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Shedding Light on Solar Energy Power

StartsIn the week preceding 10/10/10 the Friends of the Environment (FOE) showedtheir commitment to cut carbon emissions by inviting Mr. Ben Figgis, the External

Affairs and Technology Advisor at Chevron, Qatar, to talk to the group aboutSolar Energy in Qatar. The significance being that 10 October 2010 (10-10-10)has been chosen so that worldwide people can creatively celebrate a GlobalWork Party to show our commitment to cut carbon emissions. The internationalawareness campaign is spearheaded by an organization called 350.org. Thisgroup was founded by Bill McKibben, a reputed environmentalist and writer, toput special emphasis on the number 350 because supposedly 350 parts permillion is the safe upper limit for the presence of carbon dioxide in ouratmosphere.

On 17 February 2009 the Chevron Corporation made a commitment of US$ 20million over five years to establish a center of excellence in renewable power andenergy efficiency in partnership with the Qatar Science & Technology Park(QSTP) in Doha. One of the main objectives of the partnership is the creation ofa public centre. Chevron's Center for Sustainable Energy Efficiency at QSTP willconnect with a variety of audiences in Qatar. Professional engineers, architectsand government agencies will see demonstrations and tests of energy efficiencyand solar technologies. Students and the public will be invited to our visitorcenter to learn about the technologies and how they work.

Qatar's Deputy Premier & Minister of Energy and Industry, HE Sheikh Abdullahbin Hamad al-Attiyah said, "I am very pleased to welcome Chevron's Center for

Sustainable Energy Efficiency to QSTP in Qatar, and we look forward to a longpartnership with Chevron. Establishment of this Center greatly enhances ourability to utilize Chevron's expertise and leadership in the area of energyefficiency and renewable energy technologies in the future, and for trainingQatari engineers and scientists". According to the Chevron Vice Chairman PeterRobertson, "Chevron believes that energy efficiency and conservation are themost immediate and cost-effective sources of new energy, and we are proud towork in partnership with Qatar to help achieve environmentally responsibledevelopment and economic diversification - two important elements of Qatar'sNational Vision." He added that, "By bringing Chevron's global expertise inenergy efficiency and renewable power to this premier center for research,

learning and entrepreneurship, we can identify specific energy technologies thatwork well in the region's desert climate and develop capabilities within thecountry that ultimately will benefit Qatar and the entire region." According to thepress release issued by the company the partnership with QSTP will create TheCenter for Sustainable Energy Efficiency, which intends to focus on developingtechnologies in lighting and cooling that work effectively in the Middle Eastclimate. The centre also anticipates conducting research in the development andapplication of renewable power, such as solar, and developing and training

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Qatari engineers, scientists and students to build expertise and capabilities withinthe country. Dr. Tidu Maini, Advisor to HH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser AlMissned and executive chairman of QSTP, added: "Finding smarter ways ofusing energy is no less important in Qatar than in the rest of the world. By takinga multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to energy research, Chevron's

QSTP center will help position Qatar at the forefront of environmentaltechnologies globally." Through demonstration and education at the Center forSustainable Energy Efficiency, and through solar field trials in collaboration withGreenGulf and QSTP, we will help to build confidence and understanding of themost promising technologies.

The most common association that we make when thinking about solar energyis: solar panels. However, solar energy is a term for describing a range ofmethods for obtaining energy from the sun. Solar energy is successfully beingused for cooling, heating, cooking, communications, driving space craft, lightingand many more purposes. That Chevron and QSTP have gone into partnership

to investigate the possibility of harnessing solar energy in the seemingly sundrenched gulf country may seem obvious but there are some basic challenges inthe use and conversion of solar energy. Dr. Maini, further elaborated that, "Inorder to commercialize solar technologies and realize their full potential, we mustcarefully understand the environmental effects such as dust, humidity, andradiation patterns. From this we can build realistic cost parameters based onactual Qatar conditions. Chevron's Center for Sustainable Energy Efficiency atQSTP will be opening within a few months, and the solar test facility will come online in the second half of 2011. In the meantime Chevron has built hundreds ofsolar installations in the US, and is testing thin-film photovoltaics on a large scalein California, so we are leveraging this experience to plan and accelerate ourQatar research.

According to GreenGulf the solar test facility that is being built in the QSTP willbe 35000 sq/m, the same as the solar test facility in Bakers Field, United Statesof America, and this is where the photovoltaic (PV) units will be tested, thermalpower sources, air conditioning and desalination technologies.According to the managing director of the Qatar General Electricity and WaterCorp otherwise known as Kahramaa - Issa Hilal al-Kuwari, speaking at thepower generation conference and exhibition held in Qatar recently, Qatar haswitnessed a 230 percent increase in demand for electricity over the last decade.Speaking at the conference he further said that, Electricity generation rose bymore than 340 percent in the last 10 years and currently it stands at 7643mw.Next year, the targeted output is 8761 mw. Al Kuwari expects electricitygeneration to increase in Qatar by 10.5 percent, said al-Kuwari. Kahramaaannounced that it now has a power surplus and has budgeted QR 15 bn to spendover the next 3 years on additional electricity and water projects. According to aGulf Times article, Fahad al-Mohannadi, Kahramaas managing directorannounced in an interview with Reuters, that there are plans to build a power

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plant that is to be used from 2016 onwards that will be able to generate upwardsof 3000 megawatts of electricity. The targeted output of 8761 mw is in line withthe expected increase in demand that is projected to increase from the current5,100 mw to 8,800 MW by 2011, according to Kahramaas website.

What does this all have to do with solar energy you might ask? According to oneof the audience members who was part of a research team at a Local universityone of the of the main factors in the slow adoption of the solar energy technologyis that electricity generation in Qatar, and the Gulf region, relies on fossil fuels.According to some 2001 statistics, electricity production by source was: 100 %fromfossil fuel and 0% from other sources like hydro, nuclear, solar and others.With the fossil fuels cheaply and of course easily available in the Gulf region theneed and urgency to use alternative energy sources seems unnecessarilycomplicated as the solar power technology comes with its own set of variables.Ongoing research shows that because of dust, moisture, heat and the actualquality of the light, solar power generation is not efficient in the Qatar, and the

larger Gulf region, even while the price of (PV) solar units have gone down.

A company called Solar First now produces PV units that will cost you less thanUS$ 1 per watt produced. What is also encouraging the solar energy sector isthat there is a projected demand of electricity of 15 GW globally which means ahuge demand for alternative energy generation technologies. Similarly,desalinated water production would reach 320mn gallons a days in 2012, fromthe current level of 264mn gallons. It represents a 24% growth in the production.Later, Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) general manager Fahd al-Mohannadi said privatisation had contributed considerably to the increase inelectricity and water production in the country. In conclusion, solar energy isbecoming critically important to industrially developed and developing countriesas the use of the limited supply of fossil fuels presents a serious environmentalchallenge, with its effects of global warming and pollution.Ends

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