Three quotes, three different totals, and the electric bill that decides which one is the right size. Illustrative photo.
Short answer: make the quotes comparable before you compare them. First, the size: divide your average bill by your rate to get monthly kWh, and check each quote's kWp against it. A ₱5,000 bill at Meralco's September 2026 rate of ₱14.7424 is about 339 kWh a month, which at our planning yield of 4.0 kWh per kWp per day takes about 2.83 kWp to cover in full. Second, the price per kWp, with any battery taken out: our payback guide's planning range for a grid-tied system is ₱50,000 to ₱70,000 per kWp. Third, what each quote actually names: panels and inverter by model with datasheets, battery usable kWh, the mounting and roof waterproofing, a roof check, electrical plans signed by a Professional Electrical Engineer (PEE) and the permit, who files net metering, a production estimate with its assumptions, a written workmanship warranty and a milestone payment schedule. In the checker's example, the cheapest quote comes in at ₱42,000 per kWp, below the range, with only 6 of the 12 items; the most expensive is a hybrid sized at 177% of the household's usage. The best-documented one, 12 of 12 at ₱57,143 per kWp, sits in the middle.
Enter your own quotes below. After the checker: each of the twelve items, what to ask when it's missing, and the red flags to watch for.
Enter your bill and up to three quotes. You get each quote's size against your usage, its price per kWp against our planning range, a check of its production claim, the items it leaves out with the question to ask, and a side-by-side table. The three quotes filled in are examples; replace them with yours. Leave a quote's price at 0 to skip it.
Start with your own number, not the installer's. Take the average of your last six to twelve bills and divide by the rate on the bill. That's your monthly kWh. A system of 1 kWp produces roughly 4.0 kWh a day on an average Philippine roof, the planning figure in our payback guide (its cited output range is 3.6 to 4.4), so about 120 kWh in a 30-day month.
Now check each quote's kWp against that. On a ₱5,000 bill at ₱14.7424/kWh, 339 kWh a month, a full offset is about 2.83 kWp. What the ratio tells you:
A quote that doesn't show how the size was chosen, with your kWh on it, wasn't sized for you. It was sized to a package.
Divide each quote by its kWp. Our payback guide uses ₱50 to ₱70 per watt installed, ₱50,000 to ₱70,000 per kWp, for a grid-tied system without storage. That range is AEDO's market observation, checked against Philippine installer pricing guides published in 2026, not an official figure. Use it as a question-raiser:
Small systems cost more per watt. Our payback guide flags anything under about 1 kWp as below a practical grid-tied size, where some installers set a minimum job price.
A quote is a list of things that end up on your roof, in your wall and at your meter. The figure numbers match the checker's items. Anything missing from a quote still has to exist on site, so someone pays for it later, usually you.
"Tier 1 panels" and "branded inverter" aren't specifications. A quote you can compare names the make, model and wattage of the panels and the make and model of the inverter, and attaches the datasheets. Then you can check the numbers yourself: panel wattage times count equals the kWp on the quote, and the inverter's rating suits the array. If the installer won't commit to a model, write "or equal, approved by the owner in writing before delivery" into the contract.
Check the inverter type against why you want solar. The US Department of Energy explains that small household inverters disconnect from the grid and shut down when a disruption lasts long or is larger than normal, and that solar-plus-battery systems rely on advanced inverters to run without the grid during outages, "if they are designed to do so." In practice: a grid-tie-only quote saves money but gives no brownout backup. If backup matters, the quote needs a hybrid (battery-capable) inverter, and it should say which batteries it works with, even if you add the battery later. Our hybrid vs grid-tie vs off-grid guide walks through which type fits which house, and home generator sizing covers the genset alternative.
Battery quotes are the hardest to compare because the headline number isn't always the one you get. What matters is the usable energy, what the battery will actually deliver before its system stops discharging it, and that depends on the depth of discharge the manufacturer allows. Ask for the datasheet, and ask the installer to write the usable kWh on the quote, not only the rated or nominal kWh.
