Ten of The besT clean energy projecTs ThaT are already making our lives easy in The uae

With the Solar Impulse 2 in the news for a couple of years — the first round-the-world, solar-powered flight, sponsored by Abu Dhabi’s Masdar — the UAE is making the world sit up and take notice of its progress towards being a sustainable global economy.

The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority is in the process of building the world’s largest solar power plant in Sweihan; Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is currently the world’s largest single-site solar park; and Dubai has also set a world record for the lowest ever cost of solar power, even beating out the price of fossil fuels.

The next time you’re out and about, notice all the ways in which the UAE has gone green. 1 The ENOC petrol station, Dubai Internet City is the first solar-powered service station in the UAE. 2 There are a little over 5,500 high-tech parking metres all over the UAE that are controlled by GPRS in real-time. 3 Al Mu’ayrid, Ras Al Khaimah is home to the first smart and green mosque. 4 There are 100 solar-powered lighting poles in the Khor Fakkan area in Sharjah. 5 The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched solar-powered SOS telephones to help when in distress at the cycling track at Seih Al Salam, Dubai. 6 The Italian Embassy, Abu Dhabi runs completely on green energy today. 7 The Umm Suqeim Beach and Za’abeel Park have palm-tree inspired Wi-Fi stations that are solar-powered. Al Khazzan Park, Dubai operates 100% on solar power. 8 Little Leaders, located in the Hamdiya area of the Emirate of Ajman, is the UAE’s first solarpowered preschool. 9 There’s also a labour camp in Ajman that runs completely on solar energy. 10 172 solar-powered bus shelters in Sharjah have been in the process of going operational since 2017.

The UAE is using its solar technology to help its neighbours too — solar-powered vaccine refrigerators were sent to Yemen recently.

As Dubai aims to have a solar panel on every roof by 2030 and Abu Dhabi is working on the world’s first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city (Masdar), we can look forward to many more solar-powered devices around us.