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“Tiger Liza” rests inside its enclosure at the Malabon Zoo on July 16, 2022. The Zoo’s founder, Manny Tangco, named the Siberian tiger in honor of the new first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and says that he’s hoping that she would be the mother and protector of nature. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Solar power

Raine Musñgi

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Rooftop solar has never made more financial sense for Filipino households and businesses, but the industry&#x27;s biggest hurdle is no longer technology or even consumer demand. It&#x27;s financing.With some of Southeast Asia&#x27;s highest electricity prices and Meralco rates climbing by around 10 percent since the Middle East conflict disrupted global energy markets earlier this year, more Filipinos are turning to rooftop solar to protect themselves from volatile power bills. Yet many remain unable to afford the upfront investment needed to install a system.&quot;The demand is already there,&quot; said Alnie Demoral, analyst at global energy think tank Ember. &quot;They&#x27;re just waiting for more affordable financing products that can actually help them install these solar panels in their respective homes.&quot; &quot;What we are looking at here is for the repayment for the household to be close to, or at least lower than, the savings on their electricity bills. If that already happened, then we can already see that solar is becoming more affordable even to ordinary families,&quot; she added. Ember&#x27;s latest analysis estimates that a typical Filipino household can recover the cost of installing rooftop solar in about 3.1 years, while businesses can recover their investment in about 2.3 years. The shorter payback period is driven by persistently high electricity prices and lower global solar panel costs, making rooftop solar one of the fastest-returning energy investments available to consumers.&quot;These two trends have made the financial returns extremely attractive,&quot; Demoral said. <div>Rooftop solar capacity more than doubles as demand accelerates</div>Improving economic conditions are already translating into record growth.Demoral said the country&#x27;s installed rooftop solar capacity has climbed from around 600megawatts (MW) in 2025 to approximately 1.3 gigawatts (GW) today, more than doubling in just one year. The interview transcript refers to &quot;1.3 megawatts,&quot; but Ember&#x27;s published analysis confirms the figure is 1.3 gigawatts.The Philippines has also become one of the fastest-growing markets for solar equipment in the region. Reuters reported that the country imported about US$407 million worth of Chinese solar panels in the three months through May, a 145 percent increase from a year earlier, as households and businesses rushed to reduce electricity bills.Large commercial establishments have led much of the expansion because their highest electricity demand coincides with peak sunlight.&quot;If you would look at SM or Robinsons, they were those installing large capacities of solar in their facilities,&quot; Demoral said, noting that malls benefit because they operate during daytime hours when solar panels generate the most electricity. She added that higher electricity prices, exacerbated by global energy market disruptions linked to tensions in the Middle East, have also fueled growing interest among homeowners seeking long-term savings. Despite rapid expansion, distributed rooftop solar still contributes less than 4 percent of the country&#x27;s electricity supply, highlighting significant room for growth.<div>GSIS launches solar loans, SSS preparing similar program</div>The financing landscape is beginning to change.Earlier this year, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) launched its Ginhawa Solar Energy Loan (GSEL), allowing eligible government employees to borrow up to <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2026/4/22/gsis-lets-members-borrow-to-install-home-solar-panels-1910" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">P500,000 at 5 percent annual interest</a> for as long as five years to install residential rooftop solar systems. The program also allows borrowers to take advantage of the country&#x27;s net-metering policy, enabling them to sell excess electricity back to the grid.Meanwhile, the Social Security System (SSS) is targeting a September 2026 rollout of a similar financing program for qualified private-sector members, potentially extending affordable rooftop solar loans to millions more Filipino workers.Demoral said these initiatives are moving in the right direction but stressed that financing must expand beyond a limited segment of borrowers.&quot;There should be a shift of providing loans for the more typical population and not just for government employees,&quot; she said.&quot;The government can help by creating more financing programs or providing guarantee schemes to encourage more lenders to offer such products.&quot; <div>Rooftop solar could displace conventional power generation</div>Beyond lowering Meralco bills, Ember believes wider rooftop solar adoption can strengthen the country&#x27;s energy security and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.Demoral said every kilowatt-hour produced by rooftop solar directly offsets electricity that would otherwise come from coal or natural gas-fired power plants.&quot;Every one kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from rooftop solar is also one kilowatt-hour of generation being offset from those coal or natural gas plants,&quot; she said. &quot;It might not be that huge at the moment, but we are offsetting at least two units of conventional power plants in terms of emissions.&quot; Ember estimates the Philippines can realistically expand distributed rooftop solar capacity to 3.5 GW, provided it is supported by 4.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage and continued investment in grid modernization.The think tank recommends deploying battery systems across approximately 45 sites, each equipped with 100 megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage, to ensure grid reliability as more renewable energy comes online. Demoral added that while some studies estimate Philippine rooftops could theoretically accommodate as much as 160 GW of solar capacity, only a portion is immediately practical because of financing, grid limitations and site suitability.<div>Better financing could make clean energy more inclusive</div>For Demoral, the economics of rooftop solar are no longer in doubt. Solar panels are becoming cheaper. Electricity remains expensive. Consumer demand is already strong.The next challenge, she said, is ensuring that ordinary Filipino families can access financing before they are left paying the country&#x27;s highest electricity bills.&quot;Most of the early adopters have been families that have extra capital,&quot; she said.&quot;But if we continue in that kind of path, then those who will be left with more expensive electricity would be the ones that cannot afford the installation of rooftop solar in their own home.&quot;Demoral believes the country&#x27;s rooftop solar boom is only beginning.&quot;The demand is already there. The technology cost is already declining. So, in general, the solar installation is already economical,&quot; she said.&quot;If we are actually able to do this, then we can harness more of the potential of rooftop solar in terms of the country&#x27;s energy security, but also on the electricity affordability of homes.&quot;<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uR-OlRSSCWs?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

Rooftop solar has never made more financial sense for Filipino households and businesses, but the industry's biggest hurdle is no longer technology or even consumer demand. It's financing.

Rooftop solar has never made more financial sense for Filipino households and businesses, but the industry's biggest hurdle is no longer technology or even consumer demand. It's financing.

Financing, not technology, is biggest hurdle to PH rooftop solar boom despite record demand: Ember

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Financing, not technology, is biggest hurdle to PH rooftop solar boom despite record demand: Ember

Raine Musñgi,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 06, 2026 11:45 AM PHT

Read More:

rooftop solar

renewable energy

home financing

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