The use of solar energy is set to take off in the UAE. This may happen at a faster pace as people start to feel the financial and environmental necessity to shift to renewable energy sources.

But the abundant sunshine in the Middle East, as well as the increasing competitiveness of solar energy systems, will make it a wise proposition.

Until now, energy experts here say cheap power from fossil fuels explain for the low level solar energy use in the UAE and other Gulf countries.

"The market in the Gulf is very difficult because of the very low electric energy cost and the lack of environment consciousness," said Johannes Waimer Sr., a mechanical engineer who spent 20 years in developing the thermal solar systems in Germany.

But things are changing.

While upfront cost for solar energy is high, solar thermal collectors used to generate hot water in homes, hotels and factories could save hundreds of million dirhams per year in the UAE while reducing emissions.

If a fair calculation is made, solar collectors can be used to inexpensively generate hot water during winter months.

Today, a 100-flat apartment in Bur Dubai is the first building in the Middle East to use solar power to cool a building by day, which he said cuts utility bills by a third. The typical pay-off period for solar energy is three to five years.

Waimer, technical manager for Eco Logic in Dubai, said: "Each kilowatt of electricity used to heat water is wasted energy, polluting the environment and, in the long-term, helping to destroy the air we breathe. Solar energy is clean, it is eternal and it is free of charge."

"The end user will derive free energy from the sun afterwards. "Calculating only the price of an electric boiler against a solar one is the common practice of consultants and contractors. They completely forget that the energy source has to be calculated too, plus the operating cost."

When the cost plus the price for the kilowatt per hour are calculated, most of the solar energy-based systems achieve a payback of less than three years.

"The community is paying for over consumption of others, because the standard calculation does not factor in the amount it takes to generate a kilowatt of electricity," he said. Solar energy units have an expected lifespan of 15 to 20 years.

"Each barrel of oil not burned to heat water could be sold in the market, or saved for future generations," said Waimer, part of the team that developed the integrated storage collector.

Al Bustan Rotana Hotel is one of the biggest solar energy system users in the Gulf.