With the current COVID19 pandemic affecting businesses and consumers across the globe, it is now more important than ever to protect from utility tariff increases and the volatility of oil. Although DEWA’s grid is majorly powered by natural gas, not petrochemicals, the Petroleum Industry affects all spheres of life and it is important to think long term.
Sharaf DG Energy, from the wider Sharaf Group has a mission to make solar power the largest source of sustainable energy in the UAE – with its most recent successful project being the conversion of 500 Dubai villas to solar power in just 45 days.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) launched a project to install solar PV panels on the homes of UAE nationals in Dubai. DEWA entrusted Etihad ESCO to oversee the project, including Sharaf DG Energy, 500 villas each in Dubai.
Sharaf DG Energy executed the project from mechanical erection, to the completion and energisation in just 45 days – 12 teams were deployed that worked on around eight villas per day and successfully completed the installations within the stipulated time period.
Over 6,500 solar PV panels were installed. Each villa will produce 6,220 kilowatt-hours of electricity in one year – this is equivalent to CO2 emissions from consuming 1880 litres of gasoline or growing 70 trees for 10 years.
Sharaf DG Energy is committed to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum to make Dubai a smart and sustainable city and to spread awareness among local communities.
A major challenge of the project, on the engineering front, was the orientation and the size of the buildings, each villa had different positioning with respect to the sun and different roof size. Sharaf DG Energy engineers designed custom solar PV panel layouts for these roofs in order to receive maximum sunlight and thereby produce maximum energy.
Another challenge was helping the families involved to understand more about solar energy and how it works – there was a need to create awareness and inform the families about leading an alternate lifestyle based on using clean energy. The expert team at Sharaf DG Energy sought to educate residents about the environmental benefits of installing solar panels to transform their homes into sturdy structures that would withstand future shocks of climate change and energy security.
“We want to empower communities to achieve higher levels of sustainability” says Vice President, Sanjay Dabur, “This was an important project for us to complete, not only to show our commitment to the growth of sustainable energy in the UAE, but to prove that we will always deliver on any promises we make.”
By completing this project and installing the solar panels, Sharaf DG Energy enabled each homeowner to not only become an independent clean energy producer, but also a part of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s great vision for clean energy in Dubai.