Republic Act No. 9513

Republic Act No. 9513 December 16, 2008 AN ACT PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT, UTILIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:: CHAPTER I TITLE AND DECLARATION OF POLICIES Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Renewable Energy Act of 2008". It shall hereinafter be referred to as the "Act". Section 2. Declaration of Policies. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to: (a) Accelerate the exploration and development of renewable energy resources such as, but not limited to, biomass, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and ocean energy sources, including hybrid systems, to achieve energy self-reliance, through the adoption of sustainable energy development strategies to reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels and thereby minimize the country's exposure to price fluctuations in the international markets, the effects of which spiral down to almost all sectors of the economy; (b) Increase the utilization of renewable energy by institutionalizing the development of national and local capabilities in the use of renewable energy systems, and promoting its efficient and cost-effective commercial application by providing fiscal and nonfiscal incentives; (c) Encourage the development and utilization of renewable energy resources as tools to effectively prevent or reduce harmful emissions and thereby balance the goals of economic growth and development with the protection of health and the environment; and (d) Establish the necessary infrastructure and mechanism to carry out the mandates specified in this Act and other existing laws. Section 3. Scope. - This Act shall establish the framework for the accelerated development and advancement of renewable energy resources, and the development of a strategic program to increase its utilization. Section 4. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the following terms are herein defined: (a) "Biomass energy systems" refer to energy systems which use biomass resources to produce heat, steam, mechanical power or electricity through either thermochemical, biochemical or physico-chemical processes, or through such other technologies which shall comply with prescribed environmental standards pursuant to this Act; (b) "Biomass resources" refer to non-fossilized, biodegradable organic material originating from naturally occurring or cultured plants, animals and micro-organisms, including agricultural products, by-products and residues such as, but not limited to, biofuels except corn, soya beans and rice but including sugarcane and coconut, rice hulls, rice straws, coconut husks and shells, corn cobs, corn stovers, bagasse, biodegradable organic fractions of industrial and municipal wastes that can be used in bioconversion process and other processes, as well as gases and liquids recovered from the decomposition and/or extraction of non-fossilized and biodegradable organic materials; (c) "Board of Investments" (BOI) refers to an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry created under Republic Act No. 5186, as amended; (d) "Co-generation systems" refer to facilities which produce electrical and/or mechanical energy and forms of useful thermal energy such as heat or steam which are used for industrial, commercial heating or cooling purposes through the sequential use of energy; (e) "Department of Energy" (DOE) refers to the government agency created pursuant to Republic Act No. 7638 whose functions are expanded in Republic Act No. 9136 and further expanded in this Act; (f) "Department of Environment and Natural Resources" (DENR) refers to the government agency created pursuant to Executive Order No. 192; (g) "Department of Finance" (DOF) refers to the government agency created pursuant to Executive Order No. 127, as amended; (h) "Department of Science and Technology" (DOST) refers to the government agency created pursuant to Executive Order No. 128; (i) "Department of Trade and Industry" (DTI) refers to the government agency created pursuant to Executive Order No. 133; (j) "Distributed generation" refers to a system of small generation entities supplying directly to the distribution grid, any one of which shall not exceed one hundred kilowatts (100 kW) in capacity; (k) "Distribution of Electricity" refers to the conveyance of electricity by a Distribution Utility through its distribution system pursuant to the provision of Republic Act No. 9136; (l) "Distribution Utility" (DU) refers to any electric cooperative, private corporation, government-owned utility or existing local government unit which has an exclusive franchise to operate a distribution system in accordance with its franchise and Republic Act No. 9136; (m) "Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001" or Republic Act No. 9136 refers to the law mandating the restructuring of the electric power sector and the privatization of the National Power Corporation; (n) "Energy Regulatory Commission" (ERC) refers