MANILA - If Solar Philippines
president and founder Leandro Leviste looked like a college student next to
President Benigno Aquino and SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy at the event
activating SM City North EDSA's solar-powered rooftop on Monday, it's because
he is still an undergraduate at Yale University.
Leviste, the son of Senator
Loren Legarda with ex-husband, Tony, is on leave from his senior year at Yale
where he is taking up political science.
"Last summer, I saw this
opportunity. Companies in the US and Europe are doing the same thing, but no
one was doing this in the Philippines where the electricity rates are so much
higher. So I said, someone has to take this opportunity right now," he
told ABS-CBNnews.com at the sidelines of the "Green Switch" event.
The 21-year-old is confident
about the prospects of solar power in the Philippines, after Solar Philippines
switched on its biggest project so far at SM North on Monday.
Solar Philippines partnered
with SM for the solar-powered rooftop project, which turned SM North into the biggest solar-powered mall in the world. The project has 5,760
solar panels which can generate up to 1.5 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough
to power the mall's 16,000 light fixtures, 59 escalators and 20 elevators.
"We started planning this
particular mall in October 2013, so it is months in the making. I think SM has
been the most aggressive among our customers," Leviste said.
Solar Philippines is already
putting up solar panels at SM Dasmarinas in Cavite and SM Mall of Asia. Leviste
said SM is also planning to do more solar panel projects for its other malls,
although he declined to give details.
"There's a number of other
malls they will be doing soon after [SM] Dasma and [SM] MOA," he said.
MORE
PROJECTS
Leviste said Solar Philippines
is eyeing more solar panel projects for malls in the country, with two of its
projects to start operating in December.
"CityMall (in Roxas,
Capiz) is opening on December 12, and our panels will be powering the mall by
then. Robinsons in Puerto Princesa, Palawan will be completed by Christmas,"
he said.
The solar panel project in
Robinsons Puerto Princesa will generate up to 1.2 MW of electricity, while the
solar panels at CityMall Roxas will generate up to 0.6 MW.
For 2015, Leviste said the
company is targeting to complete projects which can generate a total of 100 MW
of electricity.
"There's a potential for
100-MW projects, so that's more than two dozen establishments with 400,000
solar panels... It's the perfect storm of high electricity rates, low solar
panel prices and a power crisis that's making people more aware of the need for
renewable sources of energy," he said.
Solar Philippines is said to be
the Philippines' top solar power provider and Southeast Asia’s largest
developer of rooftop power plants. It offers solar financing, design and
construction for commercial customers at zero cost and supplies electricity at
below utility rates.
"Our model of fully
financing the project at zero cost to the mall, actually puts all of the risks
on our side. But someone has to take those risks to pioneer this new business
model and I think one day, this is going to be as commonplace as installing a
Meralco meter in businesses in the Philippines," Leviste said.
Leviste said he's been
overwhelmed by the receptiveness of business enterprises to the idea of solar
power.
"I think it's an idea
whose time has come and it was really by a mistake of many big corps not to
organize to take this idea sooner," he said.
Asked if he will follow in his
parents' footsteps into politics, Leviste said, "I used to want to go to
law school, but now I feel entrepreneurship is the best way to make an
impact."
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