Philippine Data Centres Pay Too Much to Cool Servers.
There Is a Better Architecture.

The transcritical CO₂ heat pump provides primary cooling while the LiBr absorption chiller uses waste heat for secondary cooling. This cascade reduces compressor electrical input while maintaining full cooling capacity at 35°C ambient, achieving PUE 1.22 — well below the Philippine average of 1.6-2.0.

A two-phase CO₂ loop where liquid CO₂ absorbs server heat, boils into vapour, rises to a roof-mounted condenser, condenses back to liquid, and returns by gravity. No compressor, no pump, no moving parts. Achieves PUE 1.02-1.05 when ambient conditions permit, with automatic failover to the active cascade.

Evaporative cooling towers consume 5-15 litres per kWh of IT load. In water-stressed Metro Manila, Cebu, and Clark, this creates operational risk and regulatory exposure. CO₂ + LiBr cascade and thermosyphon systems use zero water for heat rejection, eliminating water dependency.

Yes. Transcritical CO₂ operates efficiently above its critical point (31.1°C) — it is designed for these conditions. The LiBr absorption stage provides supplemental capacity at peak ambient. The passive thermosyphon transitions to active mode automatically when ambient exceeds the free-cooling threshold.

R410A (GWP 2,088) and R134a (GWP 1,430) chillers create Scope 1 refrigerant emission liabilities under SEC PFRS S2. With 5-10% annual leak rates, the carbon cost is significant. CO₂ (GWP 1) eliminates this entirely and avoids Kigali Amendment HFC phase-down restrictions.

That 20% figure is not a regulatory cap — it is the daytime self-consumption ceiling that solar gives you without storage. Two routes raise it: (1) the DOE's April 2026 circular lifted the net metering cap to 1 MW for commercial sites, and (2) if your solar only feeds your own site, never exporting to the grid (Meralco calls this Zero Export), there is no capacity cap at all. The binding constraint is your ability to absorb daytime generation — which is exactly what Karnot heat pumps plus thermal storage solve, by banking solar as heating, cooling, and hot water for night-time dispatch.

Meralco commercial bills include a demand charge based on the highest 15-minute kVA peak in the billing period. Heat pumps charging a Permafrost or iSTOR thermal battery overnight or during off-peak hours dispatch hot water and chilled water during the daytime peak, so the heat-pump compressor can be sized smaller and run at lower nameplate during the peak window. This shaves the 15-minute peak — often the single largest controllable line on a Philippine commercial electricity bill.

They sell solar panels. Karnot sells the integrated solution that lets solar actually work for a commercial site: solar plus heat pump plus thermal battery, sized to your real load profile and configured behind the meter. We do not install net-metering systems capped at 20% offset. We engineer Zero Export installations sized to whatever your roof and load can carry. The result is typically 60–80% bill reduction instead of the 4–20% that solar-only installs deliver on a 24/7 commercial load.

Sub-12-month paybacks are realistic on integrated retrofits combining solar (Karnot iVOLT), heat pumps (iHEAT R290 or iCOOL CO₂), and thermal storage (iSTOR or Permafrost) at sites paying full commercial Meralco tariff. Standalone retrofits pay back more conservatively — iMESH adiabatic chiller upgrade typically under 12 months, DHW-only retrofit replacing LPG or diesel in 18–24 months. Most installations qualify for BOI Pioneer status and Income Tax Holiday under RA 11285, which shortens payback further. Karnot files the BOI registration paperwork as part of project scope.