Mohannad Esper:
The sun is the most powerful
energy source at our disposal.
It provides enough renewable
energy in just one hour
to power all humankind's
activities for one year.
We just need to figure out
how to capture it.
The United Arab Emirates
is located
in the Arabian Peninsula,
and it's very rich
with fossil fuel,
but also very rich
with sun energy.
If you want to generate
solar power,
this is the best place to be.
Kirsten Kutz: With the decrease
in the price of oil,
the countries in the region,
particularly the UAE,
have had to really look
outside of traditional fuels
and move
into new kinds of energy.
Hani Majzoub:
In Dubai, we have reached
what we call the tipping point,
which is the grid parity,
where the prices of solar
have become cheaper
than electricity
from conventional fuels.
In the newer project,
we're able to produce
electricity
at 2.99 dollar-cents
per kilowatt hour.
It is the cheapest form
of energy in the region
compared to other
conventional power.
It was a world record.
Now we have 200 megawatts
commercially available
and operating.
This is one of the biggest
solar parks in the region.
Esper: The ambient temperature
in Dubai desert
reaches 50 degrees Celsius.
It's a really challenging task
for our engineers
to achieve a product that can
withstand such harsh conditions.
Majzoub: One of the major
advantages that we have
for this harsh environment
is GE inverters,
which can operate
at these high temperatures
with very high efficiency.
Esper: The first generations
of LV solar inverters
required indoor installation.
So customers had to build
an air-conditioned container
for every power block.
Then,
GE came up with an inverter
that actually can work outdoors
without any air conditioning.
It can withstand the harsh
ambient conditions
in the desert of Dubai.
It's a huge achievement.
It will allow us
to power more homes
and reduce
the cost of electricity.
Esper: In this image,
different colors correspond
to different
surface temperatures.
We need the thermal images
to identify
if there is damage
in the panels
that we cannot identify
in the current.
We will send a team.
They take a heat gun
and walk manually
and scan those panels
one by one.
Considering that we have
millions of panels,
they're gonna need weeks
to complete the site,
and also,
the heat is very challenging.
This is a thermal image
using a remote drone,
which is obviously much easier
than doing by hand.
Majzoub: With a drone,
we would be able
to complete the whole solar park
in a day or two
rather than a week or two.
Esper: It's true.
Majzoub:
This is amazing.
Esper:
When you go to a solar park,
there's no noisy,
complicated equipment.
It's just simple and reliable.
Majzoub:
I think all of the countries
here in the region
are seeing solar now
as economically viable.
Kutz:
As populations rise,
as more and more people
move into cities,
the demand for energy
is only going to increase,
which means that you have
to have diversification
in order to meet those needs.
The future energy ecosystem
is not going to be made up
of a single source.
It has to be multiple sources
from different locations,
deep down in the earth,
way out in the desert,
in the middle of the ocean.
That's our future.
