Sunlit dreams

Let's say you want to go for a walk. You are a health-conscious person, so you want to begin your day with a brisk walk around the block. It helps you gear up for the day. What do you need? A clear morning and a pair of walking shoes. Sounds simple, right? But only if you live in the UAE. It's probably never struck you till now but the UAE is one of the few countries in the world where a morning walk is possible every single day of the year. And the sun has everything to do with this amazing possibility. The fact that this country enjoys 365 days of sunshine has immense advantages and a morning walk is just one of them. Even on the hottest days of summer, you can still go for a very early morning jog without letting the heat get you down.

The urban planning aspect

There is another more powerful, but less understood aspect to morning walks - city planning. When a city is designed according to the principles of sustainable energy use, it creates a groundshift in the way its residents live and use its infrastructure so that their daily living undergoes an amazingly qualitative transformation.

In other words, your ability to truly enjoy your morning walk around the block is greatly enhanced if your urban patch is eco-designed. Listen to what Dr Afshin Afshari, head of the Energy Management Unit at Masdar City, the world's first zero carbon city, has to say on the power of this principle. According to him sustainable energy systems contribute to the global improvement of the environment not only through less embodied carbon and emissions, but also by improving the day-to-day life of people. "For example, more daylight and better controlled air quality inside buildings promote well-being and increase productivity. Outdoors, microclimatic and passive design elements - such as narrow streets, optimal orientation of streets and buildings, wind towers, strategically located green spaces and water features - enhance outdoor thermal comfort and enable people to walk more often. In this sense, sustainability will have a direct positive effect on public well-being and health."

This is not a utopian idea. In the UAE, in Abu Dhabi's stunningly impressive and visionary creation of Masdar City, it is a work in progress. As environmental concerns took global centre stage in the last decade, efforts to address the state of urban planning have gathered top speed in many countries including the UAE. While Masdar is shaping up to be the world's blueprint for future sustainable energy cities, in Ras Al Khaimah, prototypes of RAK Solar islands, a series of rotating, floating islands off the coast of RAK, plan to generate electricity for the whole emirate.

In the coming years, the Gulf region has the potential to become a leader in solar power generation and a good market for renewable energy investors.

Dr Afshari, who is in charge of specifying and enforcing Masdar City's strategy for energy efficiency at the design and operational stages, says, "We only need 40 minutes of sunshine to generate the power utilised by the entire world in a year. Currently we harness only about one per cent of the energy produced by the sun. It is clear that the potential of solar energy is vast and largely under-exploited to date. The only questions to be answered is how much time it will take to transform into a sustainable energy management system and how smooth the transition will be for mankind."

"Having Irena's [International Renewable Energy Agency's] headquarters here will further boost the UAE's effort to be the global platform for solar energy bodies," says Prabissh Thomas, MD of PTL Solar FZ.

Bright potential

Masdar City is a dream come true for the green world: it will reduce water consumption by 80 per cent compared to conventional cities, it will set up 100 per cent waste recycling, and bring about zero per cent CO2 emissions. The streets of Masdar are designed to be pedestrian-friendly and car-free. Transportation is tackled by a network of metro stations and electronic vehicles and the tracks will ensure that transportation modes are at a distance of 200m. All the energy consumed in the city will come from solar and wind energy plants, and any excess energy produced will be fed into the power grids of other cities.

Most of Masdar City's renewable power is expected to come from solar energy, and currently, the city is 100 per cent powered by onsite solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays. This includes a 10MW solar PV plant, which is already operational within Masdar City; the largest such solar plant in the Middle East. The solar array - half thin film and half polycrystalline modules - helps power the first six Masdar Institute buildings, the temporary Masdar administration buildings and many ongoing construction activities on site.

"Abu Dhabi has already taken the decision to be a leader in the renewable energy field," says Dr Sameer Audah Abu Zaid, managing director of the M+W Group in the UAE. Masdar City will be ready for its 50,000 residents by 2016. The UAE can be proud of the fact that Masdar will be a benchmark for all cities in the world who plan to adopt renewable energy consumption. Friday asked these and other experts in the solar energy field in the UAE to throw light on the country's future in harnessing this energy.

