Qatar's Solar Industry Hampered by Dust

Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the chariman of Qatar Electricity & Water Company, told reporters, "we are one of the biggest believers in solar."

Only two years ago the Qatar Foundation teamed up with SolarWorld, the German solar panel manufacturer, to create the company Qatar Solar Technologies, and build a $1 billion polysilicon production facility. Polysilicon is vital to the solar industry, used in the production of solar wafers, cells, modules, and panels, which are used to convert the sun's rays into electricity.

Dr. Khalid Al-Hajri, the chief executive officer at Qatar Solar Technologies, believes, "the polysilicon produced in Qatar by Qatar Solar Technologies will enable solar energy companies and organisations around the globe to produce products that reduce greenhouse gases, protect the environment and provide the clean renewable energy that makes such a positive impact on so many people across the world."

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Qatar plans for solar energy to provide 25% of its electricity generation by 2030. Unfortunately Qatar's solar industry faces a major problem which affects all of the Gulf States. Dust builds up on the solar panels and vastly reduces their efficiency, meaning that it must be constantly cleaned off.

Hamad Al Attiyah said that, "we are receiving a lot of dust from the frontier areas, and the dust is one of the challenges. It reduces sharply the efficiency of solar." However he is "a big believer that technology will solve it."

By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com