Solar shines a light on opportunities

The development of sustainable energy is an important plank of the UAE’s future vision. Many new buildings – including the twin Al Bahar Towers in the capital and the new Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) office in Al Quoz – have been built with sustainability in mind. Even Mawaqif’s parking machines in Abu Dhabi operate on solar energy. But, until now, that technology’s possibilities have not been fully exploited.

As The National reported yesterday, private homes and business premises in Dubai will soon be allowed to erect their own solar panels to generate their own electricity, which might also be fed back into the power grid. This will be enabled under legislation expected to come into effect in the emirate in the second half of this year. While the complete transition to greener homes and businesses will take time to occur on a large scale, this is certainly an important step towards a more environmentally friendly nation.

If all buildings had even a small amount of solar generation capacity, a huge amount of energy would be saved. And it doesn’t just have to be photovoltaic (PV) panels. Most houses and villas could lower their bills by installing solar water heaters.

With its abundance of sunlight, the UAE and solar energy would seem to be a natural fit. Indeed, the Shams 1 solar plant in Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi, is already generating energy and will eventually have the capacity to power 20,000 homes. However, it operates on concentrated solar power technology, where sunlight is used to heat a liquid and then drive turbines rather than directly generate electricity as is the case at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai that uses PV technology.

There are technological hurdles with the use of PV in the Middle East, because the dust generated in the desert limits their effectiveness. But, of course, where there is a challenge, there is also an opportunity – and in this case there is scope for UAE enterprises to lead the way in the nascent industry of producing self-cleaning solar panels.

With both solar and nuclear energy entering the mix, the UAE is reducing its reliance on carbon-based electricity generation, delivering on its vision for a sustainable future and exploring technological frontiers.