waste stream by 2035. In fact, they are looking at Europe as an example. The EU is the only region that has a robust and transparent regulatory framework since the adoption of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive 2012/19/EU, which mandates European countries to adopt waste management programs where producers are responsible for the take-back and recycling of the panels they sell.
For Jochen, however, he explains that the solar panel industry is always changing and improving. As PHILERGY’s supply comes from Germany and more focus for energy consumption shifts towards using solar, advancements will be made to the panel materials and the future of the disposal will be made much cleaner. Let’s hope that more Filipino solar producers take responsibility for funding long-term waste disposal management just as the solar power leaders overseas and PHILERGY aim to do.
A Five Star Experience
PHILERGY doesn’t just offer high quality solar panels. They also have high quality customer service. The company has an astounding reputation in Manila, boasting a five star experience for all 107 Google reviews thus far. Jochen says, “It takes a lot of work—we never leave a client unsatisfied. If there’s something wrong, we will remove it again and again until it is completely resolved. We don’t sell because we want to make money. Most clients get offers from various competitors, but many choose us in the end. We are on-time, efficient, use 100% imported European materials, and have sophisticated monitoring systems available for our panels. Nobody works here just to earn money. We pick our employees wisely because we want them to enjoy working here for the benefit of the customer.“
Sunny Portal (Powered by ENNEXOS), an all-in-one dashboard where customers can see at a glance their clean energy production for the day/week/year and how much it is cutting off of their electric bills.
As coal centered policies are starting to diminish with a soon-to-be expiration date, the future is looking quite sunny for Jochen and his team at PHILERGY. From a regional point of view, Southeast Asia has been accelerating plans to harness energy from the sun as the cost of generating electricity from some solar power projects has become more affordable than gas-fired plants. With additional big players growing in neighboring countries such as Vietnam (which currently is leading with 10% of total power capacity allocated to solar and wind), PHILERGY’s first mover advantage plays as a key Philippine business growth driver for at least the next few years. Jochen has advice for other entrepreneur’s trying to enter the Filipino market:
Choose a product that you can make with the highest quality—thats what people look for. In the Philippines, reputation is everything. I strive for high quality standards because if you lose your reputation, you won't be able to sell and others can reprimand you. Be honest and build that pilot project at the beginning; sell something that people can have proof of, not just a vision. Many people asked me, “Can I see what exactly will be installed?” People want to touch and feel the actual product. Lastly, be patient—it took us 3-4 years until we had a good name.
Entrepreneur Stats
NAME Jochen Bernhard Staudter
COMPANY PHILERGY (Philippine-German Energy Solutions)
LOCATION Quezon City, Metro Manila
EDUCATION Hult International Business School
