Twelve top Micro Finance Institutions and 10 leading private solar system producers met at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City on Aug. 30-Sept. 1 to discuss how they can assist in providing solar-powered electricity to the country’s remote barangays who have been clamoring for electricity.

Called Solar PV Lending Seminar-Workshop, the event was graced by the Presidents/CEOs of these MFIs, Managers/owners of solar companies and the Department of Energy officials who discussed their role in the government’s Rural Power Project that focuses on solar photovoltaic (PV) installation. It is projected that PV systems will provide electricity to 100 percent off-grid barangays by 2008.

The top MFIs who have presence nationwide are Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Inc., Enterprise Bank, Green Bank of Caraga, People’s Bank of Caraga, Taytay sa Kauswagan, Inc., Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Hometown Micro Finance for the Highlands and Islands, Cooperative Bank of Palawan, Progressive Bank, Inc., Kasanyangan Foundation, Inc., Kabalikat para sa Maunlad na Buhay Inc., and People’s Credit & Finance Corp.

The PV producers whose track record are well-known nationwide are Solar Electric Co., Shell Solar Phils., Edward Marcs Phils., Gendiesel Phils., World Water Philippines, Inc., Dumalag Corp., Solutions Using Renewable Energy, Inc., Mashinen & Technic, Inc., and Center for the Advancement & Utilization of Sustainable Energy. Motolite/Oriental Battery has been a supplier of batteries for solar installations for the past decades.

Representatives of both sides agreed that their role is not mere service provider but most importantly, agents of transformation in the countryside. With a memorandum of agreement to be facilitated by the RPP-Project Management Office, participating solar PV producers will be matched to an MFI who will then extend the necessary loan to individual or community beneficiaries. A set of incentive packages will be extended to MFIs and solar producers to make the solar lending window a profitable business opportunity.

The DOE’s RPP-PMO under Director Mylene Capongcol ensures that the project avoids the “business as usual” approach to service delivery that are top-down and monopolistic and rely heavily on government funding. To maximize chances for sustainability, best practices and lessons from similar projects serve as guiding principles. These include local participation and good sector policies, among others.

The RPP is the first phase of the Adaptable Program Loan by the World Bank to the Philippine Government.