During his visit to the SM Mall of Asia Solar Carpark, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was accompanied by (left to right) Hans Sy, President of SM Prime; Senator Loren Legarda, UN Global Champion for Climate and Disaster Resilience; Leandro Leviste, President of Solar Philippines; and Hans Sy Jr., Vice President of SM Prime.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore recently visited the newly-completed SM Mall of聽Asia Solar Carpark. He was welcomed by Leandro Leviste, President of Solar聽Philippines; Hans Sy, President of SM Prime; Loren Legarda, Senator and UN Global聽Champion; and Hans Sy Jr., Vice President of SM Engineering Design and聽Development.
The visit came as Gore was in Manila for his three-day Climate Reality workshop to聽educate civic leaders on climate change and its solutions. During the workshop, Gore聽called on Filipinos to end their dependence on coal, and predicted that the Philippines,聽due to its abundant sunlight, can become one of the world鈥檚 first 100% solar-powered聽economies.
The Solar Carpark inspection was an opportunity to learn about how the Philippines is聽leading the way in clean energy adoption. He noted the scale of the project, which has聽made SM MOA the world鈥檚 largest solar-powered mall, and used it during his Climate聽Reality presentation. Joining the site inspection was a camera crew taking footage of聽the solar installation for an upcoming documentary on climate change.
The 2.7 MW MOA Solar Carpark is nearly twice the size of the 1.5 MW SM North Edsa聽Solar Carpark, making it one of the world鈥檚 largest on-site solar projects. Comprised of聽10,426 solar panels and 40 inverters, it supplies nearly 20% of the mall鈥檚 power needs.聽Over 30 years, it is expected to offset over 80,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to planting聽over 400,000 trees. Unlike many solar projects, which displace vast farmlands or聽forests, the rooftop installation occupies previously unused space and provides a 鈥済reen聽roof鈥� to shade parked cars.
Also unlike most solar farms, which are dependent on subsidies, this project is notable聽for relying on zero government incentives, powering the mall at below utility rates. This聽demonstrates how, owing to high electricity prices and sunlight levels, the Philippines is聽one of the first markets to reach 鈥済rid parity鈥�, where clean energy is also the cheapest聽form of energy.
Solar Philippines constructed and financed the Solar Carpark, which supplies the power聽to SM Mall of Asia under a long-term agreement at below utility rates. Together with SM聽North Edsa, this makes SM the largest consumer of solar energy in the Philippines. ADVT