The Philippines has become the world’s largest spender on solar panels since the war in Iran started. Meralco, the top power distributor, raised prices by 10%, making it so that a median household spends around 12% of its monthly income on electricity.
This trend is driven by soaring electricity prices and lack of power subsidies. Adrian Sabatera, a software engineer, decided to install solar after finding costs decreasing while electricity prices kept rising. The rooftop solar rush has resulted in $407 million in panel imports in the three months through May, a 145% increase from a year earlier.
Solar accounts for under 4% of national power consumption. A weakening currency has compounded the increase in power prices as the Philippines relies on imported coal and gas to generate power. This has pushed inflation to multi-year highs and slowed growth.