MANILA - Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Monday unveiled the city's P6.6 million on-grid solar power system.

The 100-kilowatt panels were installed on top of the Pasig Sport Center near the City Hall, Sotto said in a post on his social media accounts.

"Sa halagang P6.6 million, ang proyektong ito ay mas mura sa mga naunang solar project ng LGU," he said.

(At P6.6 million, this project is cheaper compared to the local government unit's previous solar project.)

"Ang return on investment o ROI ay nasa 6-10 years, conservative estimate," he said.

(In our conservative estimate, we will get the return on investment or ROI in 6 to 10 years.)

On-grid solar panel systems are connected to a local power grid, while off-grid setups are not tied to any utility company.

"Ngunit higit sa financial benefit para sa LGU, ito ay maganda para sa kalikasan," he said.

(Aside from the financial benefit is can give the local government unit, this is good for the environment.)

Sotto has yet to respond to queries on which facilities will be powered by the new solar panels, and how much the city government can save through using the new electricity system.

Inauguration of 100kw ON-GRID SOLAR POWER SYSTEM

(Pasig Sports Center, City Hall)

Sa halagang 6.6M, ang proyektong ito ay mas mura sa mga naunang solar project ng LGU. Ang ROI ay nasa 6-10yrs (conservative est).

At higit sa financial benefit, ito ay maganda para sa kalikasan. pic.twitter.com/AvS9Mr9nUC

— Vico Sotto (@VicoSotto) May 31, 2021

Under the Philippines' National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), the public and private sectors are urged to shift to renewable sources of energy between 2011 and 2030.

"The NREP seeks to increase the RE-based capacity of the country to an estimated 15,304 MW by the year 2030, almost triple its 2010 level," according to data from the Department of Energy.

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As of 2019, the Philippines has installed 7,399 megawatts of renewable energy systems, but the country remains reliant on coal, which accounts for 10,417 megawatts or about half of the total installed capacity per technology in the country.

"With the domination of fossil fuels in the mix, renewable energy technologies decreased its total generation share to 20.8 percent due to the continuous drop in generation of hydro and limited penetration of other technologies to the mix," the DOE said in its 2019 Power Situation Report.

Despite calls from environmental groups to reduce carbon emission around the world, the coal "continuously dominated the power mix" in the Philippines in 2019 "by increasing its share from 52.1 percent in 2018 to 54.6 percent," it said.

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