Most residential Meralco customers are on a flat rate — they pay the same ₱11-14/kWh whether it's 2am or 7pm. But as the Philippine grid modernizes, Time-of-Use (TOU) metering is expanding — and even without TOU billing, understanding peak demand periods helps you squeeze more value from a hybrid system.
The Philippine grid experiences predictable daily demand peaks:
The 6-9pm evening peak is when the grid is most expensive to operate. Power plants running at this time are typically fast-response gas or diesel peakers — the most expensive generation source.
| Time | What Happens | Your Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 6 AM – 6 PM | Solar generates power — home runs on solar | ₱0/kWh (free solar) |
| 10 AM – 3 PM (surplus) | Excess solar charges battery to 100% | ₱0/kWh stored |
| 6 PM – 10 PM (peak) | Battery discharges — home runs on stored solar | ₱0/kWh (used free storage) |
| 10 PM – 6 AM | Low loads — draw from grid at off-peak rate | ₱11-14/kWh (low grid draw) |
Modern hybrid inverters (Deye, Solis, LuxPower) allow you to program time-based battery dispatch:
Meralco's Time-of-Use tariff for commercial accounts (applicable to customers with demand >100 kW) charges:
A well-programmed commercial hybrid system that charges batteries during off-peak and discharges during on-peak can save an additional 15-25% beyond the basic solar savings — purely from the rate arbitrage.
Configure your hybrid system's time-of-use schedule through your inverter's monitoring app or web portal. Deye inverters use the SolarmanPV app. Solis uses SolisCloud. Both allow full TOU programming from your phone.
Engr. Jason Morales — Founder, SolarEnergyPH