By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

According to Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) Corporate Planning Officer Lemuel Tambanillo, solar power is “sustainable, but unreliable.”
“As long as there is sunlight that produces power,” he said, “Solar power plants may supply the energy grid.”
“It is, however, unreliable due to the ‘intermittency’ of sunlight and its inability to provide a stable supply of power,” he added.
Tambanillo pointed out, in northern Negros, numerous solar plants have been installed but have produced fluctuations in the power supply.
A solar plant that has the capacity to generate 100 megawatts (MW) can produce as little as 80MW depending on the cloud coverage and other weather factors, he explained.
The Ceneco official noted, electronic appliances have certain power requirements and may be destroyed by sudden power surges.
“If the equipment is subjected to fluctuation its lifespan will be reduced,” he said.
Tambanillo said there have been several solutions considered to address the power intermittency, including increasing the capacity of the transmission lines because of the numerous existing power plants in Cebu and Panay.
He said if transmission lines cannot be expanded, the capacity of the power plants cannot be maximized./WDJ