Black Hole Sun

[More Images]

“When we have a piece of land the first thing we do is measure the wind direction and strength and how much water we have available – those factors really limit our design, but they have to come first if you’re serious about building green,” Stoll said.

Heating water is an area where solar panels in the Gulf can be valuable. At the KAFD, Henning Larsen estimate that solar panels could provide 80% of hot water, seriously reducing the need for gas or electric boilers.

But even then, Stoll adds, there is a misconception that because of the region’s constant sunshine, panels have a major role in a green building – actually, because of the dust and sand in the UAE, solar only has a limited impact on overall energy reduction.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT While I completely agree with the article regarding the use of solar panels, I was again annoyed by the assumptions made   1 Comments Read more comments »

He gives the example of a significant hotel in Dubai which purports to use a few solar panels to heat its water, when in reality the building would need some 7,000 panels. At the same time, Stoll said, the hotel in question has to regularly hose down the panels from dust and sand.

Henning Larsen’s Zukek agreed. “You get so much dust out here that solar panels require a lot of maintenance. After a week or two the dust seriously minimizes the efficiency.”

Bassam Elassaad, business development director for the Middle East at GEA Consulting, goes further. He argues that even using solar panels for heating water is unnecessary during the hot summer months in the Gulf.

“Anybody who has taken a shower from May to October can tell you that the sun heats the water on the roof of buildings and your cold tap becomes the source of hot water,” he said.

Conversely, one area where solar can be useful, Elassaad said, is in cooling water and the air inside a building. He said that new technological advances in solar energy actually allows panels to do this.

Elassaad explained that desiccant materials, which absorb moisture and then can be dried by adding heat, can be used to aid cooling in a building. These systems use a wheel containing the desiccant material turning slowly picking up humidity and discharging it to the outdoors. The energy to drive the wheel and the heat needed to dry the material can be supplied from solar panels making the system virtually operation cost free.

“Such systems are a boost to solar and renewable energy in general. By expanding the use of solar panels in residences beyond heating water, solar energy will increasingly contribute to smart and environmentally-friendly homes,” he said.