Bahrain needs to use the high solar potential in the kingdom, but limited land and prohibitive costs are deterrents, according to a study.
The scientific research found that installing solar panels on the rooftops of residential buildings in Khalifa Town – touted as a Smart City – could lower greenhouse emissions in the town by around 21 per cent.
However, it would require home builders to design roofs more suitable for the placement of photovoltaic (PV) systems.
A PV system is composed of one or more solar panels combined with an inverter and other electrical and mechanical hardware that use energy from the sun to generate electricity which can then be used to power electronics locally, or be sent on to the electrical grid for use elsewhere.
The study, ‘The feasibility of using rooftop solar PV fed to the grid for Khalifa Town houses in the Kingdom of Bahrain’, found that installing 17kW panels on each of the 1,724 villas in Khalifa Town (out of more then 4,600 expected villas) will annually produce 44,953 MWh of electricity – sufficient to meet around 43pc of the town’s total electricity needs.
“Installing PV panels on residential building rooftop areas is an important concern since it works in parallel with the sustainable energy transition anticipated in the Economic Vision 2030,” said the study.
The research, published in the Energy and Buildings Journal last month, was conducted by Arabian Gulf University Professor Waheeb Al Nasser, Bahrain University Professor Dr Nasser Al Nasser, Reading University Professor Roger Flanagan and Kingdom University architectural engineer Amani EzzEldin.
“The world has been experiencing huge changes over the last century that have led to significant environmental and energy challenges,” said Prof Al Nasser in an introduction to the study.
“These changes were mainly due to the rapid economic development and significant population growth which have risen dramatically from below a billion a century ago to more than seven billion today.
“Above all of these challenges comes the issue of climate change, carbon reduction and increased energy demanded especially in the Arab region where 5.1pc of the world’s total primary energy supply and 7.8pc of its carbon dioxide emissions have been accounted – much of it generated in the GCC countries.”
According to international studies, GCC nations face the problem of growing energy demands owing to a growing population, surging rates of urbanisation, rapid economic and industrial development and increasing living standards.
Statistics indicate that the building sector accounts for around 80pc of the electricity consumption – especially residential buildings – and in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia more than 50pc of the total electricity produced is used in the residential sector.
“A study affirmed that the majority of Bahraini buildings lack sustainability features, being built with insufficient environmental considerations, which generates a huge energy crisis as it consumes around 80pc of total electricity consumption,” added Prof Al Nasser.
“This research aims to help in developing awareness of the positive impact of PV applications over the long term to encourage Bahraini authorities to be involved with new policies in delivering more sustainable residential projects.
“Phase one of the project was designed to include 1,700 units along with various public facilities which led to 120 units constructed as a prototype to investigate functionality.
“The main aim of this study was to explore the viability of producing energy through PV systems on residential rooftops in Bahrain and it is important to employ accurate tools to obtain realistic data.
“The rooftop design of the housing units in Khalifa Town revealed significant restrictions for PV application due to a variety of structural and architectural obstacles that allowed only about 35pc of the available roof area – depending on roof typology – to be used for a PV system.”
However, the study also pointed out that “land limitation and cost is a barrier”.
“It makes no sense to use land that costs BD100 per square foot (or BD300psqm) to install a PV system that will provide daily solar electricity of 28 kWh per day,” added Dr Al Nasser.
“This is an annual production of 10,220 kWh which is worth around BD30 if the unit price is 3 fils per kWh and BD300 if unit price is 30 fils per kWh.
“Using the rooftops of buildings offers a feasible solution as Bahrain’s total land area is only about 780sqkm.”
reem@gdn.com.bh
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