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By Remedios Lucio, The Manila Times School Of Journalism
ENVIRONMENTALIST. Visionary.
Businessman Roberto “Pancho” Lopez Puckett
is all that. An entrepreneur whose vision of communities running on
alternative sources of energy enables him to succeed in business in
a way that helps the people and the environment.
The water and wind power company that he started
in 1975, the Solar Electric Company Inc. (Solarco), is one of the
leading commercial providers of solar, wind and micro-hydropower
system in the Philippines. Among its projects, Solarco provides
solar power for Maguindanao Battery Charging station, the street
lighting in Sabang, Palawan, and in Sibuguey Province and has
built the Solar Powered School Building in partnership with
Greenpeace in Negros Occidental. Its services include consultation,
design, configuration, integration and installation of solar, wind
and micro-hydropower systems, according to a company press release.
Puckett’s work experience after completing his
business administration and masteral degrees included stints in
companies and institutions as diverse as Sheraton Philippines Hotel,
Manila Electric Company, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Natural Energy
Systems Inc., International Solar Energy Corp., Ayala International
(US) Co., International Purchasing Network, Special Operations
Corp., Solar Energy Institute, University of Iloilo, Fernando Lopez
Foundation and Iloilo Volts Corp.
In the 1970s, the oil and gas shortage in
California led Pancho Puckett to build Solar Powerhouse, which he
started as a hobby and at the same a way to help his friends and
family in California obtain power saving services and solar
electricity.
The year after he started Solar Powerhouse, the
owners of Puerto Azul, the Panlilio family, insisted that Puckett
bid for their solar hot water heating system project in Cavite. He
flew to the Philippines from California to join the bidding, which
he won. The next step was to turn his hobby into a full-fledged
solar electric company. “I know [the Cavite project] was going to
be the biggest solar energy project at that time,” says Puckett.
One of the obstacles Puckett encountered when he
was starting Solarco was that Filipinos had no idea what solar
electricity and water heating system were all about. “Up to now,
my biggest [challenge] is still to convince them and teach them what
solar energy is, what hydro energy [is]. Despite the brilliant
people in this country, people still don’t know anything about
it,” says Puckett.
Solarco works with Greenpeace, Worldwide Fund,
CLIMA, the Manila Observatory and other active environmental groups
to promote environmental awareness by having
environmentally-conscious projects, services and products.
What makes Solarco distinct from other power
companies? “Experience,” says Puckett. “That’s what makes us
different.”
Solarco is negotiating for a merger with Sun
Technics, a German company. “We’re currently on post merger
integration with this company,” says Puckett. “Hopefully by next
year, we’ll be in full blast with them. They are practically into
everything—Bio gas, hydro, of course, and they are into
manufacturing solar cells. They have financing for big products.”
The company has projects in Aklan, Northern
Iloilo (Higantes Island), Balasan, Sicogon Islands in partnership
with a micro finance company called Progressive bank. “Finally,
after 17 years of being there, we finally also became partners with
the biggest micro finance lending institution in the country, also
based in Iloilo, called TSKI,” says Puckett.
An electronic jeepney buzzing around the busy
streets of Manila? Solarco, along with Greenpeace and a ‘handful
of other NGOs, are members of the Green Renewable Independent Power
Producer, Inc. (GRIPP) that produces e-Jeepneys.
“With the help of three headstrong
environmentally conscious organizations and a pioneering mayor, the
electric jeepney did its initial run in the City of Makati. . .
Mayor Jejomar Binay is their first and very enthusiastic
customer,” according to the press release.
GRIPP was able to receive a grant from a Dutch
group called DOEN foundation for the 50 jeepneys, there are three
such jeepneys in Bacolod, two in Makati and one in Ateneo.
“Considering it has no gas tank [just a
battery compartment] the e-Jeepney runs purely on stored
electricity, resulting in a much quieter and fumeless trip. With the
traffic conditions and gas prices increasing each year, commuters
spend more time idling on the road,” according to the press
release.
Puckett is proud of this new innovation, which
he describes as “glorified golf carts,” as it helps lessen air
pollution created by gasoline emission. This project, he says, was
not made to rival the traditional jeepneys but to help the country
with its global warming problem and its harmful effects to citizens.
The main goals of Puckett and his affiliates are to
primarily help clean the environment and also to increase the income
of jeepney drivers.
Puckett is a man without fear in starting his
own business and is driven to make his own company a success. He is
a “go for the broke” type of guy. He was not scared of failing
thus this even drove him to go for what he wants to pursue in his
life.
When asked what career would he have if he
were not the owner of Solarco, Puckett says, “Well,
everything that I did, I really like. I never disliked any job that
I did. I liked working for my former bosses, like the Zobels.
Anything I did, whether it would fail or succeed, I love them
all.”
The reason why he went into a different career
from what his family does (his family belongs to the Lopez clan that
owns ABS-CBN) was because he wanted to do something different from
what other people do.
Pancho Puckett was told never to fall in love
with your product, a lesson from (the late) Enrique Zobel that he
was forced to defy time and again. He is that passionate about his
company and about solar power, his firm’s main offering. He just
can’t help it.
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