Capiz town to expand solar energy access in barangays

The municipal government of Tapaz plans to expand its photovoltaic battery charging or solar energy project to cover more households in the hinterland barangays of the municipality that could not be reached by the local electric cooperative system.

Solar energy is one of locally available alternative power sources that are being harnessed by the national government to lessen the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels whose prices have been continuously going up.

The government has been using oil to run power generating systems that supply electricity to homes and businesses.

The P3-million solar energy project in Tapaz is a joint project of the municipal government, Office of Capiz 2nd District Congressman Fredenil Castro, Department of Energy, Capiz Electric Cooperative, and Korean Electric Power Company.

It uses solar panels to run charging stations that supply electricity to upland homes at a minimum cost of P25.00 a month payable to the barangay power association.

Earlier, Mayor Romualdo Exmundo, Jr. has said that the photovoltaic battery charging project suits the needs of far-flung barangays in his municipality.

Already, some 400 households in 21 barangays have access to the project. The municipal government said they are keen on widening the coverage of the project so that it would benefit more households and barangays as part of the overall socio-economic development program of the municipality.

There are three major kinds of solar energy technologies, namely solar-thermal, solar power concentration and photovoltaics.

Solar-thermal devices use direct heat from the sun and focus it to produce heat to do everything from heating swimming pools to creating steam for electricity generation.

Plants that concentrate solar power produce electric power by converting sunlight into high temperatures heat using large mirrors, then channeling the heat through a conventional generator.

Photovoltaic technology is the fastest-growing solar technology. The word comes from photo, meaning light, and voltaic, meaning voltage producing. Sunlight, not heat, fuels photovoltaic cells. The cells, made mostly of the semiconductor silicon, convert sunlight directly into electricity. (gov.ph)