In the final days
of his term, Mayor Al David Uy stood with us beside a shaded column of the
Island Garden City of Samal City Hall’s new parking bay, a structure that,
under any setting, might appear ordinary. But here, its rooftop holds more than
1,000 solar panels.
“We’re known as an
eco-tourism destination,” he said. “Yet it’s embarrassing to admit that we
still rely on a diesel power plant.”
Samal’s situation
is one familiar to many Philippine islands; blessed with natural beauty and
abundant sunshine yet troubled by an outdated energy infrastructure. Until a
decade ago, Samal drew its electricity from a submarine cable connected to the
Davao mainland. That was before a ship’s anchor severed the line, plunging the
island into years of rotating blackouts, unkept promises, and delayed progress.
Now, with a diesel
plant supplying less than ideal power supply into an island aspiring for
sustainability, the city government has decided to take its energy future into
its own hands.
Power from the Roof
Earlier this year,
the city inaugurated the 50-million-peso Samal Renewable Energy Project,
transforming the roof of its new 190-car municipal parking building into a
solar farm. The project, financed by a Landbank loan and implemented by
Greenergy Development Corporation, came not as a grand ribbon-cutting event,
but as a necessity that is long overdue.
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| Power from the roof |
The system was
built with over a thousand solar modules rated at 450 watts each, now powers
the entire city hall, covering its daily 250-kilowatt demand and generating up
to 450 kilowatts on a clear day. In just the first three weeks after its
transition in May, the city had already saved more than 200,000 pesos in
electricity costs. “That number grows every month,” Mayor Uy said.
City Engineer
Matthew Arig believes the return on investment will take just seven to ten
years. The grid-tied system, supported by a 500 KVA inverter, allows Samal to
feed excess energy into the public market and other government buildings or
even sell it back to the traditional grid power company.
A Slow Heading to
Renewable Energy But A Growing Movement
Samal’s experiment
with solar is not the first on the island. The Department of Education’s data
center made the shift back in 2021, after its servers suffered repeated
shutdowns during brownouts. “The rotating brownouts and the birds nesting on
lines used to trip the system,” said Kevin Milo, the Schools Division’s IT
officer. “Now, we run on a hybrid system. We are even looking to expand.”
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| Solar Expo organized by Mindanao Goes Solar held in Davao City |
Their 5.5-kilowatt
hybrid system, part off-grid, part tied to the utility, now ensures
uninterrupted power to critical education infrastructure. It’s a small win, but
a sign of bigger things to come in Mindanao.
A Region Dealing
with Power Supply
Even as Luzon and
the Visayas slowly move forward with energy development, Mindanao still lags
behind in generation capacity. Power supply is unsteady. Diesel, expensive and
dirty, remains the fallback for many islands and isolated towns.
But advocacy groups
like Mindanao Goes Solar are shifting that narrative. Backed initially
by the European Climate Foundation, the group, the advocacy arm of Cagayan de
Oro-based Professional Organizers Unlimited Inc., has become a leading advocate
in the renewable energy industry. Their annual Solar Expo, partnerships with
local government units, and efforts to connect solar firms with underserved
communities have laid the groundwork for a solar ecosystem in the region.
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| Solar panel of Samal Island's DepEd Office |
“Solar is abundant
in the Philippines. And now it’s the cheapest source of energy, not just here,
but in most parts of the world,” said Philline Donggay, the group’s project
head. “It’s the most logical solution to kickstart Mindanao’s energy
transition.”
Their early mapping
studies identified bottlenecks: disjointed policies, lack of provider trust,
and scarce access to financing. Despite the difficulty in opening the minds of
many to the advantages of renewable energy, the payoff is clear, energy
independence, cleaner air, and long-term savings.
“The theory of
change,” Donggay explained, “that Mindanao Goes Solar becomes the primary
communicator and knowledge-sharing innovator for solar-related information in
Mindanao.”
A Model for Other
Islands
For places like
Siquijor and Palawan, both heavily dependent on costly and polluting energy
imports, Samal’s rooftop transformation offers a working model. Even Samal’s
beachfront resorts including Pearl Farm and Discovery Samal are taking notice, amd
are now considering solar integration not only for sustainability, but also for
operational reliability.
And there are
broader implications. Net metering policies, where excess power can be sold
back to the grid, make grid-tied solar systems particularly viable for
government buildings and commercial establishments alike. They also require
less upfront equipment compared to off-grid solutions, making them more
accessible in a region where funding for solar energy is often tight.
A Solar Future,
Still Forming
As the sun sets,
Samal’s solar panels take in the last light of the day. It's an image mirroring
the hope of many in Mindanao: that the island’s brightest days may still lie
ahead.
From government
offices to classrooms, from advocacy desks to the rooftops of parking
buildings, a transformation is underway. One that’s not just about power, but
about empowerment. Mindanao isn’t there yet. But it’s getting closer. Panel by
panel. Roof by roof. Island by island.
Mindanao Goes Solar welcomes collaborators from all sectors. For partnership opportunities or to share your ideas, contact them at secretariat@mindanaogoessolar.org.
This article and a version of this, first appeared on BusinessMirror and Rappler
