First Solar Powered school in the Philippines

solar-panel

Manila, Philippines – Sitero Francisco Memorial National high School in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City had just installed a 1Kw photovoltaic solar panel capable of powering nine-classroom in a building. This will be the first solar powered school in the country.

This projects was headed by Cesar Villareal (School Principal) and Jamesone Tan (Science Department Head).  By  searching for  a good sponsor, Tan found Wanxiang Americ Corp, Universal Solar (Wanxiang Energy Division) and funded the project through the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).  A six solar panels, where shipped from Illinois, USA by Wanxiang America. Valenzuela’s City government handled the cargo and installations. The solar panels that where shipped cost around 500K.

These solar panel is capable of generating 1Kw to 5Kw of electricity depends on the intensity of the sunlight. The usual setup for a solar power was applied here, means that the solar panel’s cells collect sunlight and convert them to electricity and distribute them to the class room, some excess energy that where gathered where stored to series of batteries to be used at night .

“Once operational, the solar project will help students become more aware of their energy needs, the science behind it and other vital issues on energy utilization,” Villareal said.