Five acres in Cebu Philippines can generate 1 000 kilowatts of solar energy

The project is Cebu's first local government-led public-private partnership in renewable energy. Garcia said solar power costs only P4.50 per kilowatt-hour, compared to P12 to P15 per kilowatt-hour from coal-fired plants. She said adding more renewable energy to the grid would help lower electricity rates for consumers.

The 187-hectare solar power plant, which is a kilometer away from Talisay substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, will generate around 280 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually that can serve 300,000 people. The project will also cut 259,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission annually.

The solar farm is a 63.3 MW solar power plant located in Calatagan, Batangas. It has 200,000 panels and has a 160 hectares (500 acres) land area. Instead of being used for growing crops such as corn or rice, the land was converted to a large solar farm to generate enough energy to provide power to the whole western Batangas.

An acre of photovoltaic (PV) solar panel arrays can produce around five thousand to twelve thousand, eight hundred kilowatt-hours (kWH) in a single year. Optimal conditions can push that number to ranges above twenty thousand kilowatt-hours, especially in desert environments.

This isn't just about total acreage but also the condition and suitability of the land for a solar PV project. The size of your solar farm directly affects its power generation capacity. As a general rule, each DC megawatt requires approximately five acres of buildable land.

The renewable energy industry in the country has recorded an incredible growth in the last few years, evidenced by the availability of affordable prices of solar panels in the Philippines. There has also been an increase in the number of solar farms in the country.