to the independent quasi-judicial regulatory agency created pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136; (o) "Generation Company" refers to any person or entity authorized by the ERC to operate facilities used in the generation of electricity; (p) "Generation Facility" refers to a facility for the production of electricity and/or thermal energy such as, but not limited to, steam, hot or cold water; (q) "Geothermal energy" as used herein and in the context of this Act, shall be considered renewable and the provisions of this Act is therefore applicable thereto if geothermal energy, as a mineral resource, is produced through: (1) natural recharge, where the water is replenished by rainfall and the heat is continuously produced inside the earth; and/or (2) enhanced recharge, where hot water used in the geothermal process is re-injected into the ground to produce more steam as well as to provide additional recharge to the convection system; (r) "Geothermal Energy Systems" refer to machines or other equipment that converts geothermal energy into useful power; (s) "Geothermal Resources" refer to mineral resources, classified as renewable energy resource, in the form of: (i) all products of geothermal processes, embracing indigenous steam, hot water, and hot brines; (ii) steam and other gases, hot water, and hot brines resulting from water, gas, or other fluids artificially introduced into geothermal formations; (iii) heat or associated energy found in geothermal formations; and (iv) any by-product derived from them; (t) "Government Share" refers to the amount due the National Government and Local Government Units from the exploitation, development, and utilization of naturally-occurring renewable energy resources such as geothermal, wind, solar, ocean and hydro excluding biomass; (u) "Green Energy Option" refers to the mechanism to empower end-users to choose renewable energy in meeting their energy requirements; (v) "Grid" refers to the high voltage backbone system of interconnected transmission lines, substations, and related facilities, located in each of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, or as may otherwise be determined by the ERC in accordance with Republic Act No. 9136; (w) "Hybrid Systems" refer to any power or energy generation facility which makes use of two or more types of technologies utilizing both conventional and/or renewable fuel sources, such as, but not limited to, integrated solar/wind systems, biomass/fossil fuel systems, hydro/fossil fuel systems, integrated solar/biomass systems, integrated wind/fossil fuel systems, with a minimum of ten (10) megawatts or ten percent (10%) of the annual energy output provided by the RE component; (x) "Hydroelectric Power Systems" or "Hydropower Systems" refer to water-based energy systems which produce electricity by utilizing the kinetic energy of falling or running water to turn a turbine generator; (y) "Hydroelectric Power Development" or "Hydropower Development" refers to the construction and installation of a hydroelectric power-generating plant and its auxiliary facilities, such as diversion structure, headrace, penstock, substation, transmission, and machine shop, among others; (z) "Hydroelectric Power Resources" or "Hydropower Resources" refer to water resources found technically feasible for development of hydropower projects which include rivers, lakes, waterfalls, irrigation canals, springs, ponds, and other water bodies; (aa) "Local government share" refers to the amount due the LGUs from the exploitation, development and utilization of naturally-occurring renewable energy resources; (bb) "Micro-scale Project" refers to an RE project with capacity not exceeding one hundred (100) kilowatts; (cc) "Missionary Electrification" refers to the provision of basic electricity service in unviable areas with the aim of bringing the operations in these areas to viability levels; (dd) "National government share" refers to the amount due the national government from the exploitation, development and utilization of naturally-occurring renewable energy resources; (ee) "National Power Corporation" (NPC) refers to the government corporation created under Republic Act No. 6395, as amended by Republic Act No. 9136; (ff) "National Transmission Corporation" (TRANSCO) refers to the corporation created pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136 responsible for the planning, construction, and centralized operation and maintenance of high voltage transmission facilities, including grid interconnection and ancillary services; (gg) "Net Metering" refers to a system, appropriate for distributed generation, in which a distribution grid user has a two-way connection to the grid and is only charged for his net electricity consumption and is credited for any overall contribution to the electricity grid; (hh) "Non-power applications" refer to renewable energy systems or facilities that produce mechanical energy, combustible products such as methane gas, or