Solar PV Plant in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Masdar city is one of the cities in the United Arab Emirates that have low carbon and there is the presence of low-waste urban development. The city has enormous solar PV plants owing to the scarcity of the fresh water that is required in the city. The lack of fresh water leads to dependence on desalination that requires large amounts of energy thus explaining why the solar PV plants are used as sources of energy in this city (DiPaola, 2011).
In Masdar, there are large reverses of hydrocarbon, which have the ability of supplying energy to the city, but they require combination of other sources such as the traditional sources of energy to promote clean technologies. Solar energy is one of the renewable sources of energy thus has been utilized greatly in the PV plants since it is a cheap source of energy as it makes use of the sun. Solar panels have been installed greatly in the city to utilize the energy form the sun. The use of solar energy in the city has cut down its budget on energy with over six billion US dollars, which is adorable (DiPaola, 2011).
The energy harnessed from the numerous solar panels is converted to electric energy and is later supplied in homes for use. The company is also working to create CSP plants that will utilize the available land in the city to generate power. The project entails use of parabolic mirrors to focus the sun’s energy on a central axis thus creating heat. It will reinforce the use of natural gas thus reducing the emission of Carbon IV oxide gas in the atmosphere. It is the greatest investments that the company has adopted and the plant is expected to generate 210 gig watt-hours per year (Hume, 2013).
The major challenge facing the project is dust that reduces the efficiency of the mirrors. Its generation is because of the various constructions taking place in the city. In addition, the company has also instituted the use of solar absorption refrigerators to cut down on the energy used in cooling. The Middle East is one of the hottest regions on earth thus, people have to devise ways make the place inhabitable. The technology generates cold water, which is piped into the city for use by the inhabitants. The picture below illustrates the Solar CSP plant to be developed in Masdar city (Hume, 2013).
(Google images, 2014)
Solar PV plant in Masdar city based in Abu Dhabi is the largest solar plants in the Middle East whereby it covers a wide geographical area of about 210,000 square meters. It produces renewable energy from the sun that results to be a clean energy that displaces the carbon emissions. The energy helps to reduce gas imports in the country, since the plant can generate the required extra source of energy (DiPaola, 2011).
Solar PV plant came into being at June 2009, where a plant that supplies 10 megawatt was constructed. The energy production was so efficient that it made the company foresee the expansion of the plant to generate more power using the same technique. It constructed another branch that was in a position to produce 100 megawatt of energy.
The construction of the plant boosted the energy production in the country and made it a role model in the use of clean energy. It secured the energy supplies, which facilitated a sustainable development to meet future needs of energy. The setting up of solar photovoltaic plant in the region has made the Masdar city on the forefront in use of clean energy. The savings generated from the project have been used to develop the city thus leading to the growth in the economy.
The growth of the economy provided employment opportunities to many people as the construction of the plant and the regions utilized the labor force of the people in the town. It led to rise in standards of people. The active cooling process has helped solve the problem of fresh water in the United Arab Emirates. The region contains numerous oil fields and few resources of fresh water thus making them they depend on desalination, which requires energy. The solar plant has been a great solution to this issue. This is an evidence of the bed flats of the solar power plant being the largest in the region.
(Google image, 2014)
The planning of the town was perfect as the engineers had in mind the emergence of a clean town, which has the aspects of other towns but is unique due to the source of energy. The manner in which the town and the space have been utilized is awesome as the establishment of the solar photovoltaic plant is on the outskirts of the town to give room for development in the town. The use of the renewable source of energy has promoted cleanliness in the city as the emission of carbon gases and other green house gases has been reduced significantly. The Masdar city is in a position to provide home for about 40,000 residents and 1,500 companies (Castro, nd.). The image below shows the cost of conventional electricity vs. that of solar energy.
(Google images, 2014)
In conclusion, nations should embrace the use of clean technology as it cuts downs the emissions of CO2 and other green house gases from industries. It also ensures the conservation of the environment since industries that use firewood as their source of energy will have a substitute, which is cheap and convenient. The Masdar city should uphold the innovations and welcome any improvement to retain the legacy it has set. The use of solar energy guarantees savings, which may be channeled to other developments in the nation.
References
DiPaola Anthony, (February 16, 2011). Energy, Masdar city solar PV plant. Retrieved on July 8 2014 from: http://www.masdar.ae/en/energy/detail/masdar-city-solar-pv-plant
Castro M. Liezel, Solar:PV: Renewable Energy Solution for your Home. Retrieved on July 8 2014 from: ezinearticles.com/solar-pv:-Renewable-energy-solution-for-your-home.
Google images, (2014). Masdar city solar. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?g=masdar+city+solar+pv+plant&client=firefox
Hume Peter, (April 8th, 2013). Masdar City: A Rising Start. Retrieved on July 9, 2014 from: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1879752/masdar_city_a_rising_star.ht ml