As part of this week's Topic of the week, we will present a number of (we think) impressive or interesting large-scale rooftop solar installations. Today, we are going to the United Arab Emirates:
The Phanes Group, an international end-to-end solar provider headquartered in Dubai, has partnered with Huawei to deliver the UAE’s first medium voltage rooftop connection solar project. The 25.8-megawatt distributed rooftop project was developed for DP World – the 2nd largest port operator worldwide. This is currently the largest distributed development in the UAE and has a unique composition of different project types, including warehouses, carports, commercial buildings etc.
The development includes more than 88,000 solar panels, Huawei’s SUN2000-(8-40)KTL all series Smart String Inverters, 25 independent projects, each with single Points of Connection (POC), across 60 plus rooftops and 6 different roof types including so far the region’s biggest single-site rooftop (2.6 MW). The site also had 12 different building profiles and included simultaneous work on up to 12 projects.
Kick-starting the UAE’s solar industry
It is a key project under Dubai’s Shams net-metering scheme and serves as a blueprint for the roll-out of distributed industrial solar PV for the region. Stefanos Lialios, Head of Project Execution for Oryx Solar Systems Solutions – a Phanes Group company – said that the project provides stable power generation to DP World thanks to the performance of the Huawei smart string inverters, especially their reliability and low failure rate since they were commissioned to the grid. Phanes Group supports the use of the natural cooling smart string inverters in extremely high temperatures and desert conditions, and further optimises costs through the smart management system.
“We are really proud of this partnership and the project,” added Lialios. “It’s a pioneering project which will act as a kick-starter for moving the PV solar industry forward in the UAE and we are optimistic on the future of renewables in the Emirates.”
High levels of solar irradiation
The DP World solar project takes advantage of the high levels of solar irradiation to produce 35,734 megawatt hours of electricity annually and displaces more than 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year. It is accredited under the UN Component Project Activities for Small-Scale Solar in UAE and contributes to Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 as well as the UAE’s vision 2021 for a stainable environment. Phanes Group and Huawei will continue to work together to develop more efficient solar PV plants worldwide. (mfo)
Here, in case you missed it, is Part 1 of last week's topic of the week. Tomorrow, we will show you a retail space with a difference.