Then check it against a real load: a fridge, lights, fans and a router during a four-hour brownout, for example. The hybrid guide linked above has a calculator for that. Two quotes with "10 kWh" batteries aren't equal if one is usable and the other is rated. And a battery is a separate decision from the solar: our payback guide notes it raises installed cost and stretches payback, while keeping essential loads running during an outage, which the payback math doesn't capture.
This is where a cheap quote can cost you later, and it's often a single line: "mounting and installation." What it should tell you:
If the roof is old, rusty or already leaking, fix that first and price it separately. Putting panels on a roof that needs replacing in five years means paying twice to take them off and put them back. Our leaking roof repair guide helps you price that part.
A solar installation is electrical work, and the law says who designs it. RA 7920, the New Electrical Engineering Law, Section 34: no electrical installation "shall be undertaken unless the plans, designs, valuations and specifications have been prepared by or under the responsible charge of, and signed and sealed by a professional electrical engineer; and a construction permit for the execution thereof is first secured." The same section requires the work to follow the Philippine Electrical Code, under the supervision of a professional electrical engineer, a registered electrical engineer or a registered master electrician, "as the case may be." Section 31(a) gives the professional electrical engineer (PEE) "the sole authority to seal electrical plans." We found no later law amending RA 7920.
On the permit side, the 2004 Revised IRR of PD 1096, Section 301.2(a), lists the Electrical Permit among the ancillary permits, which must be "duly signed and sealed by the corresponding professionals." Section 302 lists what electrical documents contain, including the electrical layout, the schedule of loads, the design analysis and a one-line diagram. Our electrical service sizing guide shows how the permit fee follows the connected load.
This got faster in 2026. The DILG says Joint Memorandum Circular No. 001, series of 2026, issued by the DILG, DOE and DPWH for net-metering applications, has LGUs process electrical permits for net-metering installations in existing homes and establishments within three working days and issue the Certificate of Final Electrical Inspection within seven working days, citing the Ease of Doing Business law (RA 11032), with a no-additional-requirements policy and deemed approval when the LGU doesn't act in time. We read the DILG's announcement, not the circular itself.
So a comparable quote says, in writing, who prepares the PEE-signed plans, who files the electrical permit, who arranges the final electrical inspection, and whether the fees are in the price. A quote that says nothing usually means the owner does it, or nobody does. A roof with added equipment may also need the building official's attention: Section 301.1 bars anyone from altering, repairing or adding to a building "or any portion thereof" without a building permit. Whether your LGU treats a rooftop array that way varies, so ask the installer what your OBO required on their last job there.
RA 9513, the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, Section 10, obliges distribution utilities, "subject to technical considerations and without discrimination and upon request," to enter into net-metering agreements with qualified end-users installing an RE system, and has the ERC set the standards and pricing. The same section gives the utility the Renewable Energy Certificates from the arrangement. The ERC set those rules in Resolution No. 09, Series of 2013. Under them, any customer in good credit standing with its utility qualifies (Section 5), for systems within the 100 kW limit for distributed generation (Section 4(b)). The DOE's net-metering primer describes the same 100 kW limit, "with or without battery energy storage."
What export is worth, from the rule itself: Section 12 uses the utility's monthly generation charge, based on its blended generation cost, as the preliminary reference price for exported energy, pending a separate pricing methodology from the ERC. That is one component of the rate, not the overall per-kWh rate you pay for the power you import. Section 15 subtracts the export credit from the import amount each month and carries any excess credit to the next bill. The DOE primer (September 2022) says the same: credits "equivalent to the DU's blended generation cost, excluding other generation adjustments."
The rules have been amended since. The ERC's site sits behind a browser check we could not get through, so these come from the DOE primer and news coverage, not the amending text:
For comparing quotes, two things follow. First, who files: the application, the plans and the permit documents, and the meter replacement. A good quote says the installer prepares and follows up the net-metering application, or says plainly that it's excluded. Second, sizing: because export is credited below what you pay for imported power under the 2013 rule, an oversized system earns less on its extra panels. Our net-metering application guide goes through the steps and has a bill calculator for import against export.
