As tensions in the Middle East continue to rattle global oil markets, one energy industry leader is pointing Filipinos toward a solution they can install on their own rooftops.
Tetchi Capellan, chairperson of the Philippine Solar and Storage Energy Alliance, made the case in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on May 9, arguing that rooftop solar is the most direct and immediate answer available to Filipino consumers facing rising electricity costs.
Capellan framed the current moment as one that demands a shift in how ordinary households think about energy.
“This platform gives us na maabot yung maraming-marami para mas maintindihan nila yung solar as a solution to this Middle East crisis na kinakaharap natin ngayon,” she said.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has kept global oil prices elevated, putting pressure on electricity rates that are already among the highest in Southeast Asia.
The solution, she argued, does not have to come from the top down.
“Sa panahon ng krisis, kailangan ilagay natin ang solar sa kamay ng mga consumers,” Capellan said.
By putting solar panels directly on their rooftops, households can bypass the long chain of intermediaries—power generators, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, and distribution utilities like Meralco—that add to the final cost of electricity.
“Sila mismo ang maglagay sa bubong nila para naiiwasan nila yung iba’t ibang points—hindi na sila dadaan sa NGCP, hindi na sila dadaan sa Meralco,” she said.
The economics, she added, now strongly favor action. A 7-kilowatt rooftop system costs between P320,000 and P420,000 today, down from P4 million two decades ago, and can slash a household’s monthly electricity bill from ten thousand to around three thousand pesos.
“Yung P7,000 ang savings mo sa isang buwan,” Capellan said. “Ganun kalaki ang savings kapagka naglagay ka ng solar sa iyong bubong.” At that rate, the investment pays for itself in roughly four years—a timeline that becomes even more compelling as oil prices remain unpredictable.