forms of useful thermal energy such as heat or steam, that are not used for electricity generation, but for applications such as, but not limited to, industrial/commercial cooling, and fuel for cooking and transport; (ii) "Ocean Energy Systems" refer to energy systems which convert ocean or tidal current, ocean thermal gradient or wave energy into electrical or mechanical energy; (jj) "Off-Grid Systems" refer to electrical systems not connected to the wires and related facilities of the On-Grid Systems of the Philippines; (kk) "On-Grid System" refers to electrical systems composed of interconnected transmission lines, distribution lines, substations, and related facilities for the purpose of conveyance of bulk power on the grid of the Philippines; (ll) "Philippine Electricity Market Corporation" (PEMC) refers to the Corporation incorporated upon the initiative of the DOE composed of all Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) Members and whose Board of Directors will be the PEM Board; (mm) "Philippine National Oil Company" (PNOC) refers to the government agency created pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 334, as amended; (nn) "Power applications" refer to renewable energy systems or facilities that produce electricity; (oo) "Registered RE Developer" refers to a RE Developer duly registered with the DOE; (pp) "Renewable Energy (Systems) Developers" or "RE Developers" refer to individual/s or a group of individuals formed in accordance with existing Philippine Laws engaged in the exploration, development and utilization of RE resources and actual operation of RE systems/facilities; (qq) "Renewable Energy Market" (REM) refers to the market where the trading of the RE certificates equivalent to an amount of power generated from RE resources is made; (rr) "Renewable Energy Policy Framework" (REPF) refers to the long-term policy developed by the DOE which identifies among others, the goals and targets for the development and utilization of renewable energy in the country; (ss) "Renewable Portfolio Standards" refer to a market-based policy that requires electricity suppliers to source an agreed portion of their energy supply from eligible RE resources; (tt) "Renewable Energy Service (Operating) Contract (RE Contract) " refers to the service agreement between the Government, through the DOE, and RE Developer over a period in which the RE Developer has the exclusive right to a particular RE area for exploration and development. The RE Contract shall be divided into two (2) stages: the pre-development stage and the development/commercial stage. The preliminary assessment and feasibility study up to financial closing shall refer to the pre-development stage. The construction and installation of facilities up to operation phase shall refer to the development stage; (uu) "Renewable Energy Resources" (RE Resources) refer to energy resources that do not have an upper limit on the total quantity to be used. Such resources are renewable on a regular basis, and whose renewal rate is relatively rapid to consider availability over an indefinite period of time. These include, among others, biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, ocean energy, and hydropower conforming with internationally accepted norms and standards on dams, and other emerging renewable energy technologies; (vv) "Renewable Energy Systems" (RE Systems) refer to energy systems which convert RE resources into useful energy forms, like electrical, mechanical, etc.; (ww) "Rural Electrification" refers to the delivery of basic electricity services, consisting of power generation, sub-transmission, and/or extension of associated power delivery system that would bring about important social and economic benefits to the countryside; (xx) "Solar Energy" refers to the energy derived from solar radiation that can be converted into useful thermal or electrical energy; (yy) "Solar Energy Systems" refer to energy systems which convert solar energy into thermal or electrical energy; (zz) "Small Power Utilities Group" (SPUG) refers to the functional unit of the NPC mandated under Republic Act No. 9136 to pursue missionary electrification function; (aaa) "Supplier" refers to any person or entity authorized by the ERC to sell, broker, market or aggregate electricity to the end-users; (bbb) "Transmission of Electricity" refers to the conveyance of electric power through transmission lines as defined under Republic Act No. 9136 by TRANSCO or its buyer/concessionaire in accordance with its franchise and Republic Act No. 9136; (ccc) "Wind Energy" refers to the energy that can be derived from wind that is converted into useful electrical or mechanical energy; (ddd) "Wind Energy Systems" refer to the machines or other related equipment that convert wind energy into useful electrical or mechanical energy; (eee) "Wholesale Electricity Spot Market" (WESM) refers to the wholesale electricity spot market created pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136;

