Dear Solarthermalworld.org Reader,
More than 500 people attended the opening of the 5th Solar
Heating and Cooling (SHC) Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on 30 October.
It is the first time that this annual conference by the IEA’s Solar
Heating and Cooling Programme has been organised jointly with the Solar
World Congress, resulting in 2017’s largest experts’ meeting on
integrated SHC solutions for buildings, industry, cities, regions and
utilities.
Dr
Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s Minister of Climate Change and
Environment, and Fatima Al Foora, Assistance Undersecretary for
Electricity and Future Energy, provided a warm welcome to the
international solar research experts, who may play an important role in
advancing the adaption of solar technologies to the dusty, often
waterless Gulf region. The host of the conference was Masdar Institute,
which had been incorporated into Khalifa University of Science and
Technology this February. Scientists from the institute emphasised that
sand and dust soiling has a much higher impact on the efficiency of
photovoltaic panels than on the one of solar thermal collectors and that
desalinated water is energy which should be integrated into Abu Dhabi’s
future renewables mix. Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, has
one of the largest CO2 footprints worldwide, an ambitious
2021 clean energy target of 27 % and a nuclear power plant under
construction. More news articles on the conference and the region will
follow soon. (Photo: Masdar Institute at Khalifa University of Science
and Technology).
Have a good read and sunny regards
The Editorial Team