by Carlo P. Mallo
BEING SITUATED below the country’s typhoon belt and closer to the equator make Davao City an ideal place for a solar farm, an investor said.
Winston Lorenzana Mendoza of Lim Solar Philippines told Edge Davao said that he plans to put up in Davao City a $46-million solar farm, which would have an aggregate land area of about nine hectares.
“The sun is constant here in the city and it’s typhoon free ,”Mendoza said, adding “it’s the best place to put up a solar farm.”
A solar farm is a vast tract of land wherein a large number of solar panels can be found. The proposed solar farm of Mendoza will be directly hooked up to a power grid in the city instead of utilizing battery wherein the energy produced from the solar power will be stored.
“The battery can be toxic,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said that the initial plan is for him and his partners to put up the solar farm on a build-operate-transfer scheme for the first 15 years, while the Davao City government will be able to run the facility for another 15 years.
“The technology that we will be bringing in ensures that the facility will run for 30 years. After the first 15 years, we will turn it over to the local government,” Mendoza said.
He said that aside from helping the city tap another form of renewable energy, solar power will help bring down the cost of power. The city is currently dependent on hydro power coming from the Maria Cristina hydroelectric plants distributed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and retailed by Davao Light and Power Company, Inc.
“The sun is free and it’s always there. The cost will only be in the initial investment and the maintenance of the facility,” Mendoza said.
Should the local government agree to the proposed solar farm, Mendoza said it will only take about four months for the facility to be set up.
As for possible competitors, Mendoza confidently said, “I’m not worried about them. They do not have the technology that we have.”
Winston Lorenzana Mendoza of Lim Solar Philippines told Edge Davao said that he plans to put up in Davao City a $46-million solar farm, which would have an aggregate land area of about nine hectares.
“The sun is constant here in the city and it’s typhoon free ,”Mendoza said, adding “it’s the best place to put up a solar farm.”
A solar farm is a vast tract of land wherein a large number of solar panels can be found. The proposed solar farm of Mendoza will be directly hooked up to a power grid in the city instead of utilizing battery wherein the energy produced from the solar power will be stored.
“The battery can be toxic,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said that the initial plan is for him and his partners to put up the solar farm on a build-operate-transfer scheme for the first 15 years, while the Davao City government will be able to run the facility for another 15 years.
“The technology that we will be bringing in ensures that the facility will run for 30 years. After the first 15 years, we will turn it over to the local government,” Mendoza said.
He said that aside from helping the city tap another form of renewable energy, solar power will help bring down the cost of power. The city is currently dependent on hydro power coming from the Maria Cristina hydroelectric plants distributed by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and retailed by Davao Light and Power Company, Inc.
“The sun is free and it’s always there. The cost will only be in the initial investment and the maintenance of the facility,” Mendoza said.
Should the local government agree to the proposed solar farm, Mendoza said it will only take about four months for the facility to be set up.
As for possible competitors, Mendoza confidently said, “I’m not worried about them. They do not have the technology that we have.”