Every quote promises savings. Only some show how. A usable production estimate states the kWp, the orientation and tilt, the shading allowance, the yield per kWp it assumes, and the rate it multiplies by. Check the yield against our payback guide's cited range of 3.6 to 4.4 kWh per kWp per day. A claim above the top of that range needs a reason: an unshaded roof facing the right way in a sunny province can do better, but "our panels are more efficient" isn't one, because efficiency is already inside the kWp rating.
And check the savings arithmetic uses your rate and your self-consumption, not export valued at the full retail rate. Valuing export at the retail rate makes a payback period look shorter on paper than it will be.
Solar quotes mix three different promises, and they aren't interchangeable:
Ask for each in writing, with the length, what's covered, who you call and how fast they respond. We don't quote typical warranty lengths here because they vary by maker and model; read them off the datasheets and the installer's terms. A workmanship warranty from a company with no address is worth what it's written on.
A solar job is short, so the payment schedule can be simple: two or three payments. What protects you is tying each one to something you can see: a deposit, a payment on delivery of the panels and inverter to your site, and the balance after commissioning, the permit and the final electrical inspection, with some held until the net-metering meter is in if the installer is handling it.
Be careful with most of the price up front. For comparison, our progress billing guide notes that government infrastructure caps the advance at 15% of the contract price, and only against a bond or bank guarantee. A private job isn't bound by that, but anything well above it is credit you're extending. Our construction contract checklist covers the written terms (scope annex, change orders, defects period) that apply just as much to a solar contract, and our PRC and PCAB verification guide shows how to check the licences named on the quote.
| What the quote says | Why it's a problem | Ask for |
|---|---|---|
| A package size ("5 kW set") with no mention of your bill | It was sized to stock, not to your usage | The monthly kWh they used and how they got the kWp |
| Price well below ₱50,000 per kWp | Below our planning range; something is usually missing | A written list of exclusions |
| "Tier 1 panels," "branded inverter" | Not a specification; anything can be delivered | Make, model, wattage and datasheets |
| "10 kWh battery" with no datasheet | Could be rated, not usable, capacity | Usable kWh in writing, with the datasheet |
| "Mounting and installation" as one line | No mounting system, flashing or anchor spacing stated | The mounting detail and the design wind speed |
| No mention of plans, permit or inspection | RA 7920 Section 34 needs PEE-signed plans and a permit first | Who prepares, files and pays, in writing |
| "Net metering assistance" with no detail | Could mean a form handed to you | Who files, who follows up, and what's excluded |
| Savings that assume every kWh is worth the retail rate | Exported kWh earn the net-metering credit, not your retail rate | The rate they used for export and why |
| "Warranty: 10 years" and nothing else | Doesn't say product, performance or workmanship | Each warranty separately, with who honours it |
| Most of the price before delivery | You've financed the job before anything is on site | Payments tied to delivery, commissioning and inspection |
What AEDO does. In Negros Oriental, AEDO supplies and installs solar PV, the same rule as our construction work: we review your bill, survey the site, check the roof structure, design the system and prepare the electrical plans, handle the permit, install and commission, then support the net-metering application. We don't publish a solar price; we quote after the bill review and site survey. Everywhere else in the Philippines, we size and design systems, check the roof framing against the wind uplift, review your electrical service capacity, and review installers' quotes independently, so you can put two or three of them side by side on the same basis before you sign.
The ₱50,000 to ₱70,000 per kWp range, the 4.0 kWh/kWp/day planning yield and its 3.6 to 4.4 band, and the Meralco September 2026 rate are from our solar payback guide (the rate re-checked on Meralco's advisory this month). RA 9513 Section 10 and RA 7920 Sections 31 and 34 were read on LawPhil; Sections 301 and 302 from the 2004 Revised IRR of PD 1096; ERC Resolution No. 09, s. 2013 (Sections 4(b), 5, 12 and 15) from a scan of the resolution hosted by the ADB, together with the DOE's net-metering primer. The 2019 and 2025 amendments are cited from news coverage, and JMC No. 001, s. 2026 from the DILG's announcement, because we could not read their own text; confirm the current rules with your utility. The 12 items, the checker's flags and the red-flag table are AEDO's practice, not legal requirements, except where a law is named.
