ROBERT "PANCH" LOPEZ PUCKETT
GRANDMASTER OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE PHILIPPINES
He is currently one of the founding directors
Solaready, Inc., which markets, installs and
services premium various solar photovoltaic
systems as well as other renewable energy
systems.
He was the first and oldest advocate of
Philippine renewable energy, when he introduced
renewable energy to the Philippine market way
back 1976. He promoted it for rural electrification
of countless villages. He also forged partnerships
with international renewable energy manufacturers
and distributors from the United States, Japan,
Europe, Australia and China.
He is a founding member of the Renewable
Energy Association of the Philippines (REAP).
He is also an active member of Greenpeace, WWF
and KLIMA.
Prior to going into the renewable energy business in 1976, Mr. Puckett had eight years’ experience in the hotel management business, having served at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco California, and at the Sheraton Hotel in Manila.
In 1968, Mr. Puckett joined Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) as a management trainee. He was later sent as a scholar to the Santa Clara University in California, to take up and finish his MBA degree.
Mr. Puckett worked as the executive assistant to the late Mr. Enrique Zobel, Chairman & President of Ayala Corporation and Ayala International. Mr. Zobel commissioned Mr. Puckett to do all the solar and wind projects for his real estate properties in Spain, California, Hawaii and the Philippines.
In 1976, Mr. Puckett founded the Solar Electric Company Inc., to promote solar energy all over the Philippines.
In 1991, Mr. Puckett joined the family owned University of Iloilo as chief operating officer and member of the board of trustees. He set up the Philippines’ first Solar Energy Institute (SEI) in Pavia, Iloilo, as a joint undertaking between the University of Iloilo and Solar Electric Co., Inc. He retired in the year 2000, but he continued to serve as director of his family corporations.
In 2007, Mr. Puckett also introduced the electric jeepneys currently in commercial use in Metro Manila and other cities.
In 2014, he founded Solaready, Inc. together with Mr. Miguel de Asis. Together, they further promoted solar energy to the whole country.
Mr. Puckett’s career ranged from an office clerk, radio announcer, hotel manager, management trainee, and
international trader. Now, he is a champion of renewable energy.
