The impact of Bapco 5 MW solar PV grid-connected project on Bahrain’s outlook for clean energy and energy-mix production was analyzed since solar electricity obtained from PV installation is considered as a non-linear system. Several positive impacts were counted. These impacts were on business, economy, environment, research, green jobs creation and rooftop installation and other large-scale installation. This project had attracted public, investors, developers to invest in similar projects in the Kingdom of Bahrain; especially it is an environmentally friendly and smart technology. This innovative smart grid-connected 5 MW solar PV power plant is enough to electrify 500 houses @ 10 kW and had answered lots of frustrating questions such as the effect of dust on PV performance, need of man-made cleaning compared to naturally cleaned PV panels, reliability of the system, greenhouse gases reduction and pay-back period.
References
[1]
Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, Derasat (2019) Two Prosperous Decades. Miracles Publishing House, Manama. (In Arabic)
Abdulla, Y.A.G. and Bagdady, M.K. (1985) Global and Diffuse Solar Radiation in Doha (Qatar). Solar and Wind Technology, 2, 209-212.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0741-983X(85)90018-9
[4]
Alnaser, W.E. (1995) Renewable Energy Resources in the State of Bahrain. Applied Energy, 50, 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-2619(95)90761-5
[5]
Almarshoud, A.F. (2017) Technical and Economic Performance of 1 MW Grid-Connected PV System in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 7, 9-17. https://doi.org/10.9790/9622-0704010917
[6]
Shiva Kumar, B. and Sudhakar, K. (2015) Performance Evaluation of 10 MW Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant in India. Energy Reports, 1, 184-192.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2015.10.001
[7]
Madiwal, P. and Reddy, L. (2014) Performance and Evaluation of 5 MW Grid Connected Solar PV Plant at Shivanasamudra. International Journal of Science & Technology, 4, 11-16.
[8]
Rehman, S. and El-Amin, I. (2012) Performance Evaluation of an Off-Grid Photovoltaic System in Saudi Arabia. Energy, 46, 451-458.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2012.08.004
[9]
Alnaser, W.E., Alnaser, N.W. and Batarseh, I. (2014) Bahrain’s Bapco 5 MW PV Grid-Connected Solar Project. International Journal of Power and Renewable Energy Systems, 1, 72-84.
[10]
Batarseh, I. (2015) Distributed Smart Solar Technologies: Smart Cities of the Future [15-18 February 2015]. Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development, University of Bahrain, Zallaq.
Alnaser, N.W. (2009) Utilisation of Solar and Wind Energy in Buildings in the Kingdom of Bahrain: A Step towards Sustainable Building Construction. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Reading, Reading.
[13]
Mekhile, S., Saidur, R. and Kamalisarvestani, M. (2012) Effect of Dust Humidity and Air Velocity on Efficiency of Photovoltaic Cells. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16, 2920-2925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.02.012
[14]
Alnaser, W.E. and Alnaser, N.W. (2019) The Impact of the Rise of Using Solar Energy in GCC Countries. International Journal of Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability, 4, Article No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1051/rees/2019004
[15]
Haji, S., Durazi, A. and Al-Alawi, Y. (2018) Feed-In Tariff Structure Development for Photovoltaic Electricity and the Associated Benefits for the Kingdom of Bahrain. International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 37, 1-16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14786451.2017.1304940
Alnaser, N.W., Al Othman, M.J., Dakhel, A.A., Batarseh, I., Lee, J.K., Najmaii, S., Alothman, A., Al Shawaikh, H. and Alnaser, W.E. (2018) Comparison between Performance of Man-Made and Naturally Cleaned PV Panels in a Middle of a Desert. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 1048-1055.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.058
[18]
Saidan, M., Albaali, A.G., Alasis, E. and Kaldellis, J. (2016) Experimental Study on the Effect of Dust Deposition on Solar Photovoltaic Panels in Desert Environment. Renewable Energy, 92, 499-505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.02.031
Mas’ud, A.A., Wibra, A.V., Alshammari, S.J., Muhammad-Sukki, F., Abdullhadi, M., Albarracin, D. and Hoq, M.Z. (2018) Solar Energy Potentials and Benefits in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: A Review of Substantial Issues. Energies, 11, 372-392. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11020372
Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment, and Wildlife (2012) Bahrain’s Second National Communication—Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/bhrnc2.pdf
Kjaer, S.B., Pedersen, J.K. and Blaabjerg, F. (2005) A Review of Single-Phase Grid-Connected Inverters for Photovoltaic Modules. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 41, 1292-1306. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2005.853371
[29]
Tatweer Petroleum (2019) Solar Power in the Bahrain Oil Field. International Sustainable Energy Event 2019, Manama, 17-18 April 2019, Keynote Presentation.
[30]
Alnaser, N.W. (2017) First Smart 8.64 kW BIPV in a Building in Awali Town at Kingdom of Bahrain. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 205-214.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.041
[31]
Haji, S., Bin Shams, M., Akbar, A.S., Abdali, H. and Alsaffar, A. (2019) Energy Analysis of Bahrain’s First Hybrid Renewable Energy System. International Journal of Green Energy. https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2019.1619567
[32]
Hamzah, R.Y., Alnaser, N.W. and Alnaser, W.E. (2018) Accelerating the Transformation to a Green University: University of Bahrain Experience. E3S Web of Conferences, 48, Article No. 06002. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20184806002
