Sheikha Moza opens Qatar\'s first solar test facility

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, patronized on Sunday the opening of the first solar test facility at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), on the sidelines of the 18th UN Climate Change Conference (COP18). HE Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority and President of the 18th UN Climate Change Conference (COP18) Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah attended the opening ceremony along with a number of Their Excellencies the Ministers and people interested in this domain. The project is a collaboration between Qatar Science and Technology Park, Chevron Qatar and GreenGulf, to test the solar energy technologies that are manufactured in different parts of the world to test it, and then determine the appropriate technologies for the Gulf region. The facility will examine the effects of humidity, temperature and dust on the performance of solar energy equipment and address the various challenges such as the efficient use of water in cleaning the solar energy systems. The project was established on an area of 35,000 square meters inside the Science and Technology Park. It will support the awareness of the idea of using solar energy in Qatar and the Gulf, through providing the information needed to plan a large-scale solar energy production in the region, as well as other applications such as refrigeration technology (solar cooling), and the desalination technology using solar energy (solar desalination).