The surge in demand for solar installation has overwhelmed the local solar industry, which mainly sources its components from China.

Solar installers can barely keep up with the increasing demand that they now find themselves rejecting clients or making them wait.

“We had to turn down some because, the story is all, ‘I want it now,’” Richmond Reyes, president of solar installer and distributor EcoSolutions PH, told Rappler in an interview.

Reyes said prices of solar panels from China have “skyrocketed” with some increasing by as much as 30%. Prices of aluminum railings increased threefold. A high-quality battery priced P85,000 before now costs more than P100,000. It is also their practice to not stock up on components, said Reyes, because technology evolves quickly.