Cebu City, Philippines, 20 August 2025 — Clean energy leaders revealed how Cebu City is an emerging hub for solar energy at a convening today of government and industry leaders, highlighting the massive potential to scale if financing, supply chain constraints, and bureaucratic delays in net metering are addressed.
“Our [New Energy Nexus Philippines] goal is not just to convene, but to strengthen the solar community by helping set standards, address bottlenecks, and connect stakeholders across the value chain. What we saw in this meetup is that Cebu has the workforce, demand, and commitment—it just needs the right ecosystem support. That’s where NEX Philippines comes in.” said Sheryl Estella, Academy Manager of the New Energy Academy, a learning platform for clean energy professionals and entrepreneurs – powered by New Energy Nexus, GSES, and OpenSolar.
Key leaders in government, utilities, finance, and the local solar industry came together for New Energy Nexus Philippines’ Solar Community Meetup, its second run in the city. The event included panels and breakout discussions on scaling the local clean energy economy and the adoption of renewables in the Central Visayas.
The region’s solar landscape has seen promising yet modest growth over the past few years. Notably, Visayas now hosts around 472 MW of rooftop solar capacity, according to the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities’ SPECTRUM platform, which is still only a fraction of the Philippines’ total potential. Cebu Province is also home to pioneering projects such as the country’s first megawatt-scale floating solar facility in Toledo City – which has a capacity of nearly 5 MW. Meanwhile, battery storage integration is starting to emerge, while interest from households and SMEs continues to grow.
Despite this momentum, barriers persist. A recent report highlighted challenges such as high upfront costs, limited financing access, bureaucratic delays in net metering, and supply chain constraints, which threaten to slow down solar adoption across the country.
“To make the solar adoption easier, Cebu City will ensure, with the new administration, that the Office of the Building Official streamlines net metering requirements by minimizing red tape. Cebuanos should expect changes that will make the process faster and simpler, with more incentives for those who choose renewable energy,” said Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera.
One solution is the formation of the Clean Energy Advocates Association of the Philippines (CEAAPI), which emerged from the 2024 Solar Community Meetup in Cebu City. CEAAPI is a network of installers, service providers, and advocates working together to accelerate clean energy adoption in the region. By promoting certifications, transparency, and quality standards, the organization also helps address the growing issue of fly-by-night installers and low-quality systems that undermine consumer zhetrust. CEAAPI is also the official hub partner for the 2025 run.
This year’s meetup comes at a pivotal moment, with a large-scale floating solar project starting in the city and local government buildings being upgraded to solar. Establishing strong relationships between the solar industry, local government, and other key stakeholders can be a powerful catalyst for solar adoption – streamlining permitting processes, improving access to financing programs, and integrating solar into public infrastructure plans.
New Energy Nexus Philippines is set to conduct another SCM in the CALABARZON Region on August 28, part of their ongoing and future programs equipping the local solar community with the tools to scale their solutions. More information can be found here.