Dubai, Apr. 11th, 2007 (WAM)--- Houses fully powered by solar energy willsoon be available for home owners in the country, according to a UAE English language daily.

"Scandinavian renewable energy experts will bein Abu Dhabi and Dubai later this month to promote solar housing in theUAE after working on the idea in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain", reported theGulf News.

Representatives from Swedish company Switchpower, the paper said, willpresent the concept of developing large residential housing areas thatwill use a fraction of energy from the local power network.

"We have a lot of [solar] energy and it is very importantto do something with it. The UAE could really benefit from this, especiallyif it is adopted by developers", Yvonne Andersson, Middle East senioradviser for Switchpower based in the UAE was quoted by the paper as saying.

Tripled glazed windows will provide insulation for the new houses withair conditioning to be solar-powered.

According to the proposal, the houses have been designed to create shadowareas throughout the day with an insulated south facing wall while theangle of the roof is calculated to achieve maximum performance from thesolar power system.

"In Sweden, solar power is being used in a lot of different places andwe don't have as much sun as here. It is being used in football stadiums,homes and businesses," said Andersson.

Currently there are no solar powered houses in the Middle East but Bahrainis apparently quite interested in the project, according to Andersson.

"These houses can then be [connected to] wind power to continue providingpower when the sun has set," she said.

The cost of a house fully equipped with solar cells could not be definedby Andersson, but she said the investment in the beginning was worth itin the end as the sun is free.

"Photovoltaic solar cells are placed on the roof. The electricity producedfrom the cells is fed to the air-conditioning compressor by an inverter",added the paper.

"The compressor, which is oversized, will supply the fan coil unit withcoolant and the surplus of cooling capacity will be stored in an accumulatortank and will be used later when the solar cells are not producing electricity."Maximum PV power capacity, said the paper, canbe generated with no further need for imported electricity during theevening and night.

The stored cooling capacity in the accumulator tank is enough to coolthe house when the sun has set, it said.