INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of time man has looked up at the sun and
thought of it as a source of ultimate power. Ancient Romans
and Greeks were the first on record to actually make use of the
sun. They used what a modern architect would call “Passive
Solar Design”. They would build their homes, palaces and
plazas in such a way that in winter, the sunshine would warm
their homes in turn reducing the fuel (wood) demand which was
in shortage then. Today our very technologically advanced
world is heading towards an energy and eco catastrophe. Our
fossil fuel reserves are coming to an end. Our cities are full of
photochemical smog. We must look to alternative energy
sources. Sources that are renewable and pollution free that is
green energy. Using the sun’s energy to meet our daily energy
demands is very promising. Also there is a lot of ongoing
research in refining the solar energy production process.

The purpose of this report is to emphasize on the impending

environmental and energy crisis by describing, analyzing and
evaluating the proposed solution: photovoltaic power plants.
Finally the feasibility of implementing this technology in Saudi
Arabia are to be taken into account

I will begin the report by highlighting the need for green

energy. Further into the report I will discuss the proposed plan
i.e. photovoltaic power plants and related issues. At the end the
prospects of solar technology in Saudi Arabia will be talked
about.

I. WHY GO GREEN?

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Our fossil fuel reserves are expected to last not more than 40-
50 years even if the current consumption rate, without
increase, stays on. And this figure is so by ignoring the
increasing energy demands of India and China. Metropolitan
cities like Karachi are facing power cuts up to 10-14 hours a
day. This comes at a time while we are in April and air
conditioning loads have not yet peaked! This has really affected
the lives of the people. Factories remain shut for days. As a
result workers who are daily wagers go home without any
money. All this is resulting in public frustration and an
exponential rise in poverty. Due to the factories remaining
closed there is no production which in turn reflects on exports
and at large the economy.

Cities like Hong Kong have such thick atmospheres that pilots
who are equipped with the latest instrument landing systems
find it difficult to land. People are at the risk of many dangerous
respiratory diseases because of the air they are breathing.
Many have resorted to wearing masks whenever they go
outside. Some consider it is the worst place for children under 2
to travel to. This is all due to the ever-increasing emissions
from daily commuters and industries in the vicinity.

The situation we are in is grave and alarming. We need to find

effective and efficient solutions soon. According to former US
vice president Al Gore the energy from the sun absorbed in one
hour can meet the world’s energy demand for an year! In July
2007 he challenged the US to create 100% of their energy
using green technology (1:1). To meet this challenge heavy
investments in the renewable energy sector are to be made.
The ball park figure would be more than $900 billion (1:2).
America has waged a war that has destroyed thousands of
homes and so far has not achieved anything. They have spent
more than $1.2 trillion on a war which has not helped the world

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or the American people in anyway. Imagine some productive
use of all that money such as investing in green technologies.

II. THE PLAN: PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR POWER PLANTS

A. Photovoltaics

Photovoltaic energy is the conversion of sunlight into electricity

(3:1). A photovoltaic cell, commonly called a solar cell or PV, is
the technology used to convert solar energy directly into
electrical power (3:1). A photovoltaic cell is a non-mechanical
device usually made from silicon or other semiconductor alloys
(3:1). Sunlight is composed of photons, or particles of solar
energy (3:1). These photons contain various amounts of
energy corresponding to the different wavelengths of the solar
spectrum. When photons strike a photovoltaic cell, they may
be reflected, pass right through, or be absorbed. Only the
absorbed photons provide energy to generate electricity. When
enough sunlight is absorbed by the photosensitive material,
electrons are dislodged from the material's atoms giving free
electrons which cause the potential difference (voltage) (3:2).

For the first time the photoelectric (PE) effect was observed by
a French physicist, Edmund Bequerel, in 1839, whose findings
showed that certain materials would produce small amounts of
electric current when exposed to light (3:1). In 1905, Albert
Einstein described the nature of light and the PE effect on
which PV technology is based. For this he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in physics (3:1). The first PV solar cell was built by
Bell Laboratories in 1954. Then it was too expensive to gain
widespread use. In the 1960s, the space industry began to
make the first practical use of the technology to provide power
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aboard spacecraft. Through the space programs, the
technology advanced, its reliability was established, and the
cost began to decline. During the energy crisis in the 1970s,
photovoltaic technology gained recognition as a source of
power for non-space applications like calculators, remotes and
watches.

