August 18, 2016 Muscat -

An Omani startup that is making inroads into the renewable energy sector is planning to produce solar panels in the sultanate.

The company has completed several solar and wind energy projects in the country, and is currently working on 172kW on-grid solar energy SQU car park project.

Abdullah al Saidi, CEO of Nafath Renewable Energy, told Muscat Daily that his firm is planning to start a solar panel production facility. "The project is currently in the design stage and the construction of the plant is expected to start as soon as official approvals are granted."

Talking about the pioneering project, Saidi said that his company wants to take advantage of the fact that it has many solar projects lined up.

"Nafath has a lot of projects for installation of solar systems. And with authorities recently backing the rooftop solar systems development in Oman, the scope for producing the solar panels is great."

With solar energy uptake rising around the world and particularly in the region, Saidi added that the company is looking at export market as well.

Talking about the company's one of the biggest projects, Saidi said that SQU car park project will be capable of generating 172kW of electricity. The system will be connected to the grid to pass on any excess power.

He added that the study and design of the project is complete and fieldwork will start in September. It is expected to finish it early 2017.

Parking lots cover large areas in SQU and a team from the College of Engineering has proposed covering 100 car parks using photovoltaic (PV) modules to produce electricity.

The company also equipped SQU's Ecohouse with a photovoltaic system supplying power of 20kW through 80 PV modules. During the day some of the collected power is consumed in the house, and the surplus is exported to the grid.

Saidi said that his company is also spreading awareness regarding renewable energy and its benefits among the people, specially students. "We are providing one week innovation course to students from different schools, telling them about the successful use of renewable energy in the industrial as well as household sector. Water desalination is another area where renewable energy can be successfully used and help bring down environmental pollution."

Earlier this month, Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) floated a tender to appoint a consultant to assist with the development of technical standards for rooftop solar systems in the country.

Eng Hilal al Ghaithi, project manager, AER was quoted in a release as saying, "In line with the authority's plans to promote the use of rooftop solar systems, a tender has been floated to appoint a specialist consultant to assist it in developing technical integration standards and rules for the connection of rooftop PV systems."

He added, "The consultant will recommend and draft technical standards and rules to allow the connection of rooftop solar PV systems that will be installed on buildings to the low voltage (LV) networks. The standards will cover issues such as technical, protection and metering requirements.

"Most importantly, the standards will also set safety requirements to ensure that all installations comply with the relevant local regulations and best international practices."

He stressed that while AER is keen on facilitating deployment of rooftop solar systems, it is essential that robust technical standards are put in place to ensure installations are of high quality and are constructed in a safe and reliable manner.

© Muscat Daily 2016