Oct 28 2008
Solar Technologies FZE, a Dubai Technopark-based global company, has announced the establishing of the Middle East's largest photo-voltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Dubai. The announcement was made by Mr. Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai World, at the Green Dubai World Forum 2008 held at the Atlantis in Dubai. The virtual foundation stone laying ceremony of the manufacturing facility was held on October 24, 2008, the inaugural day of the Green Dubai World Forum 2008.
The first phase of the facility will manufacture photo voltaic panels that can annually generate 130 mega watts of power. The facility will go into production in the last quarter of 2010. Subsequently, Solar Technologies will establish similar manufacturing plants in China, Mexico and Bulgaria, which will increase the total production capacity to 1 Giga watt by 2015.
Speaking at the inauguration of the manufacturing facility of Solar Technologies, Mr. Sultan Bin Sulayem, said, "Our vision in Dubai is to create an environmental friendly society. Considering the vast areas of dry lands in the UAE, the potential of obtaining energy from the sun is almost inexhaustible. Solar energy will define the future of our country. The setting up of a photo-voltaic panel manufacturing facility is an important step towards securing our future."
Mr. Dilip Rahulan, Chairman and CEO, Solar Technologies FZE, said, "Solar plants consume little or no fuel, saving millions of dollars every year. Since solar technology is almost pollution-free, the plan to deploy alternative energy systems alone would reduce green house gas emissions from power plants and from buildings. This alone would help put a major brake on global warming."
"With technology paving our path today, changing the country's energy supply to solar power is an achievable task. Solar power is an extremely practical alternative for energy and fuel for transportation as well. Once the countries energy source has been replaced with solar energy, we believe the desire for energy self-sufficiency and the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will become attainable," Mr. Rahulan added.
Solar energy has incredible potential. The energy from sunlight striking the earth for 40 minutes is equivalent to the global energy consumption for a whole year. Every second the sun sends 30 million megawatts of emission free energy to the earth; that is 10,000 times more than the world's primary energy consumption today, more than enough to solve the energy problems in an environment friendly way.
Solar Technologies endeavors to achieve its goal by producing very large solar panels of the size of 5.7 Meter Square which can be used for Building Integrated Photo-Voltaic (BIPV) solar modules suitable for homes, offices and industrial and infrastructure facilities. Solar Technologies brings a unique combination of US technology and Dubai based manufacturing to deliver low cost, high quality modules and high volume production capability.