Motolite cranks up shift to solar panel

The Philippine Star

December 1, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Motolite, the leading and most trusted battery brand in the Philippines, continues its shift to sustainable solar panels in powering its manufacturing and retail facilities, making it among the country’s most eco-friendly energy users.

The company has already installed around 7,600 kilowatt-peak (kWp) of photovoltaic (PV) systems in its facilities, translating to about 9.66 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in electricity savings and elimination of 2,346 tons of CO2 emissions annually.

Motolite’s battery production plants in Bulacan alone have an installed PV system capacity of 7,472 kWp, cutting its carbon footprint by 2,346 tons of CO2.

“Motolite deserves recognition as one of the most environment-friendly brands in the world due to its investments in making its operations sustainable. Its use of solar panels in powering its stores and manufacturing facilities complements its recycling initiatives for used lead acid batteries (ULAB), which is a great example of urban mining. Definitely, Motolite is a good private sector model that the public should support,” said Jesus Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries.

Over the next six months, Motolite expects to complete the installation of solar panels in several facilities that would further cut its greenhouse emission by 1,177 tons of CO2 and translate to 5,047,016 in electricity savings.

Included in the pipeline is Evergreen Environmental Resources Inc.’s state-of-the-art recycling facility with a target PV system capacity of 1,250 kWp. This will yield 1,460,000 kWh in energy savings and elimination of 340.38 tons of CO2 emissions. Evergreen is the accredited ULAB recycler of Motolite.

Due for completion in September is the 636-kWp roof-mounted solar installations yielding 812,490 kWh electricity savings and 189.42 tons less CO2 emissions.

Expected to be completed by March 2024 is the first ground-mount solar installation with a design capacity of two MWp. This will cut Motolite’s carbon footprint by 562.2 tons of CO2 and use of 2,411,409 kWh electricity from the grid.

The installation of PV panels on the parking lot of Philippine Batteries Inc.’s plant in Bulacan, meanwhile, will be completed by December. It will have a capacity of 292.6 kWp, translating to 363,117 kWh of electricity savings and 88.66 tons fewer CO2 emissions.