B. Photovoltaic Power Plants

1. PV Power Plants

Photovoltaic power plants are power stations that make use of

the PV solar cells at a large scale to generate electricity for the
mains supply or the grid. PV power plants are a relatively new
technology in comparison to other means of power generation
at a large scale. During the day when the sunshine is at its
maximum they create electricity which is stored.

Some of the upcoming PV power plant projects are as the

follows:

- By 2011, Deming, New Mexico, USA will be the home to a

large PV solar power plant. This 300 Megawatt (MW)
facility will be one of the largest solar plant on the planet
(2:1). The plant will cover as many as 1,300 hectares and
employ between 300 and 400 people (2:2).

- Australia is also in the race for the biggest solar project

with a PV power plant near Mildura, Victoria, Australia
(2:2). It will be commissioned in 2010 and will be further
developed until its completion in 2013, generating 154

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 MW of solar energy (2:2). With the completion of the
Mildura plant the holding company will continue to expand
in Australia with the goal of 270 Gigawatt (GW) of output
from a number of plants (2:2). Australia’s renewable
energy goal is 20% by 2020 (2:2).

III. AREAS OF CONCERN

A. High Installation Costs

Many scientists and critics in general, debate about the fact

that solar power generation in particular PV farming is a bogus
investment. To there response according to business tycoon T.
Boone Pickens, PV solar power generation would cost about
$6.5 billion per GW (1:2). And according to the New York Times
average cost of nuclear power excluding uranium fuel rod
would be $8 billion! So it is a safe and essential investment for
the future of any nation.

B. Storage of Energy

This is a very commonly asked question, that how to store all

that energy from the sun.

1. Liquid and Lithium Ion Batteries

There are a few techniques to store energy. The most common

one being batteries. Batteries which are currently being used
are Lithium ion batteries. These are expensive and are one of
the adding factors to the high costs of the whole PV plant.
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There is a lot of ongoing research for this purpose in many of
the leading universities of the world. In particular one
technology which has proved to be very effective is the liquid
battery developed by MIT. It is a vessel containing three liquids
of varying densities (4:1). Molten magnesium and antimony are
the electrodes (4:2). The third liquid plays the part of the
electrolyte which lies between the two electrodes(4:2). As the
battery discharges, the molten metals react and slowly ionize,
dissolving into the electrolyte. When it is recharged, the
magnesium and antimony go from ionic to metallic form and
thus, the recharged battery once again has thick liquid metal
layers and a thin layer of electrolyte (4:2).

Figure 1. The mechanism of the liquid battery (4:1)

This is a small quick recharging battery with huge capacities to

store energy. Thus it is ideal for solar PV power plants. Its
developers think it holds a very promising future.

2. The Hydrogen Economy

The hydrogen economy is a proposal for the distribution of

energy by using hydrogen (6:1). Hydrogen (H2) gives off energy
when it is combined with oxygen but the hydrogen itself has to
first be produced (6:1). To use hydrogen as a fuel, it first has to
be generated by electrolysis of water or another method (6:1).

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A reduction in carbon dioxide emission would only be achieved
if the energy used to split the water is obtained from non
carbon-based sources. Here is where we can introduce PV solar
power. The plan suggested by Dr. S U Rahman, assistant
director of the Center for Excellence and Research in
Renewable Energy at KFUPM is shown in the following flow
chart.
WATER
FROM
SEAS

ELECTRICI
SUN TY ELECTROLYZER

O
2

H2

LIQUID HYDROGEN WHICH CAN BE USED

AS FUEL AND TRANSPORTED EASILY

Figure 2. The Hydrogen Econonomy plan (5:2)

Some futurists promote hydrogen as potential fuel for motive

power (including cars, boats and airplanes), the energy needs
of buildings and portable electronics (6:1).

C. Area and Maintenance

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This is a very important aspect in the feasibility of PV power
plants. For a fact a PV power plant occupies huge areas of land
up to 60 hectares of land. But at the cost of clean energy this is
not something to compromise. We build huge shopping malls
and amusement parks on vast areas of land but when it comes
to something that is actually important for our future we
become stingy. Ideally a PV plant should be built in the country
side where there are vast areas of free land. They should not
be built near urban areas.