Air Conditioner run by solar panels

Installing solar power/panels in the PHL videos

Videos from You Tube on solar power in the PHL







Solar installation (not in the PHL)

Solar panel installations are growing in number; prices are dropping

                 

Our newly found supplier who acts fast and will install turnkey has given us prices which are 19% lower than our present supplier.  These are German made.  For Chinese made solar panels, he can give us 12.5% lower than our present Canadian supplier.  We are going to be very competitive

For the Canadian  supplier, the cost per kw is  $3.00 (installed price)

For the Chinese supplier, the cost per kw is $2.60. installed price)

(I hope he and us do not greedy in the future)

Affordable power for the people

At this price for power gen plants, coal, bunker fuel power plants will get a run for their money.  Take note that solar power does not require fuel nor other operating costs.

Our new supplier has numerous installations in the north because of the connections of his father in law.  Slowly but surely, solar power is gaining grounds in the PHL, albeit  minus the support of of DOE

                

                   


                

       

Power gen companies in the PHL still enamored with fossil fuels; may soon lose money

 

I came across paper on a power gen company which does missionary service in an island province.  The province though is known for the presence of environmental activists who:   who want to preserve the beauty and nature in the province, are against carbon emissions from fossil powered power gen.  The island province is the source of natural gas for a power plant located in  Batangas (1 gW capacity)

However the power gen company here, being run by an Ivy School graduate has for its strategy operating efficiency and marketing of its present capacity which is still underutilized (who wouldnt?).  It is really hard to change mindsets and make industries innovative

However the external factors are not being addressed:  the clean and green movement (why not shift to natural gas?) Or solar.  Solar panels if taken from  a China supplier can be as much as only 2.00/kwh vs 3 to 4 for hydro and reciprocating and turbine.  And operating costs would be 0.

Look at how European utilities lost half trillion Euros for the last 5 years. Solar and wind power are free, nuclear and fossil fuels cost  a lot of money.

Germany's Irsching SE EON Natural Gas plant closure closed its natural gas plant in Irsching Bavaria built a cost of $500 million 5 years ago.  It is running at only 25% capacity.  About 30% of the plants in Europe running on fossil fuels need to be shuttered because of decreasing demand, and increased competition from solar and wind power.

So why not go to renewables PHL power gens?





Low power demand and competition from wind and solar power means more closure for fossil fuel power plants

How much can be saved from Renewable Energy system?

From the various literature and research this much can be saved:

1.  LED lamps  - 70 to 80%

2.  Solar panels  - 25 to 30%

3.  Solar aircon  - 40%

4.  Aircon with inverters - 30%

5. Solar panels with inverters, battery 48 VDC -  70% this is surefire way to save most on the aircon but is the most expensive.  A 1 hp unit could cost as much as P100,000 ( this could be explained by the added cost of batteries and solar panels for l hp - 700 watts)

      Solar panels  -  P60,000
      Batteries             20,000 each Germany made

Many prospects for solar panel and solar aircon; LED lamps for street lamps

We have some prospects now for solar panels.  Our business partner has requested for a quotation for 3 kw in his house.  He all ready has inverter aircon and has enrolled with Meralco for variable power rates depending on demand.  He is convinced of the low power cost   (LCOE) and the reliability of solar power.  We have enlisted the help of a supplier, who is reliable and who gives us good prices.

Then we are selling LED lamps to a memorial park (a sister company) to help them save on electricity.  We have enlisted the help of a supplier who is giving generous marketing assistance.  His LED lamps are PHL made, with plants in China and Sucat

We are marketing solar panel and aircon to a church in Quezon City.  However we are not getting positive response yet from our supplier with regards to marketing support.

Coolerado Solar Powered Air Conditioner (but uses also water) and PV panels

From You Tube

The Coolerado solar powered system uses solar power, water, and has two moving parts:  a solenoid, and fan.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMP0BiAt-yU

Solar aircon principle applies to solar refs

From Scientific American Article

                                        

How Stuff Works

Propane powered refs


For those who doubt the workings of solar aircon, we see propane powered refs or freezer as published in Scientific American.

In the fishing village of Maruata off Pacific Coast of Mexico, they have been producing ice without electricity:   only sunlight powering solar ice makers producing l/2 ton of ice everyday.  How is this possible?  Options:  using solar panels, or that which uses absorptive chillers using ammonia or lithium bromide.

The principle used, without using electric compressor is turning on the heat which raises temperature and pressure,  turning off heat lowers pressure which causes liquid turn into gas again creating cooling effect.

