Renewable energy: Power from the sun (Last of a Series)

By Henrylito D. Tacio
“We all need electricity,” said Von Hernandez, Executive Director for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.  “It is vital – it powers our lives, runs our hospitals and schools – we need it for every aspect of our lives. But we need it to be clean and sustainable.”
President Benigno S. Aquino III thinks so, too. “Having a reliable energy source is a foundation of progress,” he said.  “The lack of access to energy has always been a major drawback to economic and social development. Without energy, government cannot deliver the most basic of its services – clean water, health, shelter, and education.”
By 2030, global energy consumption is projected to be 55% higher than it is today due to population growth, continued urbanization, and economic expansion. The largest share of this growth will almost certainly occur in the developing world – and that includes the Philippines – with most of the additional energy currently projected to come from fossil fuels.
Around the world, there is a growing realization that climate change, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, is a more serious threat to the international community than terrorism. The threat of climate change is as dangerous as war, warned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in early 2007.  He added that upheavals due to impacts of climate change range “from droughts to inundated coastal areas and loss of arable land.”  All these, he believed, “are likely to become a major driver of war and conflict.”
This is where renewable energy comes into the picture.  Renewable energy technologies are now ready for use on a large scale and have the potential to meet world energy demand many times over, said Dr. Janet Sawin, a senior fellow at the institute and an expert on international energy and environmental policy.
“Renewable energy offers tremendous potential and, combined with improvements in energy efficiency, could fuel the economy of the future,” Dr. Sawin pinpointed.  “The future is in renewable energy — not in outdated and environmentally destructive fossil fuels,” agreed Anna Abad, Climate and Energy campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. 
Perhaps one renewable energy source that Filipinos should tap – and the country has plenty of it – is solar power. Thomas Alva Edison once said, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
Recently, one of the remotest barangay in Digos City has been illuminated by solar energy, according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report. 
In Tugbok, Davao City, the Kahayag Farms is also considering of shifting to solar as its main source of water. “We are taking in consideration to utilize solar energy as our power source, at the same time for our water supply,” Mikhal Evasco, owner of the sustainable organic farm, was quoted as saying.
Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PVs) or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). CSP systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. PVs convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.
A company advertising solar power claims: “Solar power is an ecologically and environmentally friendly solution to your power needs. Solar power virtually emits zero pollution. Unlike fossil fuels, solar power does not emit harmful pollutants which contribute to the greenhouse effect which leads to global warming.”
It adds: “The Philippines, which has the most expensive electricity in Asia, will continue to have increasing electricity rates in the future. By generating your own electricity you introduce long term savings and will no longer fully depend on power providers. You also gain the reliability that when utility power lines are cut-off, you can still enjoy the electricity which you yourself generated using the power of the sun.”
Tapping power from the sun is not new in the Philippines.  In 2001, the Environmental News Network (ENN) carried this news item: “In one of the world’s most isolated areas, where power generated by coal, oil or natural gas is not readily available, 150 villages are about to see the light of solar panels as a means of their first electricity. 
“BP Solar and the governments of Spain and the Philippines have signed an agreement that will bring solar power to about 400,000 residents in the Mindanao region of the Philippines, where about one-third of the nation’s rural poor live.”
The ENN report commented: ““Renewable energy in the Philippines is often more efficient than extending the electric grid. The prohibitive cost of building power lines and the difficulty of transporting fuel for generators to remote, developing areas makes solar power an ideal solution.”
Solar power seems to be the right renewable energy for the Philippines.  In an article published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mio de la Cruz wrote: “On a scorching summer day in a tropical country like the Philippines, the sun beams out approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of surface area that it shines on.  If we could harness all that energy, then we could easily power our homes and offices for free.”
While solar power is indeed free and plentiful, the solar panels (the mirrors that catch the rays of the sun to turn water into steam that would turn the power-generating turbines) are very costly. “The cost of trapping sunshine and converting it into electricity is considered: approximately P1,000 per watt, way above the reach of the ordinary people,” de la Cruz wrote. 
Those who want to avail themselves of 1,000 watts of solar power to run appliances in their home need to invest at least P1 million. But the good news is: The cost of manufacturing solar panels is getting lower every year. What’s more, their efficiency is increasing.
Solar power is indeed environment-friendly. As the ENN report puts it: “The solar systems in the Philippines will reduce the dependence of villages on non-renewable energy sources. The systems will also slow deforestation, as less wood will be cut to meet daily needs. Replacing diesel generators, the new solar systems will reduce air and noise pollution.” All photos were taken from the net