Review of Related Literature and Studies

As the global population continue to upsurge, together with the continual

development of industrialization, the thirst of man for energy, have reached a milestone.

As a nature of Human, it tends to find solutions to problems, thus the scarcity in energy

had been solved by the solution of having alternative energy resource coming from the

sun to generate energy (Gray, 2017).

According to Zietara (2018) solar panel is a device tends to transform radiant heat

coming from the sun into electricity. With the challenges in the scarcity of energy,

different movements initiated by different countries around the globe are on the run.

However, new challenges arise questioning the effectiveness of the solar panel in

generating electricity.

Generating a large of amount of electricity using solar panels requires hundreds to

thousands acres of land. The United States of America come up with solutions to solve

the problem regarding with land area where the solar farm should be planted. The country

made use of its deserts. In the vast Desert of Mojave, Nevada in where the sun shines

brightest stood two solar farms with a total 1,980,840 solar panels that could power

46,000 homes in this state (McCarthy, 2017).

Furthermore, in a part of Sahara Desert in Morocco stood hundreds of curved

mirrors in a size of bus in 1,400,000 square meters (sq. m) which attracts sunlight to

power a turbine generator to produce electricity. Having this power plant expects to meet

the needs of the 14 percent of energy consumption of the country by the end of 2020

(Ceurstemont, 2016).
 In Anhui Province, China where coal mining was once active resulted to a large

pit in the site. Having a law to stop coal mining caused to site to be abandoned,

eventually was filled with water due to heavy rains and resulted into a manmade lake.

With the gradually shifting of country into renewable, the government faced problem

regarding on the land areas where solar panel should be constructed. In solution with this

problem the government made a move on constructing a floating solar farm. In the lake

of Anhui floats a 40 megawatt powered solar farm that could support the 15, 000 homes

in the province (Daley, 2017).

Despite of the effectiveness of solar panel, the problem still remains. The cost for

the panels is way too high in spite of its decrease of price over the years still the

components needed to ensure that the solar panel is working still remain expensive.

Furthermore, the labor cost in the installation of solar panel is still expensive for over the

years (Timmer, 2018).

With the fast growing of technology different inventions and innovations were made.

Prior research had revealed that if microscopic structures that are only nanometers

(billionths of a meter) high are placed on the surface of solar cells, they can scatter light

in ways that increase the cell’s efficiency. Blu-ray discs contain a higher density of data

than DVD or CD, and it is this quasi-random pattern, perfected by engineers over decades

for data storage, that, when transferred to the surface of solar cells, provides the right

texture to improve the cells’ light absorption and performance (Fellman, 2014).
Polycarbonate disc

12 volts Battery

According to the International Energy Statistics (IES), the total primary energy

usage of the country reaches roughly 1.260 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). This

amount shows that the country’s energy consumption level is drastically low as it barely

makes up 1 percent of the total 199 Btu total energy consumed by Asia and Oceania.

However, in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is positioned at the median of countries in

terms of energy utilization (Moraleda, 2015).

The Department of Energy (DOE) is studying a feed-in tariff (FIT) allocation for

each region to avoid another power generation glut similar to the situation in Negros

Occidental. FIT is the per-kilowatt-hour rate that will be guaranteed to renewable energy

developers to ensure their projects’ viability. This would be shouldered by consumers

through a new line item in their electricity bills ( SunStar Philippines, 2016).

Nationally, Philippine power rates remain one of the highest in Southeast Asia as

of end-2016 due to continued lack of government subsidies, latest Department of Energy

(DOE) data showed. Based on the Power Development Plan 2017 to 2040, the country’s

power rates are among the highest in the region with the level in Singapore (Rivera,

2017).

According to an interview with Zenaida Monsada, Secretary of department of

Energy (2016) said that, the areas subject to FIT would picked through resource mapping
and will be offered through a competitive selection process (CSP), where firms will

submit proposals for their FIT rate and vie for the allocation.

Regional allocation would prevent consumers from subsidizing the entire power

generation of an area like in the case of Negros Occidental, where, renewable energy

developers are building projects more than the island’s capacity despite the lack of

connection to the Visayas grid.

According to an interview also with Fortunato Sibayan (2016), chief of DOE

Solar and Wind Energy Management Division said that, of the total 2,000-megawatt

(MW) capacity of all the service contracts issued by the DOE nationwide, 1,000 MW are

in Negros alone. There were still 10 pending applications for solar power projects in the

province, totalling 552 MW.