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A Solar Energy Future Edges Ever Closer
A solar energy future is on the horizon in the oil-rich deserts of Arabia with oil prifits being re-invested into renewable energy. Abu Dhabi recently unveiled plans to invest $2 billion in a project designed to make it a world leader in solar energy and to secure the region's long-term economic future. It will focus on the production of thin film photovoltaic technology, which can be applied to the surface of buildings to generate power. The silicon in this material is in short supply, hence the relatively high cost. Add to this the soaring demand from the solar power industry which keeps the price high. Thin film aims to reduce drastically the cost of solar power by using less material. Production The first phase of the project will involve the building of two separate manufacturing facilities at a cost of $600 million. The first to be built will be in Erfurt, Germany. It act as a prototype for a much larger plant to be built in Abu Dhabi by the spring of 2010. Germany, where a feed-in tariff has encouraged rapid growth of the solar energy industry, is the world leader in the technology and Abu Dhabi hopes to tap into this expertise. The global solar photovoltaic market is worth $15 billion and is growing at a pace of 40% a year. Thin film photovoltaic is growing even faster, with an annual growth rate of 100 per cent. With the amount of sun Abu Dhabi receives all year round, this project makes perfect sense. And with these manufacturing facilities, it is hoping it will then be able to compete with the big hitters in China, Germany and the US to secure its solar energy future. To return to our solar energy home page.
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