Manila-based GO GRIDLESS Philippines Corporation has been making its mark in the Philippines’ solar energy industry for the past 5 years. What started with upscale residential installations has expanded to distributed energy solutions in the provinces, and GO GRIDLESS is committed to keep expanding.
Back in 2016, GO GRIDLESS founder Filipino-Australian Rafael Toda was invited by his cousin, Juan Miguel Delgado, to start a solar company in the Philippines. And although Toda was born and raised in Australia, his IT systems background and years in Australia’s solar energy industry allowed him to see a market opportunity in the Philippines.
Unlike Australia, solar businesses in the Philippines are unable to acquire government subsidies to help increase profit margins and reduce costs. However, Toda saw that with a competitive pricing structure, the profitability of local projects had the potential to match that of Australia’s business model.
With that, GO GRIDLESS was born. It first focused on residential installations on high-end homes, where superior quality and service would offset pricing premiums. But in an age dominated by social media marketing and SEO tactics, GO GRIDLESS broke conventions by relying on simple word-of-mouth advertising through referrals.
It wasn’t an easy task. At the start, Toda led a team of 3 working with suppliers and installers. He admitted that it took him 2 years to gain key clients. But his prior experiences in installing solar solutions in Australia’s enabled him to explain the technologies’ ins and outs to those who were interested but lacked the knowledge. His competitors simply lacked the technical expertise.
It’s this expertise that’s allowed Toda to build trust with architects and contractors that send in their referrals. GO GRIDLESS has since worked with and gained endorsements from internationally-lauded and award-winning architects such as Ed Calma of Lor Calma & Partners, Anna Maria Sy of CS Architecture, and Alfred Wieneke of A.V. Wieneke III & Associates.
It’s safe to say that their clients haven’t been disappointed. GO GRIDLESS is committed to using Tier 1 solar panels and its installations use Class-A systems from respected brands. Moreover, the Net Metering program allows clients to sell back excess Solar Power to electric utility companies for credit against the monthly bill.
As a client from Alabang puts it, “It’s a win whichever way you look at it. We save on the electricity we use during the day; the extra solar power we make is sent back to Meralco for credit to our next bill which brings our costs even lower and we get to do our part in protecting our environment. It’s an investment, yes. But so worth it.”
GO GRIDLESS’ biggest strength is its flexibility through Distributed Energy Solutions. It’s capable of offering on-grid connected solutions, hybrid solutions with batteries, and off-grid solutions using a battery charging system to store energy. This flexibility allows GO GRIDLESS to respond to issues in the Philippines’ energy industry, such as expensive energy from grids and fuel generators, the unreliability of utility grids, and carbon emissions and local environmental impacts.
But despite all these successes in the private sector, GO GRIDLESS has, in recent years, shifted more and more of its focus towards social impact projects that help the disenfranchised in the country.
Nation-building Through Energy
As far back as its founding in 2017, GO GRIDLESS has been partnering up with Non-For-Profit Organizations to bring solar home systems and Distributed Energy Solutions to different households in the Philippines.
“I saw early on that many of these types of projects that were being completed were commonly using inferior products that didn’t have much promise in terms of long-term durability and effectivity, and also suffered from a lack of local support,” explained Toda.
To circumvent this, GO GRIDLESS supplied these projects with DC-powered Solar Home Systems from the German brand Fosera. These projects eventually led to the arrival of Fosera’s pre-paid solar kits in the Philippines.
The technology originated from developments in Africa and Bangladesh, and by 2019, GO GRIDLESS handled the supply, deployment support, and after-sales services, while a strategic partner handled sales and distribution.
The practicalities and applications of pre-paid solar kits are extensive in a disaster-prone country like the Philippines. At just the size of a ream of A4 paper, these 10W solar kits are designed to enable off-grid homes in remote rural areas. These pre-paid kits are designed to be an affordable option for emergency power, such as lights and USB outlets to charge devices, though there are higher and pricier models with more powerful capabilities. In storm-prone areas, these pre-paid kits are relatively cheap options to combat power outages.
These kits were first circulated in Luzon and Mindanao but have since spread to other locations in the country. 4,000 Filipino homes are currently benefiting from these pre-paid solar kits. And GO GRIDLESS aims to make it even more available.