How do I compare solar installer quotes in the Philippines?
Put every quote on the same basis first: system size in kWp against your own monthly usage, and price divided by kWp, with any battery priced as its own line. Then check what each quote actually names: panel and inverter make and model with datasheets, battery usable capacity, the mounting and roof-penetration detail, a roof structural check and wind design basis, electrical plans signed and sealed by a Professional Electrical Engineer, the electrical permit and final inspection, who files the net-metering application, a production estimate with its assumptions, a written workmanship warranty, and a payment schedule tied to milestones. The cheapest quote is often the one that left the most of those out.
What is a fair price per kWp for solar in the Philippines in 2026?
AEDO's solar payback guide uses an installed-cost planning range of 50 to 70 pesos per watt, which is 50,000 to 70,000 pesos per kWp, for a grid-tied system without batteries. It is a market observation checked against installer pricing guides published in 2026, not a government figure. A quote well below it usually has something missing; a quote above it usually has something added, such as a hybrid inverter, a battery, or roof repairs. Compare price per kWp only after taking the battery out.
Is a bigger solar system always better?
No. Solar you use as it is produced saves you the full retail rate. Solar you export only earns the net-metering credit. Section 12 of the ERC's net-metering rules, Resolution No. 09, Series of 2013, prices exported energy at the distribution utility's generation charge, based on its blended generation cost, which is only one part of the rate you pay for imported power. The DOE's net-metering primer says the same. The ERC amended the rules in 2019 and again in 2025, and one news report of the 2025 amendments describes the credit as the retail rate, which we could not confirm against the resolution. Ask your utility what it credits per exported kWh before you pay for a system sized above your usage.
Who has to sign the electrical plans for a solar installation?
A Professional Electrical Engineer. Section 34 of RA 7920, the New Electrical Engineering Law, says no electrical installation shall be undertaken unless the plans, designs and specifications have been prepared by or under the responsible charge of, and signed and sealed by, a professional electrical engineer, and a permit is first secured. Section 31(a) gives the professional electrical engineer the sole authority to seal electrical plans. The installation itself must be supervised by a professional electrical engineer, a registered electrical engineer or a registered master electrician, as the case may be.
Does a grid-tie solar system work during a brownout?
Usually not. The US Department of Energy explains that small inverters on household systems disconnect from the grid and shut down when a disruption lasts long or is larger than normal, and that solar-plus-battery systems rely on advanced inverters to run without the grid during outages, if they are designed to do so. So a grid-tie quote with no battery gives you savings, not backup. If brownouts are the reason you want solar, the quote needs a hybrid or battery-capable inverter and a battery sized for the loads you want to keep on.
Does AEDO install solar panels?
In Negros Oriental only, where AEDO supplies and installs solar PV the same way it builds. Everywhere else in the Philippines AEDO sizes and designs systems, checks the roof structure, reviews the electrical service capacity, and gives an independent review of installers' quotes. AEDO does not publish a solar price; it quotes after reviewing your electric bill and surveying the site.
Laws, rules and references read for this article in September 2026. External links open in a new tab.
The ERC's website sits behind a browser check we did not get past, so the 2013 rules were read from the ADB-hosted scan and the 2019 and 2025 amendments only through the DOE primer and the news reports listed. One of those reports calls the export credit the retail rate, which conflicts with the 2013 rule and the DOE primer; ask your utility. We could not read the Philippine Electrical Code's solar PV article, so no PEC clause is cited. No typical warranty lengths or battery prices are given because we found no source we'd stand behind. This article is general information, not a design for your system.
Send us the quotes, a recent bill and a few roof photos. A licensed engineer will put them side by side and tell you what to ask each installer before you sign.