Propane powered absorptive refrigerators



                           

                                   
                                     

                           
                                                

                                                 

Solar airconditioners using DC power from Solar panels

From GE Innovations

                                     

According to Mr. Bartolome, this is the best set up.  It uses 48 volts, and batteries.  Savings is l00% but the system costs much. It does not have inverters and is off grid. Read more.

Doubting Thomases on whether solar aircon works or not

This is to be posed to our supplier. There are those who observe that solar aircon does not work.

One such person is Mr. N Bartolome who installed the solar aircon himself.  He bought one unit from China and installed it himself. The savings he observed were not that much.  Maybe it had something to do with the installation.  JUS co mentioned similar problems when the owner did not utilize their installer.  Maybe they earn extra on the installation.  Mr. Bartolome thinks that many Chinese manufacturers make product, and they copy from one another even if technology has not been proven.  He says that what really works is solar assisted with VDC inverter 48 volts.  But then again it is expensive.

DC Inverter Solar Aircon works even better!

From Magsolar in Alibaba

DC inverter aircon even works better.  Take note that inverter aircon saves 30% power, solar aircon about 40% .  What happens if you put them together in a  unit?

Power savings could be as much as 60 - 70%;   power consumption of a 1 hp unit could only be 50 to 80 watts.  The inverter could have a wider range of voltage fluctuation (160 -280)  While normal solar would have a voltage fluctuation of only 198 to 242 volts

FOB price would be about $700.00 or 28,000 php!

Bandasolar


 
Upon checking though, I found out that their prices are rather stiff and steep.  Be forewarned.

What is the difference between conventional (regular) and inverter aircon

Form Penguin Aircon





A regular aircon uses a single fixed speed compressor and fan motor.  It is either off or on.  On the other hand, an inverter unit uses a variable speed motor that adjusts speed depending on the demand or need.

Thus an inverter unit:

1.  Reaches cool temperature faster;

2.  Is quieter; and is advantageous for sound sleep or in crowded residential areas.

3. Runs with 30% less power.

However, the unit must run at constant temperature, say 21 and not at maximum power

We can see that it is not the most efficient as the solar hybrid unit runs with 40% less power.

Car air con heat exhanger works on the same principle as solar aircon

Rizal   PHL    October 8, 2013

We had a conversation with a very talented mechanical engineer who is a manager for a multinational car airconditioning manufacturer -  he is in charge of logistics.  I discussed with him the idea of solar aircon.  And from he is coming from, he discussed the idea of heat exchanger.  The heat of the airconditioning is needed to vaporize the refrigerant, and the cold temperature of the system is needed to condense the refrigerant - so why not conserve this using the heat exhanger.

The idea is a heat exchanger which is very simple device -  a double tube with outer tube that is only 40 mm long.  It is not proprietary and there could be suppliers

For car airconditioners  heat exchanger

                            

Many visitors/pageviews to this site

This site quite surprised me;  it has many pageviews and is all ready ranked at 12 million + in a matter of days by Alexa.  Maybe many people would like to save money/electricity and conserve the scarce resources of mother earth.  This is part of green initiative - the more we save electricity, the more we lessen carbon emission and global warming;  the more we lessen global warming, the less severe the climate change will be.

I have discussed this with a mechanical engineer who bikes with us every weekend.  Their group even supplies car airconditioning for McLaren and other exotic car makers.  He said this solar/hybrid aircon parts can be made locally;   it can even be applied to car air con.

He mentions about car exchange device in cars.  This is a small device and enables the cars to have smaller cooling units (especially race cars, since they are aerodynamically designed, they have less frontal areas, and very small space for the cooling units)  These devices can be sold as options so that cars can run cooler aircon with smaller cooling units.

Double pipe internal heat exchanger for car aircon  This can increase your car aircon performance by 10 to 15%

The starting point for this solar aircon is marketing,  financing and referral.

He said we can supply, assemble and manufacture so that we can jobs to others.