“We have ongoing initiatives and projects to expand the implementation of these solutions with various groups,” beamed Toda.
Energy Solutions as Public Service
And then in 2022, GO GRIDLESS was able to expand its efforts due to its partnership with its Norwegian partner, Differ Community Power. As a leading provider of Distributed Energy Services, Differ Community Power has over 100 healthcare and community facilities energized globally.
“As their regional partner,” said Toda. “We collaborate to drive innovation and quality solutions that have proven successful in various markets.”
This partnership paved the way for GO GRIDLESS to grow its social impact projects from providing Distributed Energy Solutions to small household-based systems towards larger scale projects like rural health units and district hospitals. Through this, Distributed Energy Solutions reached distant areas that have limited-powered facilities.
Presently, GO GRIDLESS has been able to power 2 hospitals and 6 health clinics in rural areas of the Philippines. These systems power all key medical devices including those that are power intensive. The only things that are typically not included are non-essential air conditioning for certain parts of the facilities. The Operating Room and other vital rooms continue to be airconditioned with the said system.
Since the installations, these health facilities have been able to save money and cut diesel fuel costs to power generator sets. And, more crucially, they have been able to accommodate more people as the available electricity gave way to more medical procedures, functions, and services. Patient costs were also reduced as diesel expenses of health facilities were removed and people didn’t have to travel as far to get their basic healthcare needs. In the future, these systems will even help power health facilities through calamities or disaster recoveries.
For example, GO GRIDLESS and Differ Community Power were recently able to provide power to Luuk District Hospital, 48 kilometers away from the provincial capital of Sulu in Mindanao, one of the poorest areas in the Philippines. GO GRIDLESS was able to install 55kwp solar panels, a 77kwh lithium storage, that’s all off-grid and with a generator. These solar systems and lithium batteries have had a 100% uptime, which ensures that Luuk District Hospital is powered 24/7. This program was funded by the Government of Japan in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
During the Norway-Philippines Maritime & Energy Conference back in October 2022, Toda insisted, “These installations have an immense impact on local communities who now have access to reliable and dependable healthcare facilities, some of which have experienced an increase over 5 times the patients cared for each day as a result of the works that were completed.”
Struggles and Commitment
Unfortunately, local circumstances cause pushback on solar energy despite the growing interest. Lack of standardization, inconsistencies in solar power regulation across cities, and government red tape are par for the course for solar energy businesses, and GO GRIDLESS is not an exception.
“It is not uncommon to see months of delays in the permitting process for a residential project,” lamented Toda. “Even with complete and compliant requirements, due to the inefficiencies and ad-hoc changes that suddenly appear in the current process, are again different between each city.”
Meanwhile, GO GRIDLESS’ community-focused projects have typically been funded privately. These facilities rely on grants, donors, and non-profit organizations since LGUs typically cannot gather the necessary funds for solar energy solutions.
“We often see LGUs implement some sort of solar system with an insufficient budget and without any capacity building. This also seems to be a result of awarding the lowest price bidder. This, unfortunately, leads to under-engineered systems that don’t perform, and can lead to a misunderstanding that solar solutions are not reliable,” said Toda.
But despite these challenges, Toda and GO GRIDLESS have been steadfast in their goals. Toda reiterated, “We are constantly developing and proposing social projects which aim to further access to reliable healthcare in provincial communities, as well as better equip communities for disasters and calamities through the use of our systems and technology.”
As of 2022, GO GRIDLESS has installations as far as Tawi-Tawi, Jolo, and Basilan Islands. These remote places are known not just as some of the poorest communities in the Philippines, but also areas rife with local and national conflict. Due to these issues, affordable healthcare, community development, and reliable energy sources are inaccessible to many of these places.
Though relatively small-scale for now, GO GRIDLESS’ installations have been successful in addressing these issues. And it plans to keep on expanding despite the challenges.
“We have a proven framework of technology as well as capacity building that greatly benefits the communities in which programs are implemented.” Toda insisted. “Government support for these programs, whether funding or access to finance for the LGU facilities, would greatly boost the level of community services, especially in healthcare, and also increase their revenue generated through such services.”