Renewable Energy AssociationSolar Trade AssociationAct on Co2
Solar Panel News

Qatar To Install Solar Panels On Reservoirs

Qatar, that only covers an area of land around five times the size of London, has announced initial plans that it intends to install solar panels on the tops of many of the 85 reservoirs that are dotted around the country. This news was revealed at the Solar Qatar Summit a few days ago that was attended by a number of solar experts from around the world.

Doha – capital city of Qatar

The announcement was made by Saleh Hamad Al-Marri who heads up the renewable energy section of the country’s state run water and electricity company. Tender bids could be sought from interested parties as soon as next year.

This sounds a challenging project that will no doubt require some innovative engineering. After all, it is not as if these solar arrays are going to be sited on land which is normally the case. It is the intention to make use of transmission cabling that is already in situ so this should go some way towards helping contain expenditure.

Qatar undoubtedly benefits from a greater amount of sun than we do here in the UK so they are keen to maximise the opportunity that solar power presents. Not only will they use the roofs that would cover the reservoirs but they will also place the solar panels on the roofs of grid stations. It is hoped that the country will generate 200MW of capacity by 2020 – that is a considerable figure.

Here in the UK, we obviously have a considerable greater landmass than they do in Qatar so it is perhaps unlikely that we will go down the route of utilising our extensive network of reservoirs to locate solar panels. Having said that – you can never say “never”!

We will continue to keep our readers up to date with any progress that is made in Qatar and, as always, welcome your comments.

This entry was posted in Renewable Energy and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.

Navigation