The number of businesses and households embracing the net metering program has improved tremendously to 13,189 qualified end-users as at end-May this year from only 200 in 2015, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said on Monday.
This means that in terms of capacity, the power delivered by net metering entities grew 10,383.1 percent from only 1,109.33 kilowatt-peak in 2015 to 116,292.14 kWp as at end-May this year.
In net metering, solar power facility owners of up to 100 kWp capacity may export their excess electricity to the grid in exchange for bill credits in the form of rebates.
The ERC said the adoption of the program resulted from enhanced information and educational campaigns, strategic partnerships with local government units (LGUs) and unrelenting advisories to distribution utilities.
According to the regulator, Luzon contributed the most to the grid with 82,321.40 kWp or 70.79 percent, followed by the Visayas with 27,935.33 kWp or 24.02 percent and Mindanao with rated capacity of 6,035.41 kWp or 5.19 percent.
The ERC said that from 2015 to 2023, the number of net-metering end-users consistently grew except in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The number of end-users grew 58 percent a year on average until 2022. From 2022 to 2023, end-users surged 121 percent from 1,867 to 4,125.
