200 solar-powered lamp posts in VSU Main Campus now fully operational

To promote the use of clean and sustainable energy and ensure the security of 9,245 students enrolled at the VSU’s flagship school in Baybay City, the Physical Plant Office (PPO) finally completed the installation of 200 solar-powered lamp posts distributed in strategic locations in both the upper and lower campuses of the university.

A total of 15 million pesos was allocated for this project that replaced the old and inefficient street lighting system of VSU with 5 million pesos appropriated for the fabrication of the steel pedestal posts while 10 million pesos went to the purchase of 200 pieces of solar lighting units.

Aside from providing an eco-friendly approach to lighting up the campus, this project also provided a brand new look to the VSU Mall and Ecopark as these areas have now been surrounded with victorian-inspired lamp posts that is consistent with the design of the newly constructed VSU Guardposts.

The lighting system installed in the VSU Mall is illuminated by 20-W solar panels while 20-W LED power was used in the Ecopark as this location cannot be completely powered by solar technology because of the massive tree cover present inside this area.

Meanwhile, the monocrystalline silicon solar panel with 30W-40W LED lights was used for the campus street lights that are now reaching the road toward the VSU Gymnasium including the road towards the university research center complex and the Administration Building.

According to Engr. Marlon G. Burlas, the key person in charge of overseeing the installation of the solar lamp posts, their work started as early as April 2022 but they only got to cover the major road networks in the upper campus in September this year because of the delays brought by Tropical Storm Agaton (Megi). 

Engr. Burlas revealed that street lights installation for the lower campus is still ongoing and that additional solar lamp posts will be deployed along the VSU Beach where there are many students who would often hang out at night time.

However, he also stressed that solar street lights cannot be located in some areas with massive tree covers like the small access road from the Department of Pest Management (DPM) to the Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center (PhilRootcrops) including the entire Banacon Drive and some areas of the Molave Hill.

Aside from the energy conservation measures enforced by VSU, the use of renewable energy like these solar lamp posts is an effective way to save up electricity. 

Not only do these solar lamp posts bring good lighting and visibility to VSU, but it also serves as a way to cut down the high power consumption rates of the whole campus.

“In little ways, this project will help minimize our consumption of electricity, especially the usage of lights. We may not feel its impact today because it is still new, but maybe two years from now, we can see how these solar lamp posts will help in conserving energy,” Engr. Burlas concluded.

Last month, the VSU administration incurred a total of 5.2 million pesos for electrical consumption, which is one million pesos more than the electricity bill in July this year.

Aside from the return of face-to-face classes and increased power use, this increase can also be attributed to the surging electricity price from the local power distributor, the Leyte Electric Cooperative (LEYECO).

With this, VSU President Edgardo E. Tulin issued Memorandum Circular 902, series of 2022 to direct all units in the university to strictly adhere to energy conservation measures including reduced number of hours for use of air conditioning units.

The same memo instructs all unit heads to convert lighting systems in their offices from the typical fluorescent lamps to energy-saving LED bulbs and future purchase of energy efficient inverter type air conditioning units to replace old cooling systems in classrooms and laboratories.

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