Obvious alternative resource

"Solar energy is such an obvious and universally available resource and is relatively straightforward to exploit," says Dr Afshari. "My intuition is that with the rising cost of fossil fuels, a deteriorating global environmental situation and rapidly advancing solar technologies, in ten years' time there will be a compelling need in most countries for reliance on solar energy as one of the main drivers of a national sustainability policy."

Dr Abu Zaid says, "There seems to be a genuine global interest in the utilisation of the world's vast resources of renewable energy, evident in the huge sums of money being channelled into the initiatives."

Dr Usama Al Alami, health scientist and Associate Professor, Zayed University and chair of Zayed Environmental Impact Network (Zein) says, "The UAE is starting to harness the wealth of solar energy. Many people are trying to use this method on their farms. But until the solar products become common in the marketplace at a price that is comparative to their traditional counterparts, solar products will, unfortunately, remain a commodity."

The hurdles until now

So, how come we never tapped this constant source of streaming light all along?

Dr Al Alami lists the big hurdles that come in the way of switching to the solar energy option. "Major roadblocks include lack of proactive support, severe price and cost pressures, increasing competition and the sector's rapid globalisation."

Thomas says, "Modern solar energy applications have only been around for about five years. Less than 3 per cent of the UAE's electricity is currently generated by solar power. But it is growing at a rate of 20-30 per cent each year."

Dr Ray Karbor, MD of Engenius Green Technologies FZE and a consultant for sustainable HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) says, "In the UAE, it is easy to see why solar energy didn't take off in the past. With readily available fossil fuels and efficient technology to utilise it, the cost effectiveness pretty much negated the need to go in search of new technologies. In a few years, countries around the globe will begin to experience "grid parity", the break-even point where the price of grid electricity will exceed that of unsubsidised renewable power - which will provide a significant boost to the sector."

We know the energy received from the sun is free. But why is it so expensive to harness it?

Dr Karbor says that the problem is not in the technology, but in applying it in "an effective way".

Saeed Mohammadi, executive director of the Barcode Group, who implemented the S.S.S. (Solar System for School) programme for Schools in the UAE in 2008 explains: "A solar plant is made up of thousands of solar panels, not unlike those currently installed on alternative energy homes. Because of this, solar plants require a consistently sunny area and a considerable amount of space.

The way forward

According to him, China is probably the most advanced, both in terms of government policy and low commercial prices. Domestic solar hot water systems have become a common sight even in remote rural areas. To achieve this result, China combined sustainability and environmental goals with a deliberate industrial policy objective: to transform China into the world's leading player in the solar energy sector.

The UAE has one of the highest energy consumption rates per person in the world. We leave a huge carbon footprint. Electricity bills are expected to top $150 billion over the next 20 years in the GCC alone.

What then is the way forward? Dr Karbor is all for awareness drives on the issue. "Place as many adverts in newspapers and on billboards, provide free demonstrative shows in public areas like shopping malls, distribute free samples, like LED lights and reward the people using eco-friendly technologies and materials."

Any potential pitfalls?

But is there a downside to the use of solar power? In Dr Karbor's opinion, the biggest hindrances to using solar energy are darkness, cloudy weather, huge space requirements and back-up other than the sun.

"The biggest drawback is that energy collection comes to a halt at night time and on cloudy days," says Mohammadi, "Nevertheless, recent advancements allow the generated power to be stored in special batteries which provide roughly enough electricity to last a night. This is why solar-powered devices, including flashlights, are gaining in popularity and are proving to be efficient energy savers."

For the common man, the easiest gateway into the solar energy world is solar collectors for domestic hot water. The cost can be brought under $1,000 for a basic system and the payback is acceptable even in a country where electricity is cheap such as the UAE, if the plant is used to its full potential (for instance, for domestic hot water and swimming pool heating).