I found a great tutorial on the net on how to make a solar cell using a copper sheet and some materials that you can easily find around the house.

The only hi-tech tool you’ll need for this endeavor is a micro-ammeter. The rest are fairly common, like a cooking stove, insulated copper wires, used water bottles, salt, metal cutting tools (or you can just bend the copper plate to shape and remove excess pieces.) and water.
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According to Former Department of Energy (DOE) secretary and current chairman of World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF) Vincent Perez Jr, there are about $850 Million worth of Renewable Energy projects awaiting the passage of the Philippine Renewable Energy bill.

The Projects on Hold are:

1. Geothermal - 20 megawatt (MW)-project in Nasulo, Dumaguete; 50MW in South Cotabato; 50MW in the Bicol area; 20MW in Mabini, Batangas; 40MW in Compostela Valley; and 40MW-project in Biliran.
2. Wind - 80MW and 40MW projects in Ilocos Norte.
3. Solar - 10MW solar energy project in Mindanao, worth $50 million.

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According to a report, Toyota is planning to install solar panels in its next generation hybrid car, the Prius. The solar panels will be mounted on the roof and will be used to help power the air conditioning. It’s not really designed to power anything else according to the report. Kyocera will be the ones to supply the solar panels to toyota.

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A study conducted by the Renewable Energy Coalition states that the Philippines has the following renewable energy potential:

1. Geothermal - 4,531 MW
2. Hydro electric - 13,097 MW
3. Wind -76,600 MW
4. Wave - 170,000 MW
5. Biomass - 277 Million Barrels Fuel Oil equivalent (MBFOE)/year
6. Solar Power - 5 ~ 5.1 KwH per square meter per day.

According to the article this gives the Philippine about 204,228 MW of harvestable energy from renewable energy sources. However the figures do not seem to add up. I’m guess it’s a typo somewhere because if you add up all the MW’s and exclude Biomass and Solar you end up with 264,228 MW.
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Palawan Governor, Joel Reyes, said that P110 million from the Malampaya Natural Gas Royalties that the Philippines are receiving will be used to fund their Solar Home System Project

This will give electricity and power to over 960 households. These households reside in 24 barangays (town) within the municipalities of Coron, Culion, Dumaran, Linapacan and Quezon. Aside from powering homes it will also power streets via the inclusion of five solar-powered streetlights for each town.
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Check out the article here

My apologies for being absent in blogging here. Renewable Energy Bill still hasn’t been passed in the Philippine Congress so there really hasn’t been much to be happy about in the Philippine Energy Scene.