Maintenance is also a very important aspect because with the

commissioning of any project or scheme maintenance of the
system is extremely important. In PV power plants there is little
maintenance involved. This is a huge advantage in this power
generation scheme because there are no mechanically moving
parts involved. The only maintenance required is janitorial work
such as cleaning the solar panels.

IV. PROSPECTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia is an oil based economy. It is the biggest oil

supplier in the world with a daily output of up to 10,000,000
barrels! Oil and gas reserves are estimated to exhaust out in a
few decades. So it is essential for the Saudi government to
invest in the renewable enrgy sector. Saudi Arabia is a desert
country. It receives the most sunshine in the world. It is also in
the top 20 consumers of oil. The proposed plan is to set up PV
solar farms in the desert.

According the World Bank survey of 2006, 83% of the Saudi

population lives in the 20 urban regions indicated in the figure
below (7:1).

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 RUB AL
KHALI

Figure 3. Map of the 20 urban regions of Saudi Arabia (5:1)

And in the south east of the kingdom (Rub Al Khali) there are
hundreds of square miles of empty desert ready to be
cultivated with solar crops. This rules out the area problem
faced by many countries and adds into the weight of the fact
that Saudi Arabia should go for PV power plants.

Some may argue that the kingdom will be spending too much
money on the PV solar project when they can get cheaper
energy from burning oil. Question is how long can they depend
on oil. Oil prices have already started falling since the 3rd
quarter of 2008. Still we are not in the deep yet. Kingdom has
huge surplus reserves up to $2 trillion because of the surge in
oil prices between 2004 and mid 2008. So there is no better
time to start PV solar farming then now. At the moment they
hold the monopoly in supplying energy to the world. To keep
this monopoly in their hands they must explore in renewable
energy sectors such as PV solar. With PV power plants in action
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the kingdom can once again become a leader in supplying
liquid hydrogen to the world which according to many is the
fuel of the future, using the hydrogen economy scheme
suggested above. This will be an investment for the children of
the nation. It will surely secure their futures.

An interesting fact is that Saudi Arabia holds one of the world’s

largest silica reserves. Silica is the base chemical for
manufacturing solar panels. This can rule out importing solar
panels and give birth to a new sector for exports and in turn
reducing the overall costs of the PV power plants.

Implementing a PV solar power plant will create thousands of

jobs for young Saudis. It will also increase in the collaboration
with foreign countries for technology. The best effect will be on
the universities of the kingdom. This will create a driving force
for research activities in all related areas from renewable
energy to cost effective manufacturing.

CONCLUSION

All the above mentioned is a dream. To turn it into reality, a lot

of work and further vision is required. The kingdom has
potential for implementing this technology. It’s time for change
and like Barack Obama said, “Change we can believe in”.
Investment in PV power plants would be a green investment by
any country for its future generations and the fruit that will be
reaped from this will be very sweet. Its time to go green.
Governments really need to think that how long can we blindly
burn polluting fuels for energy and add to our already thick
atmosphere. I will end by sharing a quote by Dr. S U Rahman:

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 It is not prudent to burn fossil fuels for getting energy. They
should

be used for making materials. Energy must come from its

ultimate

source which is the sun.

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 WORKS CITED

1. “Green Energy : Our Future Depends On It.” BusinessWeek.

5 Feb. 2009. Full Text : ABI Inform Global.

2. Hudson, Gavin. “World’s 13 Largest Solar Energy Plants,

Photovoltaic.” EcoWorldly.com. <www.ecoworldly.com>

3. Knier, Gil. “How do Photovoltaics Work?” NASA.

<http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/solarcells.htm>

4. Levinson, Yoni. “Liquid Battery As Solar Storage Solution.”

EcoGeek.org. <www.ecogeek.org> (06 Mar. 2009)

5. “Solar Panel Images.” Yahoo! Images. <http://images.yahoo.com>

6. Rahman, S U. Personal Interview. 13 Apr. 2009

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7. “Urban in the Regions Snapshot of Middle East and North Africa.”

GoogleSearch. <www.google.com

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