The Philippines’ ‘solar surge’ leaves many Filipinos behind

Fids Salvador Badilles, a doctor in Las Piñas, a city just south of the Philippines’ capital Manila, transitioned to solar power and electric vehicles to offset rising costs from the energy crisis. In June, her family installed a 12.6-kilowatt, 20-panel system, as well as a 12-kilowatt solar hybrid inverter and 32-kilowatt-hour batteries.

“We are saving so much already on gas and monthly electric consumption,” Badilles tells Dialogue Earth. Her family now saves PHP 20,000 (USD 315) each month for a system that cost them PHP 700,000 (around USD 11,000), she notes: “Even air conditioning [for the whole day] is not a problem anymore.”

Jovi Solomon, a café owner in Bataan province, installed a 40-kilowatt (KW) solar panel system to offset her business’s electricity costs, setting her back PHP 880,000. She says this allows her to save PHP 10,000 a month on her power bill.

Interest in solar power has surged as Filipinos grapple with skyrocketing electricity rates that have worsened since the Gulf conflict began in late February. However, the trend has also highlighted the stark gap between those who can afford solar options and those who are priced out.

A Reuters report from June 2026 indicated that the Philippines imported USD 407 million worth of solar panels from China between March and May, a year-on-year increase of 145%. It estimates that the median Filipino household now spends around 12% of its monthly income on electricity.

Residential installations – solar panels that are below 100 KW or are registered under the Philippines Net-Metering Program – make up around 245 megawatts (MW) of the country’s 1,846-MW solar capacity, according to 2025 data from the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities. While the majority of that capacity is from utility-scale installations (projects above 1 MW), residential installations have outpaced commercial installations (projects above 100 KW).

A survey of 20 solar companies in April by clean energy non-profit New Energy Nexus said that customer inquiries were up by an average of 582%. Weekly rooftop installations rose 170% on average from before the energy crisis began, it noted.

Alnie Demoral, Asia energy analyst at the think-tank Ember, says that with the Philippines’ largest electricity provider Meralco’s rates at around PHP 14.5 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in June, “a household rooftop system now pays for itself in about three years”. The utility’s rates have since risen to nearly PHP 15.1 per kWh, a 16% increase from January.

“Our earlier estimate of roughly 1,300 MW of rooftop solar by April is likely conservative today,” she says.

While updated official figures have yet to be released, “every indicator we’ve seen since May points to Filipinos adopting rooftop solar faster than ever”, Demoral adds.

Interest, not installations

Despite the spike in interest in solar power adoption, it remains inaccessible to many in the Philippines.

A single solar panel unit capable of powering direct current devices like lights and mobile devices could cost PHP 4,000-6,000 (USD 63-94) each, according to John Mark Napao, an electrical engineer and founder of Solar Hope, a non-profit that provides off-grid electrification to rural and Indigenous communities through solar power.

That amount is a considerable fraction of the national average minimum wage of PHP 510 a day or PHP 11,100 a month as of April, as aggregated by the Ibon Foundation, a think-tank. A solar power system with an inverter – needed to run appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators – would cost much more. For example, a basic, 630-watt-peak grid-tie solar system from Solaric, which is connected to the utility grid, starts at PHP 114,000.

Sheryl Estella, program manager at New Energy Nexus Philippines, says that while the non-profit has been observing strong consumer interest in solar, this does not necessarily translate into actual installations.

“The upfront cost of a solar PV [photovoltaic] system can represent several years of electricity expenses for a household, making the initial investment difficult for many families to absorb,” Estella notes.

“For many lower-income households, the issue is not whether solar can save [them] money over its lifetime, but whether they can afford the initial investment or qualify for financing in the first place,” she adds.

A woman watches television at home in Manila’s Tondo district. Many families in poor urban areas like it are unable to afford solar panels, even though this would cut their electricity costs over the long term (Image: Erberto Zani / Alamy)

This reality is especially felt by the country’s urban poor, according to Orly Gallano, president of SM-ZOTO, a federation of organisations serving such communities within Metro Manila and its surrounding areas.

“Most of the jobs in these communities earn a monthly minimum wage of about 15,000 pesos (USD 235)… these are construction workers, industry workers, vendors,” Gallano says. He notes that his own electric bill takes up around 10-20% of his monthly SM-ZOTO salary.

