Solar Day Pilipinas -- A Yearly Event From Now On

      During this extreme heatwave coming this summer in the Philippines, there lies potential for solar power to grow as our reliance on fossil fuels can be reduced or dimmed. The Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA) and the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF) has, in fact, celebrated their very first Solar Day Pilipinas 2013 on April 26. PSPA President Dante Briones had described solar power as being a cutting-edge technology and a tool for improving national competitiveness, especially in the Philippines. "The country is actually one of the leading countries in Asia when it comes to solar energy," Briones said.
      Solar power is also estimated to produce 20-30% less emissions of harmful gases than coal power. "Why do we have to thoroughly dig the soil just to look for coal when all we need is to raise our heads to see the sun?" said Claire Marie Yvonne Lee, PSPA Vice President. According to Lee, she observed that many businesses and institutions have already begun to start using solar panels. Some of these, she points out, are Starbucks, the Asian Development Bank, the Makati Medical Center and the Department of Trade and Industry.
       Solar power, however, proves to be quite costly. As a matter of fact, the cost of acquiring one solar panel may exceed the initial savings generated from not connecting to the country's power grid. Though this may be so, PSPA and WWF believe that as costs decrease, solar panels will be economically efficient over time. In addition, solar technology usually is covered by a 25-year warranty. "A solar system is a good investment," said Lee. "Unlike a car or a cellphone, it's not a dead investment," she added.
       At Solar Day Pilipinas 2013, there were products of various solar power developers showcased for the public to view. The products consisted of a range of solar phone chargers to large-scale solar systems for residential areas and commercial establishments. Ten solar power developers present were included as follows: Renewables Made in Germany, MERALCO, Tritec, Transnational Uyeno Solar Corporation, GNB Exite, Maschinen and Technik Inc., Cagayan Electric Power, Sasonbisolar Inc., One Renewable Energy Enterprise Inc., Solutions Using Renewable Energy Inc., CEnAG, SunPower Inc., and Propmech. "Solar Day Pilipinas will be a yearly event from now on," said PSPA Founder and Chair Teresa Cruz-Capellan.

Investments towards renewable energy

      European investors in the next five years are withdrawing their finances from the construction of facilities generating fossil fuels and inserting them into better use: development of renewable energy sources, known as the RES. These claims were made from representatives from gas companies surved by the British-based Gas Strategies Group at the European Autumn Gas Conference, known as EAGC 2012.
        According to this survey, it was claimed that 42% of gas industry representatives believed that the whole share of investments would go to the wind power sector, 28% believed it would be towards the solar power industry, 13% thought it to be the coal-fired industry,  11% to the gas industry and 7% to the nuclear power industry.
       From last year, it seemed that opinions have indeed changed dramatically: support of solar energy has grew from 4% to 28%, coal-fired industry has grew from 2% to 13%, nuclear energy from 5% to 7%, wind power sector from 52% to 42%, and lastly but not least the gas industry from 37% to 11%.
       There have been reports in the Bloomberg New Energy Finance, that global investment in renewable energy development in 2012 was $268.7 billion, whereas there was $142 billion in investments towards solar power energy as well as the remaining $78.3 billion in the wind power sector.

      Ukraine has also been increasing their involvement in renewable energy. At the beginning of this new year, the total number of companies operating power plants, derived from renewable energy sources has increased to 80, and the number of the power plants has increased to 133, in which 39 are used for solar power energy.
     Ukraine actually has what is known to be the largest power plant in Europe.

Once construction is completed in 2015, this solar power farm is said to be equivalent to 207 football fields. It is expected to produce 100,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year, meaning it can be enough to power 20,000 average-sized households.
Even today, Ukraine ranks 12th in energy rankings with installed renewable energy capacity of 54 GW.

A Hospital Running on Solar Power?

       Have you ever heard of a hospital running on solar power technology? Well, if you haven't, there apparently is one in Haiti. It's called "Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais," known as HUM, and because of the generous donations from Boston-based nonprofit Partners in Health, it was made possible.

As you can see here, the roof of the hospital is entirely covered with solar panels in this newly constructed hospital, featuring a total of 300 beds for hospitality.

   It actually serves as a great benefit for Haiti, due to their instability when the power grid is concerned. In Mirebalais, a rural town in Haiti, it is claimed that power goes out on an average of 3 hours per day. Because of this dilemma, many patients, undergoing surgeries, can constantly be jeopardized as well as other tasks performed in hospitals. Thus, they decided to go solar as many corporations in other nations have.

      The hospital is officially opening in March but before their official opening, the solar panels on the rooftops have received 139 megawatt hours of electricity, which is enough to charge 22 million smartphones and offset 72 tons of coal. With this excess amount of electricity, it will be fed back to Haiti's national power grid, giving a much-needed boost to their power sources. Amazing on how solar panels can just make a huge impact for a nation, huh?