How Hybrid Solar Airconditioning works

 From California  (Cebu) Electronics

 

Hybrid Solar Air Conditioning or (Solar Assisted Air Conditioning)

 From Machine History

 

We can understand from a technical point of view how the hybrid solar air conditioning (solar assisted air conditioning works.  Please read on

 

A conventional air conditioning system uses the compressor (powered by electricity) to pressurize and heat the refrigerant gas up to about 170 degrees. Hybrid Solar Air Conditioning: A standard air conditioning system uses a compressor to increase the pressure on the gas, forcing it into a liquid in the condenser coil. The change of state of the refrigerant starts to take place approximately 2/3rds of the way down the condenser. A Solar Hybrid Air Conditioning System uses a different method. It uses the heat from the sun to superheat the refrigerant which enables it to begin changing state in the top 2/3rds of the condenser coil. By using this method it reduces the superheat of compression required to achieve the cooling process in the conventional cooling system as well as utilizing more of the cooling face of the condenser coil. It then travels into the outside condensing coils where it changes from a gas into a saturated gas (partial liquid). Typically this occurs in the final third of the condensing coil. From there the saturated gas passes through an expansion devise that allows the refrigerant to become a gas again. Once this happens it can absorb heat from the air passing through the inside coil of the air conditioner. From there the refrigerant goes back to the compressor where it starts the whole cycle again.
Hybrid Solar Air Conditioning Diagram
A hybrid solar air conditioning system uses the same basic equipment as a conventional system with a specialized solar collector that is placed between the compressor and the condensing coils. The primary task of the compressor is to pressurize and heat the refrigerant. The hotter it gets the better. A hybrid solar air conditioning system uses a highly efficient vacuum tube collector filled with an organic liquid product. The collector heats the organic substance to over 350 degrees using the power of the sun to superheat the refrigerant above what the compressor would be able to heat it with electricity. The resulting efficiency derived from the solar collector allows for the refrigerant to work more efficiently with no additional moving parts or motors. This increases the ability of the gas to change back into a liquid much quicker and dramatically reduces the energy requirement of the compressor. The gas now condenses back into saturated gas in the first third of the condensing coil not the final third. Therefore by the time the refrigerant reaches the expansion devise in the inside coil, it is already almost a liquid. This allows the near liquid refrigerant to be more efficient at absorbing heat, making it 5-6 degrees cooler in the inside coil, delivering colder, drier air to the building. Refrigerant Type - 407c or 410

 Theoretically this should work, but it does not according to many users.  CAVEAT EMPTOR PO

Our main value proposition for Majorem group - affordable power for the people

We just discussed today our business plan for the  affordable power for the people group of Majorem.  Majorem is engaged in three major activities: the other two are:  funding/financing for the people, and the second is financial security for the people.

Affordable power for the people

For the affordable power for the people, the main activity is cheap, renewable and green energy.  It will be engaged in marketing, referring, and financing acquisition of solar panels, solar aircon and other energy saving devices.  For instance, for solar aircon, Majorem affordable power for the people will help consumers with high air con usage/electricity bill acquire solar aircon.  The value proposition is pay only what you save.

Pay only what you save!  (About 25% of your monthly electric bills!)

For instance, our electric bill per month is PHP 10,000 per month.  My daughter's room uses aircon 24 hours a day.  If I acquire a 1 hp aircon for her, costing P26,000 and I save say P2,500 per month,  I pay Majorem only P2,500 for the next 11 months.  I get the solar aircon and I save 2,500 for many years to come.  The solar aircon comes with a five year warranty.  I get to save P120,000 for the next 48 months.  That is great savings.

Airconditioners that come equipped with inverters are over hyped.  They do not save that much power vs solar aircon and its computer boxes are sensitive and may fail anytime

More affordable power, more savings, and more money for the people

Inverters are not tops in power savings consumption; solar aircon are; are also trouble prone

Many of us have been led to believe that aircons equipped with inverters are the best when it  comes to saving electrical power consumption.

Well, as the graph here would show, they are not.

They are also trouble prone since they come equipped with computer box (just like our "modelo" cars)  They are prone to electrical surges or even lightning strikes that are not direct (electromagnetic pulse -  emp)  Many inverter equipped aircons have gone kaput for no apparent reasons and you have to buy as in the efi cars, expensive computer boxes.

Solar aircons come with conventional, non electronic units that are sturdy and not prone to electronic malfunction.