Gallano says he saw the cost-saving benefits of solar power when SM-ZOTO installed a 5-KW solar system in their office, where they set up mobile charging stations for the community. Since then, the office’s monthly bill of PHP 16,000 has gone down nearly half, to PHP 9,000, he notes. The team was able to install the panels by partnering with the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, an advocacy organisation, with funding from the New Zealand embassy.

“If you’re an ordinary citizen and you don’t earn that much, [solar power is] a big expense initially,” he notes. “But later on… your electric bill will go down… in other words, this is an investment.”

Gallano plans to eventually transition to solar at home, after putting his dependents through school, he adds.

Angel Cruz, a freelance massage therapist and hairdresser living in the northern part of Metro Manila, says her meagre income leaves her with just PHP 5,000 after expenses.

The electricity bill for the apartment she shares with her parents and three children reaches PHP 7,000-8,000 each month. It covers just two fans, a television, a rice cooker, charging of their portable devices, lights, and an air conditioner that runs nightly to help manage her father’s hypertension.

While her parents chip in from time to time to help pay for power, a solar panel system with inverters and batteries is “not something we can afford anytime soon”, she notes.

Limited accessibility

Private banks in the Philippines offer solar installation loans, but requirements such as continuous employment, income thresholds and tax returns are likely to disenfranchise low-income, contractual and informally employed workers.

The government offers loan facilities via its savings and mutual fund agency, Pag-IBIG, that members can use to finance solar systems. However, these schemes also require individuals to have contributed to their savings for two years, as well as proof of income. Meanwhile, state programmes such as the Ginhawa Solar Energy Loan are only available to government workers and pensioners.

Jasmine May Sabado, a senior energy transition campaigner for People of Asia for Climate Solutions, notes that these loan grants are based on an individual’s credit history, which presents hurdles for those with poor credit. She suggested that allowing longer-term loan repayment can help cushion the impact of upfront costs.

“Accessibility does not easily extend to the poorest and most vulnerable communities who can benefit the most from solar rooftop systems,” according to Gerry Arances, lead convenor of the Power for People Coalition. “This is where government action remains sorely wanting, especially in the context of the energy crisis.”

He says the government should allocate resources towards solar rooftop panels for the country’s poorest communities and areas, to provide both an immediate reprieve and long-term solution to energy shocks. Arances adds that the government must encourage local supply chain development and offer tax rebates for solar panels and parts to improve product affordability.

“We especially emphasize the necessity of integrating solar power into socialized program frameworks to benefit poor and underserved communities and sectors for whom loan facilities would not be an option,” he says.

Demoral says that mechanisms for affordable financing already exist, with government loans already available or set to launch. But “the gap is in the implementation, on how quickly these programs are rolled out, how easy it is for households and small businesses to apply, and how quickly applications are approved”, she stresses.

Sabado says that local governments should pass solar-ready ordinances that are responsive to their local contexts. Such laws require new buildings or major renovations to include infrastructure that can accommodate solar systems. These will make the process of applying to use such power easier for households and entities, she notes.

Sabado adds that applications to set up net-metering can take months, despite government efforts to fast-track the process. Individual households also have difficulty acquiring permits for solar installations due to several documents being required, such as a lot title, tax declaration and proof of ownership.

Starting small

Demoral says the Department of Energy’s recent decision allowing “micro-solar systems” of up to 1 KW to be installed without a building permit or environmental certificate showed promise in making the process less cumbersome for smaller households.

“It opens the door to plug-and-play systems of just one or two panels, at a fraction of the cost of a full rooftop installation,” she notes. “Households that could never afford a full system can now start small.”

The energy department did not respond to Dialogue Earth’s requests for comment.

“Government has an important role in creating the conditions that make affordable and renewable energy more accessible to Filipinos,” Estella says. This doesn’t just mean setting renewable energy targets, but also reducing barriers that consumers and installers face, she notes.

According to Estella, the government needs to simplify permitting and net-metering procedures, establish clear technical standards, and ensure consistent implementation.

She adds that it is important to strengthen the local solar industry through skills development, quality standards and support for qualified manufacturers.

“This can expand access, improve service quality, and help build a more competitive market,” she says. “Ultimately, widening access requires making renewable energy easier to adopt, easier to finance, and safer and more reliable to integrate into the electricity system.”