A leading photovoltaic (PV) expert has emphasised the need to increase the scale of PV production in order to drive down prices and encourage wider use.
Ray Noble, a member of the renewable advisory board of the UK government and PV consultant at Romag, stressed at an alternative energy seminar in the UAE the importance of using alternative fuel sources.
“There is a need to come up with cleaner fuels. Wind is not the best in the Middle East, there is not too much wind and this creates a less predictable source of energy. However, the solar resource is absolutely excellent, this is the ideal place to generate electricity using the sun,” Noble commented.
“PV was developed by the space industry, it has no moving parts so it creates no emissions.”
Noble also revealed that the optimum angle for a PV panel in the UAE is 24o, facing south, where it will theoretically produce 1,1750kwh of power.
Joe Cargnelli, vice president and chief technical officer of Hydrogenics Corporation, commented on the importance that hydrogen as a fuel can play in the part of renewable energy.
“Hydrogen can time-shift renewable energy”, Cargnelli said. “It allows us to capture and store renewable energy and move that energy into other markets. The Stone Age did not end because of a lack of stones. I believe that we will not move to hydrogen because we have run out of oil or gas but we will move to it because of its advantages.”
“It’s a fuel that can be produced anywhere and you use it for just about anything that requires energy. Hydrogen is non toxic and safe to use. It is a zero emission fuel and when used in a vehicle the only tailpipe emission is water vapour,” Cargnelli concluded.
