Powering Ateneo With Solar Panels

Ateneo is making noticeable efforts to reduce overall energy consumption and shift to clean, renewable energy. Aside from monitoring energy consumption and implementing energy conservation measures, the university has also partnered with renewable energy providers in working towards the goal to shift to solar power. One of their ongoing projects is the ADMU Solar Power Project, which is an essential part of their commitment to energy efficiency.

The ADMU Solar Power Project Brief was prepared in February 2019 by Engr. Silver Navarro, Jr., the renewable energy consultant. The project brief discussed the power supply master plan for the university and how solar power would be integrated into the energy efficiency plan. The aim of the power supply master plan (PSMP) was to respond to the projected power demand in the next ten years: this demand could be calculated by summing up the energy from solar panels (PV), retail electricity supplier (RES), and the distribution utility (DU). Given this, there were two options for finding the best ratio for the PSMP: A) based on solar rooftop area, or B) based on optimized solar capacity.

If the plan were to be based on the solar rooftop area, the conclusion was that there would be excess power generated and gone to waste, since there was no battery system which would enable the excess power to be fed back into the grid. It would only make sense to maximize the available rooftops if there was an existing battery system. Meanwhile, if it were to be based on the optimized solar capacity, the power generated from PV cells (solar panels) would not match the power demand curve. To cover a certain percentage of the power demand, there would be excess generated power. Therefore, to maximize the benefits of the solar installation, the system would have to be properly sized. The PSMP would have to be optimized based on the cost of PV generation, which was between 30-50% of total power demand. The remaining power demand not covered by PV would then have to be supplied by RES and DU.