Solar Philippines will showcase the country’s first solar farm equipped with batteries when it completes the first 50 megawatts (MW) of its largest solar project in Tarlac by mid-2017, its top official said yesterday.

The company expects batteries to become a game changer in the solar market this year.

“Tarlac Phase 1 of 50 MW will be completed by mid-2017 and the total 150 MW are targeted by end of the year,”  Solar Philippines president Leandro Leviste said in a text message yesterday.

He said solar-plus-storage projects are already cheaper than expensive diesel and natural gas.

“Batteries will be the game-changer of 2017. We aim to complete our first such project by mid-year to show that the age of 24/7 solar is already here, and hopefully urge others to pause before investing in expensive fossil fuels,”  Leviste said.

Solar Philippines announced yesterday it would integrate batteries into nearly all its upcoming solar farms, to supply reliable 24/7 power starting this year.

It is in discussions with battery suppliers including US-based automotive and energy storage firm Tesla, which is doubling the world’s battery manufacturing capacity to accelerate cost decreases, and will soon complete the world’s largest solar-plus-storage project to supply evening power in Hawaii.

Leviste is teaming up with Tesla for a pilot solar farm with battery storage.

Read more here.