Photovoltaic Power
Masdar utilizes the three most commercially viable types of solar panels to convert the sun’s energy into electricity. These photovoltaic (PV) technologies include monocrystalline silicon panels, polycrystalline silicon panels, and thin-film panels. Depending on the solar potential, geographical location, and financial requirements of a specific solar PV project, a suitable PV system is implemented to meet the project’s needs.
The 10-megawatt (MW) Masdar City Solar PV plant employs 5MW of polycrystalline silicon modules and 5MW of thin-film solar modules, while the first 200MW of Phase 3 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park employs polycrystalline solar PV modules. Other examples of Masdar’s solar PV projects include the Abu Dhabi Solar Rooftop Programme, the Sheikh Zayed Power Plant in Mauritania and the Siwa Solar PV plant in Egypt.
Masdar also implements advanced technologies to further enhance the performance and efficiency of its solar PV plants. The first 200MW stage of Phase 3 of the MBR Solar Park is one of the largest solar power projects in the world to use technology that tracks the path of the sun to maximize output and the largest of its type in the Middle East and North Africa.
Masdar was one of the first companies in the region to utilize bifacial PV, which can produce electrical energy when illuminated on both its surfaces, front or rear, at the MBR Solar Park.
It also uses 50 custom-made robots that clean the panels without the need of water, further improving the plant’s performance while reducing its dependence on water - a precious resource in the desert.
Another landmark project is the 145MW Cirata floating solar power plant in Indonesia, the largest in the region. Floating solar panels are very attractive in areas where expanding populations require land resources to be increasingly allocated to housing, agriculture and industry. Floating panels can also be more efficient, due to the water’s cooling effect, and they reduce evaporation, saving fresh water for drinking.
