YBA Kanoo opens solar power facility in Saudi Arabia
Car shelters double as solar panels in green-energy plant
The energy division of Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo Company recently inaugurated a 60kW solar power plant to provide green energy to its facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Proving an innovative way to save space, the solar panels were integrated in the car parking design structure that provides shade for up to 28 cars. The system was designed in modular form, so it can be doubled and trebled as required.
The array was built with the latest Korean renewable technology provided by Korea Nuclear Engineering Services Corporation (KONES) and its affiliates.
The plant was opened in the presence of South Korea’s Consul to Saudi Arabia, Nakyoung Oh; Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohammed Kanoo, group deputy chairman; and Ahmed Fawzi, Kanoo area manager of the Western Province. Aside from reducing power cost, the project is part of Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo’s policy to promote national energy independence while decreasing carbon emissions to benefit the environment.
The project consists of 228 high-efficiency mono crystalline silicon photo voltaic modules which are inclined at 15 degrees and oriented to the south. The output of the solar panel is connected to an inverter which converts DC current generated by the sun into AC current used to supply the building.
A transformer and a state-of-the-art controller ensure that the system remains synchronised with the supply from the grid. The system produces between 300 and 400kWh per day and includes a weather monitoring system which continuously measures the solar energy.
With abundant sunlight in the region and the cost of electricity generated through solar panels dropping (and projected to continue to fall), it seems a safe prediction that solar energy will play a major role in the GCC’s energy portfolio in the years to come. Solar will make strides through a mix of major government-backed solar plants and smaller installations for commercial and private power generation.
