Homes should harness energy

It is possible, and efficient, for all buildings to be fitted with solar panels and water heaters

Solar panels have been installed on the roof of the new Al Fahidi Souk in Dubai. Silvia Razgova / The National
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None of us in this desert nation can be oblivious to the immense power of the Sun. And, as the world tries to end its reliance on the finite supplies of fossil fuels, it would seem only natural that solar power should be part of the energy mix here. This has been recognised at the highest levels of government.

It would have been easy for the UAE, whose economy was built on the export of oil, to sit back, continue to reap the dividends of its natural resources and leave it for others to innovate. But that would have been a very short-term and short-sighted strategy. Instead, through Masdar and other initiatives, this country has been at the forefront of research into, and the implementation of, alternative, sustainable energy sources. We are not only generating solar energy at Shams 1 in the Western Region, but we are also exporting our technology, most recently to Mauritania, where a Masdar-supplied plant will provide power to about 39,000 homes.

The technology is now sufficiently mature to allow for solar panels to be installed on residential buildings, harnessing energy to be used in those homes and to contribute to the grid. Almost every roof across the Emirates could be covered with solar panels – and, for that matter, with solar heaters to provide low-cost hot water.

Of course, there is a price barrier. It has been estimated that electricity tariffs would have to rise by more than two-thirds before investment in solar panels would make sense for home owners. At current prices, it would take 10 or 11 years for such an investment to pay for itself – not viable for short-term renters, but certainly a sensible move for building owners who are looking to the long term.

The Government is already subsidising energy production. Even with the tariff increases in January, Abu Dhabi consumers are a long way from paying market price for power. It makes sense to encourage the installation of solar panels on private premises. Subsidising the conversion of sunshine into electricity rather than power consumption itself would be another example of the forward thinking that has served this country so well.