Solar power booms in Philippines as war on Iran spikes energy costs

With Southeast Asia’s largest electricity bills rising even higher, Filipinos invest in rooftop panels.

Philippines solar power boom: Iran war spurs demand for renewable energy sources

Manila, Philippines – Keith Cantera and his family have been thinking about having their own solar power grid at home for years. But spending up to $5,000 for solar panels was nothing to scoff at, so they put the idea on the back burner.

It all changed this year when the United States-Israel war on Iran rattled global energy markets and sent electricity prices soaring. From paying a monthly bill of about $150 before the war began in late February, Cantera said his family went to forking out as much as $220.

Eight months later, they are having solar panels installed on their rooftop.

“The cost is about the same as paying our electric bills for three or four years based on the current rate,” Cantera said. “But in the fifth year, we’ll have recovered our investment, and electricity will essentially be free.”

Cantera is one of a growing number of Filipino homeowners turning to solar power in a country that had Southeast Asia’s highest electricity costs even before the war. They were comparable only to Singapore, where the average income is more than 10 times higher.

A report by the energy think tank Ember estimated that rooftop panels had nearly doubled in the Philippines since early 2025.

And in the first months of the war from March to May, the rush for solar power led to $407m in panel imports, according to government trade data from China, where most panels are manufactured. The Philippines became the biggest single overseas market for that period. Only the Netherlands bought more, but it redistributes them to the rest of Europe.

Lexus Grepo, CEO of the solar power supplier Solarmaxx, can attest to the boom.

“There is a 30-day wait because solar panel shipments can’t keep up,” Grepo said. “In March, we had 40 projects, which was almost triple our monthly clientele. Since then, we have been setting up 25 to 30 systems a month.”

Grepo does not expect demand to slow down even if tensions in the Middle East ease and shipping routes for energy supplies reopen.

“I think people now realise that the world is an unpredictable place, so they have to be ready for any eventuality. Filipinos now see that they don’t necessarily have to be at the mercy of the global energy market.”

The Philippines, one of the few countries in the region where electricity is not subsidised, relies on imported coal and gas for more than 70 percent of its power mix. The value of its currency, the peso, which has slid to a record low of more than 63 to the US dollar, is making these imports even costlier.

In late March, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a national energy emergency in response to the war ⁠and what he described as the “imminent danger” posed to the national energy supply. Still, electricity rates have continued to increase.

The shift to solar is also partly driven by anger at electric companies that have come under scrutiny for charging customers for so-called system losses, which include illegal connections.

Cantera said learning about having to pay for someone else’s electricity consumption was the last straw.

“Who would agree to paying for something that you did not use? It’s not like the money we spend for electricity just fell from heaven,” he added.

But while the soaring demand is real, the upfront cost of a solar power system is still too high for most Filipinos. The government in March launched a new initiative offering loans for residential rooftop installations, but these are available only to public sector workers.

What officials hope can bring power rates down for the majority of people are the dozens of renewable energy projects in the pipeline, including a 3,500-hectare (8,650-acre) solar farm north of the capital, Manila, that is projected to be the largest in the world. When fully operational, the project is expected to generate 850 megawatts of electricity for 2.4 million households.

But some consumers said such projects could take years to complete, leaving them with ballooning electricity bills unless they take action themselves.

“It’s just so unpredictable nowadays. You have the impending El Nino weather pattern. There’s still war, the continuing fuel price hikes and so much more,” Cantera said. “So why not utilise a natural resource?”

随着东南亚最大的电费账单不断上涨，菲律宾人开始投资安装屋顶太阳能电池板。

菲律宾太阳能发电热潮：伊朗战争刺激了对可再生能源的需求

菲律宾马尼拉——基思·坎特拉和他的家人多年来一直想在家中安装自己的太阳能发电系统。但购买太阳能电池板需要花费高达5000美元，这可不是一笔小数目，所以他们暂时搁置了这个想法。

今年，随着美以对伊朗爆发战争，全球能源市场动荡，电价飙升，一切都发生了改变。坎特拉说，在2月底战争爆发前，他家每月电费大约150美元，而战争爆发后，他们家每月电费高达220美元。

八个月后，他们正在屋顶上安装太阳能电池板。

坎特拉说：“这笔费用大约相当于我们按当前电价支付三四年的电费。但到了第五年，我们就能收回投资，而且电力基本上就免费了。”

坎特拉是越来越多转向太阳能发电的菲律宾房主之一。在战前，菲律宾的电费就位居东南亚最高之列，仅次于新加坡，而新加坡的平均收入是菲律宾的十倍以上。

能源智库 Ember 的一份报告估计，自 2025 年初以来，菲律宾的屋顶太阳能电池板数量几乎翻了一番。

在战争爆发后的最初几个月（3月至5月），对太阳能的需求激增，导致太阳能电池板进口额高达4.07亿美元。这是中国政府贸易数据显示的结果，因为大部分太阳能电池板都产自中国。菲律宾成为这段时期最大的单一海外市场。只有荷兰的进口量超过了菲律宾，但荷兰又将这些太阳能电池板转售给了欧洲其他国家。

太阳能供应商 Solarmaxx 的首席执行官 Lexus Grepo 可以证明这一繁荣景象。

格雷波表示：“由于太阳能电池板的出货量跟不上需求，现在需要等待30天。3月份我们接了40个项目，几乎是平时月度客户数量的三倍。从那以后，我们每月安装的系统数量在25到30套之间。”

Grepo预计，即使中东紧张局势缓解，能源供应的航运路线重新开放，需求也不会放缓。

“我认为人们现在意识到世界瞬息万变，所以他们必须做好应对任何突发情况的准备。菲律宾人现在明白，他们不必完全受制于全球能源市场。”

菲律宾是该地区少数几个不实行电力补贴的国家之一，其电力结构中超过70%依赖进口煤炭和天然气。其货币比索汇率已跌至历史新低，超过63比索兑1美元，这使得这些进口成本更加高昂。

3月下旬，费迪南德·马科斯总统宣布全国进入能源紧急状态，以应对战争以及他所说的国家能源供应面临的“迫在眉睫的危险”。然而，电价却持续上涨。

转向太阳能发电的部分原因也是人们对电力公司的愤怒，这些公司因向客户收取所谓的系统损耗费用（包括非法连接）而受到审查。

坎特拉说，得知自己不得不为别人的用电量买单，这成了压垮骆驼的最后一根稻草。

“谁会同意为自己没用过的东西付费呢？我们花在电上的钱又不是天上掉下来的，”他补充道。

尽管需求确实激增，但太阳能发电系统的前期成本对大多数菲律宾人来说仍然过高。政府在3月份推出了一项新计划，为住宅屋顶安装太阳能系统提供贷款，但这些贷款仅面向公共部门工作人员。

官员们希望数十个正在筹建的可再生能源项目能够降低大多数民众的电价，其中包括位于首都马尼拉北部、占地3500公顷（8650英亩）的太阳能发电厂，该发电厂预计将成为世界上最大的太阳能发电厂。项目全面投入运营后，预计将为240万户家庭提供850兆瓦的电力。

但一些消费者表示，此类项目可能需要数年才能完成，除非他们自己采取行动，否则他们的电费账单将不断上涨。

“如今世事变幻莫测。厄尔尼诺现象即将到来，战争仍在继续，燃油价格持续上涨，还有很多其他问题，”坎特拉说。“那么，为什么不利用自然资源呢？”