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Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) signed the deal with Shell Solar and entered the second phase of its solar project by purchasing the remaining Php25 million photovoltaic inventories of Shell Solar Philippines in a bid- to provide electricity to rural areas not covered by electric cooperatives and distribution utilities.

It has completed the first phase of its Solar Homes Systems (SHS) project by installing 15,100 solar home systems in off-grid villages.
This said project is a joint undertaking of PNOC, Department of Energy and Shell Solar. It entails the sale and distribution of 15,000 solar home systems in various areas over the country.

Areas including in the project are; parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Mindanao, particularly the provinces of Basilan, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga del Sur.

“PNOC is committed to harnessing renewable energy for the country. We see a huge market for solar home systems and we intend to meet the electricity needs of our fellow Filipinos, prioritizing those who are not connected to the grid,” PNOC President Antonio M. Cailao said.

The Solar Homes System provides electricity to community who are not able to reach by wired or metered electricity. The solar power is a renewable energy. It has solar panels which absorbs the sunlight and processing it to produce electricity. Solar power is not only for the rural areas, the environment friendly people can also use this and those with low electric consumption because it can reduce your electric bill up to 50%.

In the second phase, PNOC is committed to install around 40,000 solar units in the next five years, which then contribute to Php1.3 billion to PNOC’s gross revenues. But the Dutch government provides financial support for the project through a grant of 5.59 million euros (about P378.6 million), representing 60% of the total equipment cost.