Solar Systems Analysis and Estimation for Buildings in Bahrain and GCC Countries

Abstract

The high electricity demand and consumption of in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries show that alternative ways of energy production have to be explored and developed. The renewable resources of energy applications should be addressed, tested and evaluated in the GCC region including the solar energy systems approach. In the present paper we identify and present the fundamental parameters for the solar systems installation in GCC, the influence of the local environmental conditions and the panels’ characteristics and efficiency for this certain region. An extended investigation is presented concerning the characteristics of the panels' types, the orientation and tilt angle, the influence of dust, humidity and climate temperature and the real efficiency of the panels’ estimation. The efficiency and power estimation is analysed by an alternative empirical approach, giving particular interest to the specific factors that are responsible for the efficiency drop. It is concluded that the solar systems application can be high beneficial for the Bahrain region, if the installation is developed according to the specific climate conditions as the dust precedence in the atmosphere or the temperature on the cells during the operation. This type of environmental power production solution can be cost efficient and sustainable, providing to the region an alternative solution for the electricity production.