The one-line summary

Republic Act 9513, signed into law in December 2008, established the legal framework for renewable energy in the Philippines. For a residential solar homeowner, its single most important provision is Section 10 — the mandate that the ERC create a Net-Metering Program for renewable-energy end-users under 100 kW. That mandate is what allows Meralco to buy back the electricity your rooftop panels export.

Almost everything else in the law — the tax holidays, the duty-free imports, the accelerated depreciation, the Feed-in Tariff — was written for RE developers building utility-scale plants, not for homeowners buying a rooftop system. Understanding which provisions apply to you and which do not saves you from installer sales pitches that overpromise the tax angle.

Section 10: the net-metering framework

Section 10 is the single provision that most affects your household solar economics. It directs the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), in coordination with the National Renewable Energy Board and the DOE, to create a program allowing electricity end-users generating from renewable sources up to 100 kW to enter into a net-metering agreement with their distribution utility.

The implementing rules came out in 2013 (DC2013-05-0006) and were substantially updated in 2019 (DC2019-05-0006), which is the framework in force today. The 2019 update raised the compensation rate paid to the homeowner (from Meralco’s generation charge only to a formulation closer to blended supply cost), simplified some application requirements, and clarified the treatment of over-generation credits.

Practical effect for a QC homeowner: your bi-directional meter records both energy imported from Meralco and energy exported to Meralco. Each billing cycle, exports offset imports, and any net credits carry forward to future months. This is what makes a grid-tied residential system economically viable — without Section 10, exported solar would either be curtailed or given away for free.

Full guide to the Meralco side of this program is in our dedicated Meralco Net-Metering guide.

Section 15: fiscal incentives — what actually reaches homeowners

Section 15 lists a long menu of tax and duty incentives. All of them, without exception, require the party claiming them to be a DOE-registered RE Developer with a Renewable Energy Service or Operating Contract (RESC/REOC). A homeowner installing a rooftop system is not an RE Developer, so none of these apply to you directly. The incentives on the list are:

• Income Tax Holiday for 7 years, then a preferential 10% corporate tax rate
• Duty-free importation of RE machinery, equipment, and materials for 10 years
• Special realty tax rate not exceeding 1.5% of the equipment’s net book value
• Net Operating Loss Carry-Over (NOLCO) for the first 3 years of commercial operations
• Accelerated depreciation
• VAT zero-rating on the sale of RE-generated power and on purchases of local supplies and services
• Tax exemption on carbon credits
• Tax credit on domestic capital equipment and services

What actually reaches the homeowner is indirect. RE Developers and equipment importers pass some of their duty-free-import savings through to installer pricing — that is one reason panel-level pricing in the Philippines has tracked closer to regional benchmarks than it might otherwise. The VAT zero-rating on RE-generated power also means the electricity you export back to Meralco through net-metering is not subject to VAT, which quietly makes your credit-per-kWh slightly better than it would be under a regular sale.

But there is no residential income tax deduction for solar in the Philippines, no residential tax credit like the US federal ITC, and no property-tax exemption for a solar-equipped home. Any installer telling you otherwise is either confused about the law or selling you a story.

Feed-in Tariff (FIT) vs Net-Metering — a common confusion

RA 9513 authorized both a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) system and Net-Metering, and homeowners often confuse the two. They are different tools for different scales.

• Feed-in Tariff: a guaranteed fixed price paid per kWh generated by an RE developer, for 20 years. Only applies to utility-scale developers building ≥1 MW plants under a DOE-awarded FIT quota. The FIT quotas for solar closed years ago and the mechanism is essentially inactive for new solar today.
• Net-Metering: a bill-credit arrangement (not a cash payment) for end-users up to 100 kW who generate their own RE. This is what applies to residential and small commercial rooftop solar and is the mechanism a QC homeowner actually uses.

So if you hear someone say “we can get you the FIT rate on your rooftop system,” they are either misinformed or hoping you are. Rooftop residential solar in QC operates under net-metering, full stop.

Green Energy Option Program (GEOP)

Section 9 of RA 9513 created the Green Energy Option, which lets end-users choose to source their electricity supply from an RE developer of their choice rather than take default Meralco supply. Implementing rules came out in 2018 and the program went live in 2023.

For homeowners, this matters only in a specific case: if you have an average monthly demand of at least 100 kW (a large commercial building, not a house) you can contract directly with a licensed Retail Electricity Supplier that sources from RE plants. Your Meralco bill splits into a distribution/network component (still paid to Meralco) and a supply component (paid to your chosen RES). Most QC residential customers are far below the 100 kW demand threshold and cannot use GEOP.

For commercial rooftops in QC — a warehouse, a small office building, a mid-rise condo association — GEOP can complement on-site solar. On-site solar covers daytime load, GEOP-sourced RE covers the rest, and the whole facility can be marketed as green. Our commercial solar service covers this stack in detail.

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) — the demand side

RA 9513 also mandates Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require distribution utilities (including Meralco) to source a minimum percentage of their supply from RE. The current on-grid RPS requires 2.52% incremental annual increase in RE share, growing over time. This is not something a homeowner interacts with directly, but it is the reason Meralco continues to procure new RE supply — RPS creates the wholesale demand that in turn supports more solar and wind farm construction, which over time pushes down wholesale power prices and stabilizes the rate you pay.

Practically: RPS is a slow tailwind for consumer rates. It does not put money in your pocket this month, but it moderates the rate increases you would otherwise face.

Related guides

• Meralco Net-Metering Program: complete step-by-step guide
• Solar financing in the Philippines: loans, terms, and what banks look for
• Getting a solar building permit from QC OBO
• How much does solar cost in Quezon City?